Today we're going to apply a range of adjustments to a photograph to create a distorted glitch
effect that mimics the kind of warping you see on old VHS tapes played on VCRs and analogue
TVs.
We'll need a few image resources to work with, so you can find the free files I've used linked
down in the description below.
So begin by opening up your main subject image in Adobe Photoshop.
First we'll add some quick distortions with the Liquify tool from under the Filter menu.
Set the brush pressure option to around 30, then make sure the Pin Edges option is checked.
Adjust the brush size with the square bracket keys, then drag across the image to warp the
picture slightly.
Switch over to the Marquee tool and draw a thin selection across the full canvas.
Hold the Shift key and draw a few more rectangular selections.
You can alter the placement by holding the Spacebar before releasing the mouse.
Use the shortcut CMD+T to Transform, then hold the ALT key while stretching these selections
horizontally.
Hit the Enter key and CMD+D to Deselect to see these simple screen tears.
Open the first clouds image into Photoshop.
Go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate, followed by Image > Adjustments > Levels.
Drag the shadows slider all the way over to the right, until the preview shows the sky
is completely black.
Next go to Filter > Distort > Shear.
Click and drag a number of points to add a series of curves to the profile.
Head back to the Filter > Distort menu and select Wave.
Max out the Number of Generators to 999, keep the Wavelength and Amplitude sliders at their
minimum, then set the Horizontal scale to 100% and Vertical scale to 1%.
It's worth visualising the composition of your main subject photo.
If any of those white distortions look like they might overlap a face or a key focal point,
rotate the canvas to change the layout.
Go to File > Save As, then set the format as a Photoshop Document.
Give the file a recognisable name such as displacement-map.psd.
Switch back to the main document and go to Filter > Distort > Displace.
Change the Horiztonal Scale to 100 and Vertical Scale to 0.
Click OK and navigate to the displacement-map PSD file.
Open up the displacement map file again, go to Select > All and Edit > Copy, then Paste
this image into the main document.
Press CMD+T to Transform, then squash and stretch it out to fit across the canvas.
Position is somewhere in the upper region of the document.
Change the blending mode of this layer to Screen to make the black background transparent,
to just show those white distortion lines.
Open up a new clouds image and repeat the filters.
This time use the shortcut CMD+Shift+U to Desaturate and CMD+L to open the Levels.
Drag the shadows slider over to the right to make the sky black.
Add the Shear effect from the Filter > Distort menu, which will still have the previous settings
applied.
Then add the Wave filter too.
Copy and Paste this image into the main document, squash and stretch it, then place it near
the bottom of the canvas.
Set the blending mode to Screen to produce more warped distortion lines.
Add a Curves adjustment layer, then set the blending mode to Saturation.
In the Curves properties panel, change the drop down menu to Red.
Click a point in the centre of the line and drag it towards the top left.
Change the dropdown menu to the Green channel and drag a point in the middle of the curves
line towards the bottom right.
With the Blue channel, add a point in the lower third region of the line and drag this
point downwards slightly, then add a point in the upper region and drag it upwards.
These curves adjustments blow out the saturation in some areas of the image while reducing
them elsewhere to mimic the poor colour reproduction of analogue TVs.
Add a new layer at the top of the layer stack, then go to Edit > Fill.
Change the dropdown menu to 50% Gray.
Head to Filter > Filter Gallery, then find the Halftone Pattern effect under the Sketch
menu.
Change the settings to Line for the Pattern Type, then 5px Size and 0 Contrast.
Set the blending mode for this layer to Color Burn to replicate old TV style scan lines,
then reduce the opacity to around 10%.
Go to Select > All, then Edit > Copy Merged.
Paste this clipping onto its own layer.
Double click the layer and turn off the Green channel in the Layer Style options, under
the Advanced Blending section.
Activate the Move tool, then nudge this layer to the right a few times with the keyboard
cursor keys.
Where the image is offset, you see what's known as a chromatic aberration, which is
another aesthetic of old analogue TVs.
The final effect is a cool distorted VHS glitch effect you can use to give your images an
old retro appearance, as if they're being played on a crappy old TV.
If you found any of the tips useful, or enjoyed the tutorial, hit the subscribe button to
stick around for my upcoming videos.
Have a browse of my Spoon Graphics website for lots more written tutorials and free design
resources, otherwise thank you very much for watching, and I'll see you in the next one!