14/06/2017 How To Create a Distorted VHS Effect in Photoshop

How To Create a
Distorted VHS E ect in
Photoshop
T U T O R I A L S (https://blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/category/tutorials)
2 9 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6 (/archives)
2 2 C O M M E N T S (https://blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/tutorials/howtocreateadistortedvhseffectinphotoshop#comments)

Today were going to have some fun mimicking the distortion effect of VHS tapes in Adobe Photoshop. This is quite an unusual
topic, but hopefully it will come in handy for those rare projects where you might need to replicate such a style. Well take a

photograph and distort it with a variety of techniques to simulate the warping associated with old analog film footage, then
well apply some OSD text as a finishing touch to give it the appearance of a home movie being played on a VCR.

(https://blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2016/vhseffect/vhseffect.jpg)

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14/06/2017 How To Create a Distorted VHS Effect in Photoshop

The result of this tutorial is a realistic VCR effect that simulates the various warping and distortion associated with VHS tapes,
especially under pause or rewind. Photoshops collection of Distort filters will help us destroy our digital image, then well add
some finishing touches which capture the authentic characteristics of analog TV footage.

S E E T H E F I N A L D I S TO R T E D V H S E F F E C T (https://blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2016/vhs
effect/vhseffect.jpg)

Open up your chosen image in Adobe Photoshop. Im using this free image from unsplash
(https://unsplash.com/photos/hiAdjnXZxl8). Well begin by warping the image with the Liquify tool, which can be found under

Photoshops Filter menu.

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14/06/2017 How To Create a Distorted VHS Effect in Photoshop

With the Forward Warp tool selected reduce the pressure to around 30, then begin dragging the tool from left to right across
the image. Alter the brush size to vary between large and small distortions.

Confirm the Liquify adjustments with the OK button, then draw a marquee selection across a portion of the image. Press
CMD+T to Transform, then stretch the segment to create a screen tear effect.

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14/06/2017 How To Create a Distorted VHS Effect in Photoshop

Search for a stock image of some clouds(http://www.freeimages.com/photo/whitecloudsinbluesky1178795)and open it up

in Photoshop. Use the shortcut CMD+Shift+U to Desaturate the image, then adjust the Levels (CMD+L) and dramatically darken

the shadows to black.

Next, head to Filter > Distort > Shear and add a series of points to the graph to warp the image from side to side.

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14/06/2017 How To Create a Distorted VHS Effect in Photoshop

Go to Filter > Distort > Wave and alter the settings to 999 generators, minimum Wavelength, minimum Amplitude and 100%
scale only on the Horizontal axis.

Depending on the layout of the photograph the effect is being applied to, it might be necessary to alter the orientation of this

distortion file to avoid distorting key areas of the image such as a persons face.

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14/06/2017 How To Create a Distorted VHS Effect in Photoshop

Save the image as a PSD and give it a recognisable name such as displacement-map.psd. This temporary file will be used in
combination with Photoshops Displace filter.

Back in the main working document, go to Filter > Distort > Displace. Change the settings to 100 Horizontal Scale by 0 Vertical
Scale. After clicking OK, navigate to the displacement-map.psd file.

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14/06/2017 How To Create a Distorted VHS Effect in Photoshop

The displacement map warps the photograph according to the white areas of the map file. Draw a marquee selection around
the entire image except the ugly pixels along the left edge, then press CMD+T and stretch the image to remove them.

Find another clouds photo(http://www.freeimages.com/photo/cloudsii1339526)and open it in Photoshop. Desaturate and

adjust the levels to convert it into a harsh black and white image.

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14/06/2017 How To Create a Distorted VHS Effect in Photoshop

Add the Wave filter first this time, using the same settings of maximum generates and horizontal scale, but zero wavelength,
amplitude and vertical scale.

Go to Filter > Distort > Shear and adjust the graph with a new layout of points to form a different warp effect.

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14/06/2017 How To Create a Distorted VHS Effect in Photoshop

Press CMD+A to Select All, followed by CMD+C to Copy. Paste this clipping (CMD+V) into the main working document, then

scale and squash it to cover a portion of the image.

Change the blending mode to Screen to render the black background transparent, leaving just the white distortion lines that
are a common characteristic of VHS tapes, especially during pause or rewind.

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Duplicate the layer with the shortcut CMD+J, then Transform (CMD+T) and use a mixture of Flip Horizontally, Flip Vertically and
basic resizing to produce a second set of distortion lines elsewhere on the image.

Create a new Curves adjustment layer, then change its blending mode to Saturation.

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14/06/2017 How To Create a Distorted VHS Effect in Photoshop

Change the dropdown menu to the Red channel and configure the curves into an S shape. Switch the channel to Green and
create an inverted S layout. Change the channel to Blue and create a more subtle S bend.

These adjustments blow out the saturation in some areas of the image while reducing them elsewhere to mimic the poor
colour reproduction of analog Televisions.

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14/06/2017 How To Create a Distorted VHS Effect in Photoshop

Create a new document with a size of 1 by 10px (this document size may vary depending on the resolution of your chosen
photograph).

Toggle the visibility of the background layer then draw a selection across half of the canvas and fill it with black on a new layer.

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14/06/2017 How To Create a Distorted VHS Effect in Photoshop

Press CMD+D to deselect, then go to Edit > Define Pattern. Give this pattern a recognisable name. This pattern will produce a
series of 5px horizontal lines.

Back in the working document, select the Fill bucket tool, then in the top header bar change the setting to Pattern. Find the
recently saved pattern within the menu.

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14/06/2017 How To Create a Distorted VHS Effect in Photoshop

Create a new layer and click anywhere to fill it with a series of old TV style scan lines. Change this layers blending mode to Soft
Light to allow it to interact with the colours.

To finish off the effect with a retro home movie effect, use an OSD mono font(http://www.dafont.com/vcrosdmono.font)to
type out some VCR style on-screen information.

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Select all the OSD text layers and go to Layer > Merge Layers to convert them into one editable raster layer.

Go to Filter > Distort > Wave. Retain the previous settings, but reduce the number of generators to around 30.

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To create one last analog style effect, press CMD+A to Select All, followed by Edit > Copy Merged. Paste this flattened duplicate
of the artwork on a new layer at the top of the stack.

Double click the new layer to open the Layer Styles menu, then turn off the G (Green) channel in the Advanced Blending
options.

Nudge the layer to the right a few pixels using the cursor keys to offset the image and produce a misalignment of the
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channels.

(https://blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2016/vhseffect/vhseffect.jpg)

This combination of effects does a nice job of replicating the distortion often seen on old TVs, VCRs and VHS tapes. Use it to
create authentic retro styles in your designs and artwork!

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