50+ Visual Effects, Custom Gradients & Keyboard Shortcuts
v1.6 is the largest single expansion to Ditther's effect library. 50+ new visual effects, 50+ new backgrounds with new category organisation, 20+ new Looks, a full custom gradient tool, a 70% performance improvement across the rendering pipeline, and keyboard shortcuts that let you move through workflows without reaching for the mouse.
This is the current version. Follow @blurrhaus on X for the next update as it ships.
What changed
New feature
50+ new visual effects
The effect library more than doubles. New visual effects span categories: distortion effects (warp, ripple, prism, kaleidoscope), texture overlays (film grain, noise, halation, chromatic aberration), colour effects (colour shift, channel mixing, infrared), and geometric effects (cross-hatch, line art, stipple, engraving). Each new effect has the same controls — size, density, opacity, scatter, and blend mode — and works with all existing Looks and layer masks from v1.5.
New feature
Custom gradient tool
Build your own gradients with a multi-stop editor. Add up to eight colour stops, drag to reposition, and set the direction — linear (any angle), radial, or conic. Gradients can be used as backgrounds, as a colour source for Duotone introduced in v1.3, or applied as a colour overlay layer. Saved gradients persist across sessions and can be shared as preset codes.
New feature
20+ new Looks
The built-in Looks library grows with 20+ new styles, all built with v1.6 effects. New Look categories include Cinematic (anamorphic bokeh, film burn, grain), Editorial (high contrast, duotone overlays, geometric crop), and Experimental (glitch matrices, signal noise, data moshing aesthetics). Every new Look is a complete single-click configuration of the full effect stack.
New feature
50+ new backgrounds & category organisation
A significant background expansion with new category organisation. Backgrounds are now tagged with mood, colour temperature, and style — making them searchable and filterable for the first time. The 50+ new backgrounds include new macro photography, abstract fluid art, architectural detail, and texture packs. The Remix button can now be constrained to a background category, so you get variations within a mood rather than jumping between them.
Performance
70% faster rendering
A major pipeline optimisation reduces render time by approximately 70% on complex effects. The improvement comes from moving more processing to the GPU shader level, batching filter passes, and reducing redundant redraws when only a single control changes. Large images and video clips see the biggest improvement. The canvas now stays responsive while effects are computing — no more locked UI during heavy renders.
New feature
Keyboard shortcuts
A full keyboard shortcut system makes common actions reachable without the mouse. R triggers Remix; S triggers Shuffle; E opens Export; B opens the Background browser; L opens Looks; Cmd/Ctrl+Z undoes the last change; Space toggles the before/after compare slider. The full shortcut reference is available in-app via the ? key.
Full changelog
Effects added
- Warp, Ripple, Prism, Kaleidoscope (distortion category)
- Film Grain, Noise, Halation, Chromatic Aberration (texture overlay category)
- Colour Shift, Channel Mix, Infrared (colour effects category)
- Cross-hatch, Line Art, Stipple, Engraving (geometric category)
- And 35+ more across all categories
Added
- Custom gradient tool — multi-stop editor, linear/radial/conic direction
- 20+ new built-in Looks — Cinematic, Editorial, Experimental categories
- 50+ new backgrounds with tag-based search and category filtering
- Keyboard shortcut system — full reference via ? key
- Frame-based composition view for multi-layer canvas layouts
Performance
- Rendering pipeline optimised — ~70% faster on complex effects
- GPU shader processing expanded — more filter passes run on GPU
- Canvas remains interactive during heavy renders
- Video playback performance improved — less dropped frames
Shortcut to try first
Press R to Remix, then Space to toggle the compare slider. Keep pressing R until you find a direction you like, then adjust from there. Much faster than using the buttons.