Photoshop tutorial
How to Make This CRT Modulation Effect in Photoshop
Turn a photo into a high contrast CRT broadcast image, with scan line modulation and a colour glitch pass over the top. The first half is plain Photoshop work: a Threshold, some Blend If and two Drop Shadows to build a clean black and white plate. RetroMachine then does the pixel grid, grain and FM modulation, and a glitch overlay adds the colour at the end.
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
Threshold
Apply a Threshold effect to your image.
Step 2
Group and Blend If
Set your layers as shown, then group these layers together. Remove the black values using the Blend If settings in the Layer Styles of the group.
Layers (Group 8)
- Top layer Threshold 3 (adjustment layer, clipped)
- Middle layer skeleton (your image)
- Bottom layer Color Fill 10 (with layer mask)
Blend If (Layer Styles of the group)
- Blend If Gray
- Current Layer 10 — 255
- Underlying Layer 0 — 255
Step 3
Drop Shadow Layer Styles
Put this group in another group, and apply these Drop Shadow Layer Styles to the parent group.
Drop Shadow 1
- Blend Mode Normal, black
- Opacity 100 %
- Angle 154°
- Use Global Light On
- Distance 34 px
- Spread 14 %
- Size 8 px
- Contour Linear
- Anti-aliased Off
- Noise 0 %
- Layer Knocks Out Drop Shadow On
Drop Shadow 2
- Blend Mode Normal, white
- Opacity 100 %
- Angle 154°
- Use Global Light On
- Distance 77 px
- Spread 14 %
- Size 8 px
- Contour Linear
- Anti-aliased Off
- Noise 0 %
- Layer Knocks Out Drop Shadow On
Step 4
Black Background and Merge
Add a black background layer and group these layers. Merge this group into a single layer.
Layers (Skeleton Group)
- Group Skeleton Group
- Contains Group 9 (with the two Drop Shadow effects) and Group 8
- Bottom layer Color Fill 11 (black background, with layer mask)
- After merge Skeleton Group copy (single flattened layer)
Step 5
RetroMachine Render
Open RetroMachine, select your final merged layer and click Render. Use these settings, then click Finish.
Pixel
- Pixel Type 1st option (vertical RGB stripe)
- Pixel Size 16
- Pixelation On
Image
- Grain Strength 50
- Grain Size 2.7
- Monochromatic Off
- VHS Contrast 65
- Blur 5
FM Modulation
- Enable FM Modulation On
- Blend Mode Normal
- Intensity 22
- Frequency 170
- Deviation 14
- Beam Width 138
- Beam Spacing 1
- Dark Threshold 0
Phosphor Glow
- Enable Phosphor Glow On
- Intensity 22
- Threshold 50
- Soft Knee 50
- Radius 85
- Saturation 50
Step 6
Gaussian Blur and Levels
Apply a 1.5 pixel Gaussian Blur to the RetroMachine layer. Then add a Levels Adjustment with these values.
Gaussian Blur
- Radius 1.5 Pixels
- Preview On
Levels
- Input Levels 8 / 1.00 / 210
- Output Levels 0 / 255
Step 7
Glitch Colour Overlay
Add a glitch overlay, set the Blend Mode to Color and opacity to 66%. Then apply these Blend If settings to the overlay layer.
Overlay layer
- Layer glitch color (placed above Levels 19)
- Blend Mode Color
- Opacity 66 %
Blend If (overlay layer)
- Blend If Gray
- Current Layer 0 — 255
- Underlying Layer 0 — 83 / 153
Finish
Result
Done.
Get the plugin used in this tutorial
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RetroMachine
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