Photoshop tutorial
How to Make This CRT Glitch Effect in Photoshop
Turn a portrait into a distorted CRT-screen glitch using RetroMachine. Every effect below is a live parameter in the plugin, so you can dial each stage in and change your mind at any point.
Setup
Document
Photoshop document: 16 in x 20 in, 300 dpi, 8-bit.
Settings
- Size 16 in x 20 in (4800 px x 6000 px)
- Resolution 300 dpi
- Color mode RGB, 8-bit
Step 1
Render
Open RetroMachine, select the layer you want to use, and click Render.
Step 2
Pixel, Image, Phosphor Glow
Apply these settings, but feel free to adjust them to your liking.
Pixel
- Pixel Type 1st option (vertical RGB stripe)
- Pixel Size 20
- Pixelation On
Image
- Grain Strength 34
- Grain Size 2
- Monochromatic Off
- VHS Contrast 48
- Blur 8.9
Phosphor Glow
- Enable Phosphor Glow On
- Color Off
- Intensity 81
- Threshold 61
- Soft Knee 6
- Radius 160
- Saturation 50
Step 3
Glitch + Displacement Map
Apply these settings, then enable Displacement. In the pop-up window, select 'Create New'.
Glitch
- Amount 0
- Wavelength 1
- Color Amount 48
- Color Wavelength 9
- Displacement Enable
- Pixel Color Glitch Off (for now)
- Display Glitch Off (for now)
- Pixel Stretch Off (for now)
Step 4
Displacement (Customize)
Once Displacement is enabled, enable the Customize toggle and apply these settings. Adjust to your liking. You can also change the Randomize slider to get different distortions.
Displacement
- Enable On
- Map file RMv3-tut-DispMap.psd
- Horizontal 664
- Vertical 0
- Strength 100
- Customize On
- Amount 9
- Vertical Cells 35
- Horizontal Cells 4
- Randomize 61
- Steps 4
- Warp 0
Step 5
Second Displacement Pass
In the created Displacement Map PSD file, duplicate the 'RM - Displ Custom' layer, rasterize, and rename it. Then go back to your main document and click 'Refresh'. After that, apply these settings and mask the displacement layer where you want the 2nd displace effect to apply. Back in your main document, click 'Refresh' again to update the displacement.
Displacement
- Enable On
- Map file RMv3-tut-DispMap.psd
- Horizontal 195
- Vertical 0
- Strength 100
- Customize On
- Amount 100
- Vertical Cells 197
- Horizontal Cells 1
- Randomize 0
- Steps 10
- Warp 0
Step 6
Pixel Color Glitch
Enable Pixel Color Glitch and apply these settings. You may need to adjust the Cutoff Threshold for your image. You can also change the Randomize slider to get different colors.
Pixel Color Glitch
- Enable On
- Mask to Display Glitch Alpha Off
- Amount 100
- Vertical Cells 1
- Horizontal Cells 11
- Randomize 63
- Soften 100
- Glitch Amount 72
- Glitch Wavelength 22
- Cutoff Threshold 0 / 0 — 36 / 139
- Hue Shift -33
- Saturation 100
Step 7
Display Glitch
Enable Display Glitch and apply these settings or adjust to your liking.
Display Glitch
- Enable On
- Blend Mode Overlay
- Opacity 23
- Amount 100
- Vertical Cells 44
- Horizontal Cells 5
- Randomize 100
- Steps 3
- Midpoint 0
- Soften 0
- Glitch Amount 96
- Glitch Wavelength 50
- Cutoff Threshold 0 / 0 — 255 / 255
Step 8
Pixel Stretch
Enable Pixel Stretch and apply these settings or adjust to your liking.
Pixel Stretch
- Enable On
- Direction Left
- Cutoff Threshold 128 — 255
- Distance 508
- Strength 86
Step 9
FM Modulation
Enable FM Modulation and apply these settings or adjust to your liking.
FM Modulation
- Enable FM Modulation On
- Mask to Display Glitch Alpha Off
- Blend Mode Normal
- Intensity 6
- Frequency 238
- Deviation 50
- Beam Width 47
- Beam Spacing 1
- Dark Threshold 0
- Cutoff Threshold 0 / 0 — 189 / 189
Finish
Result
Done. Click Finish in RetroMachine to commit the render.
Get the plugin used in this tutorial
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RetroMachine
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