How to Create VHS Glitch Art in Adobe Photoshop

Final product image — What You'll Be Creating

Do you like that grunge, glitched look on old VHS tapes? There are different ways to add such effects to your images and even create an animation from a static photo using an Animated VHS Creation Kit.

This tutorial will show you how to convert your image to a VHS frame in simple steps using only standard Photoshop tools.

Tutorial Assets

Any photo you want to use for this manipulation. You can find some free photos on Unsplash and Pixabay or buy high-quality photos on PhotoDune. I chosethis photo from Pixabay.
Free font: VCR-OSD-Mono font.

1. Prepare the Document

Step 1

Use Control-N to create a new document and use the following settings: 1500 x 1000 px; 300 dpi.

Step 2

Go to File > Place and put your image inside the document.

Step 3

Resize your image to the borders of the document and click Enter.

Step 4

Click T and create a new text layer in the top right corner.

Step 5

Click U and select Polygon Tool, and create a triangle shape. Then place it as shown in the image below:

Step 6

Select your layers by holding Shift and then Right Click > Merge Layers.

Step 7

Now Right Click on the layer and then Convert to Smart Object.

Step 8

Create four duplicates of your smart object using Right Click > Duplicate.

2. Create the Effects

Step 1

Make all layers except the first two invisible, and then Double Click on the second layer and Uncheck the Green and Blue channels.

Step 2

Click V and Move yoursecond layer, holding Shift, 30 px to the right.

Step 3

Make the third layer visible and Uncheck theRed and Green channels the same way as listed above. Then move it, holding Shift, 20 px to the left.

Step 4

Make the fourth layer visible, and go to Layer > New Adjustments Layer > Hue/Saturation.

Step 5

Double Click on the adjustments layer and change the Saturation setting to +100.

As you can see, the saturation effect is applied on the entire image, but we need to crop it to only a few areas.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Step 6

Right Click on the “Hue/Saturation” layer and select Clipping Mask, so this effect will be applied only on the necessary layer.

Applying color distortion to only one layer

Step 7

Now Add Mask to the fourth layer.

Step 8

Alt-Left Click to open the mask layer. Fill it with black.

Step 9

Click M and select the areas on the mask where you want to reveal the effect, and Fill it with white.

Creation of mask for color distortion effect

Now the saturation effect is applied only on a few areas:

Step 10

Add a Mask to the fifth layer and Fill it with black. Then create a big white area a little above the center.

Step 11

Move this layer 600 px down, while holding Shift.

Step 12

Go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur and use the following settings: Angle: 15°; Distance: 15.

Step 13

Let's add some more distortion to the image. Go to Filter > Distortion > Twirl and use the following settings: Angle: 50°.

Step 14

Right Click on the Hue/Saturation layer and select Duplicate. Then put it above the fifth layer and Create A Clipping Mask.

This is how our image will look after all the manipulations listed above:

3. Create the VHS Textures

Step 1

Create a new layer using Shift-Control-N, and Fill it with white.

Step 2

Go to Filter > Filter Gallery > Sketch and select Halftone Pattern. Use the following settings: Size: 2; Contrast: 2.

Step 3

Double Сlick on the layer and set the following settings: Blending Mode: Overlay; Opacity: 25%. Uncheck the Red and Blue channels.

Step 4

Duplicate the texture layer and then use Control-T while holding Shift to rotate it 90° and resize to the borders.

Step 5

Double Click on the layer and set the following settings: Blending Mode: Normal; Opacity: 15%. Uncheck the Green and Blue color channels.

Step 6

Click U and select Rectangle Tool. Then create a shapewith the following settings: Width: 1800 px; Height: 120.

Step 7

Right Click on the rectangle layer and select Rasterize Layer.

Step 8

Go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise and use thefollowing settings: Amount: 400%; Distribution: Uniform; Monochromatic.

Step 9

Go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur and use the following settings: Angle: 0°; Distance: 20 px.

Step 10

Go to Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast and use the following settings: Brightness: 150; Contrast: 100.

Step 11

Use Control-I on the rectangle layer to invert the colors of the noise texture, and then change the Blending Mode to Color Dodge.

Step 12

Duplicate your noise stripe layer a few times and move it, holding Shift, to different places.

Step 13

Create a new layer using Shift-Control-N, and Fill it with black.

Step 14

Go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise and use the following settings: Amount: 400%; Distribution: Uniform; Monochromatic.

Step 15

Now add the Patchwork effect using Filter > Filter Gallery > Patchwork and use the following settings: Square Size: 0; Relief: 0.

Step 16

Go to Image > Adjustments, select Threshold, and set it to 240.

Step 17

Double Click on the layer and use the following settings: Blending Mode: Screen; Opacity: 100%. Uncheck the Red and Blue channels.