Particle Image

Particle Image turns a logo, an object or a photo into tens of thousands of points. On Solid the shape is extruded into a real 3D slab: a stippled front face, walls along every outline, lit from the upper left, and walls that face away stay hidden, so it reads like a solid object made of dust. It holds a three-quarter view, sways slowly at rest and turns toward the cursor. On Flat it keeps the picture as a relief, which suits photos.

The cursor pushes the points aside and they spring back on their own, each at a slightly different pace, so the surface moves like sand. Add up to four images and the points fly from one to the next on a timer, on a click or both. Burst throws them out from the centre, Sweep carries them across from left to right and Dust lets them drift in loosely. When it first comes into view the points gather into the first image. Around it, markers lock onto points and hop from one to the next, showing live 3D coordinates as the shape turns, joined by thin links, with a point count to the side; each layer turns off on its own and the labels take any font.

It finds the subject by itself: a clear background drops out, and so does a plain or graded one around an object, so a product shot works without cutting it out. On Auto the points are light on dark pages and dark on light ones, read from the colour behind the component. Choose Image to keep the picture's own colours, or Solid for one colour. Set the image size, point count and size, depth, tilt, push strength and radius, speed and drift.

Good to know: it runs on WebGL and pauses while off screen; with Drift at 0 it also sleeps whenever everything is still. Phones get fewer points so the density stays the same. With reduced motion on it shows a still three-quarter view. Logos and objects on a plain or clear background give the cleanest shapes.