Photoshop tutorial
How to Make This Glitchy CRT TV Effect in Photoshop
Take a clean synthwave poster and put it behind the glass of an old CRT television. You build the glow by hand with Blend If and Gaussian Blur, warp the merged layer to get the curved screen, then let RetroMachine add the pixel grid, grain, chromatic aberration and interference lines. A layer mask and two adjustment layers finish the look.
Setup
Document
Photoshop document: 16 in x 20 in, 300 dpi, 8-bit.
Settings
- Size 16 in x 20 in
- Resolution 300 dpi
- Bit depth 8-bit
Step 1
Glow
Add some glow to your image. I did this by isolating the highlights using Blend If and adding Gaussian Blur. I set this layer to Screen. I duplicated the layer a few times, adding progressively more blur.
I then grouped these layers and changed the group opacity to 74%.
Glow layers
- Highlight isolation Blend If
- Filter Gaussian Blur (Smart Filter)
- Layer blend mode Screen
- Copies Several, each with more blur
- Group opacity 74%
Step 2
Merge and Warp
Merge everything into a single layer. Select Edit > Transform > Warp and drag the corners of the layer in like this.
Step 3
RetroMachine
Open the RetroMachine Plugin and click Render. Then adjust the settings to your liking. Merge the "CRT" group when you are done.
Here are the settings I used. Keep the "RM - Original" layer for later.
Pixel
- Pixel Type 6th option (last, slot mask)
- Pixel Size 23
- Pixelation On
Image
- Grain 23
- VHS Contrast 43
Chromatic Aberration
- Red Distance 3
- Green Distance 3
- Blue Distance 3
Glitch
- Amount 2
- Wavelength 1
- Color Amount 22
Interference
- Interference On
- Interference Color White
- Size 383
- Intensity 2
- Shadow Cutoff 94
- Highlight Cutoff 255
Step 4
Mask the CRT Layer
Hold Control (cmd) and click on the "RM - Original" layer thumbnail.
Apply a layer mask to the CRT layer using this selection.
Step 5
Levels and Hue/Saturation
Add Levels and Hue/Saturation adjustment layers to bring in the black values and adjust the colors.
Color adjustments will vary based on your image.
Levels
- Input black 47
- Input gamma 1.00
- Input white 255
- Output levels 0 / 255
Hue/Saturation (Cyans)
- Range Cyans
- Range readout 180 deg / 197 deg
- Hue +17
- Saturation 0
- Lightness 0
Hue/Saturation (Magentas)
- Range Magentas
- Range readout 300 deg / 256 deg
- Hue -44
- Saturation 0
- Lightness 0
Finish
Result
Done. Get the RetroMachine Photoshop plugin to run the same CRT effect on your own artwork.
Get the plugin used in this tutorial
-
RetroMachine
Get RetroMachineRegular price $35.00 USDRegular price
