Elliptical Dot

An elliptical dot is an oval, usually a 1:1.4 to 1:1.6 aspect ratio, rotated so its long axis follows the screen angle. Because the ends sit closer than the sides, the dots kiss end to end at roughly 40% and only close side to side around 60%. That splits one 70% cliff into two shallow steps twenty points apart, which is why the shape is also called a chain dot. Simulated process usually runs it at 55 lpi on 305 mesh, single spot halftones at 22.5 degrees, CMYK at the standard 15/45/75/0 set.

For a buyer, that geometry shows up as a face that reads like a face. The memorial tee is the honest test — a photographic portrait on white 30-singles, six colors, a jaw that has to turn out of the light. A round dot gives that jaw a step. An elliptical dot gives it a curve, and nobody at the service notices the halftone at all, which is the entire point.

Spec elliptical whenever art contains skin, smoke, chrome, or any ramp longer than 30 tonal points. The trade-off is that two joins are still joins: hard-lit gradients can show a faint ridge at 40% and again at 60%, and the elongated shape is fussier about squeegee direction, gaining a few extra points when the long axis runs with the stroke instead of across it. Most shops standardize on it and fix the rest with per-mesh curves rather than swapping shapes job to job.

Buyers sometimes ask for "the smoothest dot" expecting an elliptical dot to rescue a bad file. Shape cannot invent tones the artwork never had. An 8-bit gradient pulled from a 72 dpi JPEG bands before the RIP ever sees it. Elliptical smooths what the press contributes; the file is still yours to rebuild at 300 dpi.