How to Create a Glitch Effect in Photoshop

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a cool glitch effect in Photoshop. You can do this in many different ways, but we’ll use the Shear, Wind, Wave, and Halftone filters in Photoshop to achieve the glitch effect.

A photo like the one we’ll be using of a clock tower from this pack of Greek travel photos is perfect for this. When picking an image, you want an image that doesn’t have too busy of a background.

Now, let’s first open our image in Photoshop.

Step 1 - Duplicate and Rename Layers

Duplicate Image Layer Twice

Right-click on Background layer and select Duplicate Layer. Make two copies of your image.

Rename the Layers

For organization, we will rename the layers. Double-click on the current layer names to rename them. Change the top layer to RGB and the second layer to Glitch.

Step 2 - Apply Filters to RGB Layer’s Channels

Apply a Shear Filter to the Red Channel

Select RGB layer and go to the Channels panel. If the panel is not already open, you can click on Windows > Channels.

Hide all the channels besides the Red channel. You can do this by clicking on the Red channel in the Channels panel or by clicking on the eye icons of the channels you want to hide. The only channel that should still have an eye icon showing is the Red channel.

With the Red channel selected, go to Filter > Distort > Shear.

Very slightly click + drag the center of the line to the right. Click the Repeat Edge Pixels radio button and click OK.

Show all the channels by clicking on the RGB channel or the empty eye icon slots, and check how the image currently looks.

Apply a Wind Filter to the Red Channel

Again, select only the Red channel and go to Filter > Stylize > Wind. Pick Stagger for the Method and From the Right for the Direction in the Wind dialog, then click OK.

Show all the channels again to see how the image currently looks.

Apply a Wind Filter to the Green Channel

Now select the Green channel and apply a Wind filter, as we did above for the Red channel, but this time, select From the Left for the Direction.

You can check the image again as we did before. Notice that a little bit of green is visible in the image now.

Step 3 - Change Blending Mode of RGB Layer

In the Layers panel, change RGB layer's Blending Mode to Lighter Color.

Step 4 - Convert Glitch Layer to a Smart Object

Right-click on Glitch layer and select Convert to Smart Object.

Step 5 - Apply Filters to Glitch Layer

Apply a Wave Filter

Select Glitch layer and click on Filter > Distort > Wave.

You can use the same settings as ours in the Wave dialog or pick your own. We went with the following settings:

• Number of Generators: 2
• Wavelength Min: 1
• Wavelength Max: 999
• Amplitude Min: 1
• Amplitude Max: 152
• Scale Horizontal: 25%
• Scale Vertical: 1%
• Type: Square
• Undefined Areas: Repeat Edge Pixels

Then click on Randomize to apply random values to the filter based on the settings you picked. You can continue clicking Randomize until you’re happy with what you see in the preview, then click OK.

If you don’t like the results of the Wave filter, you can always double-click on the Smart Wave filter under Glitch layer to open the Wave dialog and apply a different set of random values.

Apply a Halftone Pattern Filter

Reset the Foreground and Background colors by clicking the small Default Colors icon in the left toolbar. Then go to Filter > Filter Gallery.

Select Halftone Pattern found in the Sketch folder, and use the following options:

• Size: 2
• Contrast: 5
• Pattern Type: Line

You can pick different values for Size and Contrast, if you’d like, depending on your image, then click OK.

Note: depending on your image, you may have to change the Blending Mode of your RGB layer after applying the Halftone Pattern filter.

Your glitch effect is complete!

You have finished learning how to create a glitch effect in Photoshop. If you had fun using filters in this tutorial, you should try creating an oil paint effect in Photoshop. You may also enjoy learning how to change an image from day to night in Photoshop.