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Swirl Effect

Swirl (Twirl) Effect for Photos

Grab the center of the image and twist it — a whirlpool distortion that pulls everything into a spiral.

Image to ASCII Turn any photo into ASCII art — copy it as text or save as PNG.
Image to Pixel Art Make 8-bit pixel art from a photo with retro palettes like PICO-8 and Game Boy.
Glitch Effect RGB split, slice shifts, scanlines and static — a GPU glitch effect for any image.
Halftone Effect Turn photos into print-style halftone dots, squares or diamonds in two colors.
Duotone Effect Map a photo onto two colors — the Spotify-style duotone look.
Pixel Sorting Glitch-art pixel sorting: melt bright or dark pixels into long streaks.
Fluted Glass Effect Reeded glass refraction: look at any photo through ribbed glass.
Shatter Effect Break a photo into flying blocks that scatter away from an intact center.
Photo to Pencil Sketch Turn a photo into a graphite pencil drawing with adjustable line weight.
Photo to Watercolor Soft watercolor washes with ink edges and paper texture from any photo.
Tilt-Shift Effect Miniature-world tilt-shift blur with a movable focus band.
Motion Blur Effect Directional motion blur for speed, panning and dynamic shots.
Film Grain Effect Analog film grain and a soft vignette for a 35mm look.
Chromatic Aberration Split red, green and blue channels for a lens-fringe or 3D-glasses look.
Light Leak Effect Warm analog light leaks and flares in any two colors.
Neon Glow Effect Trace the edges of a photo with glowing neon lines on a dark background.
Paper Cut Effect Layered paper-craft look with cut-out shapes and soft shadows.
Posterize Effect Reduce a photo to a few flat tones for a bold poster look.
Colored Pencil Drawing Turn a photo into a colored pencil drawing that keeps its colors.
Glow Effect Bloom glow: bright areas softly radiate light.
Lens Blur (Bokeh) Dreamy lens blur where bright spots bloom into bokeh.
Zoom Blur Effect Radial zoom or spin blur that rushes toward a point.
Glass Tiles Effect See a photo through hexagonal or square glass blocks with refraction.
Torn Paper Effect Rip a photo into torn paper pieces with white edges and shadows.
Hexagon Mosaic Pixelate a photo into a honeycomb of flat-colored hexagons.
Water Ripple Effect Concentric water ripples spreading across a photo.
Bulge & Pinch Effect Magnify the center of a photo like a fisheye — or pinch it in.
Vignette Effect Darken — or tint — the corners to focus attention on the center.
Emboss Effect Raised relief look: turn a photo into an embossed grey surface.
Blur Image Blur a whole image smoothly — clean edges, any strength.
Sharpen Image Make soft photos crisper with an adjustable sharpening filter.
Demo image — drop, paste or upload yours

More image effects

All effects
Water Ripple Effect example Water Ripple Effect Concentric water ripples spreading across a photo. Bulge & Pinch Effect example Bulge & Pinch Effect Magnify the center of a photo like a fisheye — or pinch it in. Zoom Blur Effect example Zoom Blur Effect Radial zoom or spin blur that rushes toward a point.

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Swirl Effect — how it works

Twist a photo into a whirlpool around its center.

How the swirl works

Pixels are rotated around a center point — strongly near the center, less and less toward the edge of the radius, not at all beyond it. The result is a smooth spiral that keeps the image continuous, like stirring paint.

Twist, radius, center

Twist is the rotation in degrees at the center; negative values turn the other way. Radius sets how much of the image is affected. Move the center to swirl around a specific detail.

Ideas

Psychedelic posters, album covers, abstract backgrounds from any photo, or a hypnotic accent behind text. Combine with Duotone for a bold graphic look.

Frequently Asked Questions

Apply the same twist with the opposite sign to get close to the original — or simply reset.

No, the shader runs locally.

The effect needs WebGL in your browser.