All your Font Needs
Glitch Text Effect in Illustrator
Learn how to create a glitch effect in Illustrator following these techniques.
For this tutorial, we will use a “Glitch” Background image and the Font “Moscow”.
1 - In Illustrator, create a “New Document”. If the “Rulers” are not enabled, go to View > Rulers > Show Rulers (Command/Control + R) to turn them ON. Also, enable “Snap to Grid” (View > Snap to Grid).
2 - Select the “Rectangle Tool” (M), draw a rectangle that covers all your document and fill it with Black.
3 - Lock this Layer by clicking to the left of its thumbnail and bringing out the small Padlock icon. “Create New Layer” by clicking on the button at the bottom of the “Layers Panel”.
4 - Select the “Type Tool” (T), choose your font (we used “Moscow”) and type your text. The Size will depend on your font and document. Size it to fit almost the entire Document and fill it with White.
5 - Center it using the “Horizontal and Vertical Align Center” options on your Top Menu and make sure that “Align to Artboard” is selected. Or use the same options in the “Align Panel”.
6 - With the text still selected, go to Type > Create Outlines (Shift + Command/Control + O).
7 - Select the “Rectangle Tool” (M) and draw a White rectangular lines over the text trying to have different thicknesses and spacing between them.
8 - Select everything, go to the “Pathfinder Panel” and choose “Divide” to divide all the letters and lines. Right-click on top and choose “Ungroup”.
9 - Use the “Selection Tool” (V) to get rid of all the portions of the lines that are not covering the letters. You should end up with only the text showing.
10 - Select everything, right-click on top and choose “Group”.
11 - Select the text and move it slightly to the “Right” while holding the “Shift” and “Alt/Option” keys to duplicate it.
12 - Fill the “Duplicate” with Red (#ff0000).
13 - Right-click on top and choose “Send to Back”.
14 - Select the text and move it slightly to the “Left” while holding the “Shift” and “Alt/Option” keys to duplicate it again. Fill this “Duplicate” with Blue (#00ffff). Right-click on top and choose “Send to Back”.
15 - Right-click on top and choose “Ungroup”.
16 - To make the next steps easier, go to View > Outline (Command/Control + Y) so you can see the “lines”.
17 - Use the “Selection Tool” (V) to select one of the horizontal “lines” and move it to one side as much as you like. Right-click on top and choose “Group”.
18 - Repeat with the rest of the text to create a “Glitch” effect and don’t forget to “Group” each horizontal portion.
19 - Head back to “Preview Mode” (Command/Control + Y) to see the results.
20 - You can now fix the “lines” if needed.
21 - Select everything, head to the “Appearance Panel”, click on the “Effects” Menu at the bottom and navigate to Blur > Gaussian Blur, use a “Radius” of 3 pixels, then, click “OK.
22 - Bring in the “Glitch Background”, place it on top and resize it if needed. In the “Transparency Panel”, change the “Blending Mode” to “Overlay” and lower the “Opacity” to 35%.
23 - Check out your Artwork!
Well done on learning how to create a glitch effect in Illustrator. You can use this technique to create impact on your projects or websites.
