How to Create a Line Distortion Effect in Photoshop

For this Tutorial, we are going to use a couple of images of (animals or people) to apply the effect to and a “Glitch” image to enhance it.

1 - In Photoshop, open the file you chose as “Background”. Make it 2000 x 2000 Pixels @ 300 dpi and use “Black” as “Background Contents”.

2 - Use the “Rectangle Tool” (R) and making sure that “White” is your “Foreground” color input a 5 px “Height” value in the upper menu. Place it on the upper part of your canvas. Then, use “Horizontal Centers” making sure “Align to Canvas” is chosen to fix its placement.

3 - Select the “Move tool” (V), and while holding the “Shift” and “Alt/Option” keys, drag down your line to “Duplicate” it and move it in the same axis.

4 -, Leave a space of about 16 to 20 px between lines. Select both lines using the “Shift” key and duplicate them again. Keep doing this until you fill your canvas.

5 - Use the “Select All” (Command/Control + A) to select all your “Line” Layers and fix their placement again by choosing “Distribute Vertical Centers” from the “Align” options on the Top Menu.

6 - With your Layers still selected click on the small “Folder” button at the bottom of the Panel to create a “Group” and lower the “Opacity” to about 50%.

7 - Bring in the images you want to apply the “Effect” to, including the “Glitch”, and use “Free Transform” (Command/Control + T) to resize them.

8 - You may need to make some adjustments to them to achieve a higher contrast. We used some Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast.

9 - Once you are done, right-click on top of their Thumbnail and choose “Convert to Smart Object”. Repeat for each one.

10 - Duplicate your images (Command/Control + J). Then, select one and go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and use a “Radius” of 20 Pixels for the subjects and of 5 Pixels for the “Glitch”.

11 - Select each image and go to Image > Save as, uncheck the “Layers” box and save “As a Copy” adding “Displacement” to your files name. Repeat for your other images including the “Glitch”. Now, you can delete the blurred duplicates in your original file.

12 - Use the “Polygonal Lasso Tool” (L) to make a selection of your subject, then, click on the small button at the bottom of the “Layers Panel” to “Add a Layer mask”. Use a “Feather” of about 1.4 px to smooth your edges a bit. You may need to use “Free Transform” (Command/Control + T) to resize your image and make it fit your “Lines”. Repeat with your other images.

13 - Right-click on top of your Image Layer and choose “Create Clipping Mask” to clip it to your Lines (just make sure the first one is on top of the other).

14 - Go to the “Adjustments Panel” and create a “New Brightness and Contrast Adjustment Layer” and move the levers to make your image and lines look like they have the same contrast. You may need to add a “Black and White Adjustment Layer” if your image is too colorful to achieve this. Clip this Layers to the “Lines” Layer too.

15 - Make the “Opacity” of your “Lines” Folder a 100% again, right-click on top of its Thumbnail and choose “Convert to Smart Object”, then duplicate it and place it under your other images. Duplicate the “Glitch” image too.

16 - Select your “Lines” Smart Object and go to Filters > Distort > Displace, use a “Horizontal and Vertical Scale” value of 10 Pixels, then navigate to your saved “Displacement” file and “Open” it.

17 - Repeat the “Displace” Effect, this time using a “Horizontal and Vertical Scale” value of 5 Pixels, and the “DisplacemetGlitch.psd” file.

18 - To finish the effect, clip a copy of your “Glitch” Layer under your image, select the “Brightness and Contrast Adjustment Layer” and change its values if needed.

19 - Repeat “Step 13” for your other Images and try other “Horizontal and Vertical Scale” values for your “Displacement” Filter.

20 - You can also try to change the “Blending Options” of your Image (we used “Darken”). Select the Layers of each subject and “Group” them together.

21 - Your Images should look similar to this.

We hope you enjoyed learning how to create a line distortion effect in Photoshop.