How to Create a Glitch Animated Gif Action in Adobe Photoshop

In this tutorial we'll create an animated glitch template in Adobe Photoshop which can be used with any image.

I've created the animation for Retrowave 8 Bit Template the same way for my GraphicRiver portfolio.

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 chose this photo from Unsplash.

1. How to Prepare the Document

Step 1

Press Control-N to create a new document and use the following settings: 500 x 500 px; 300 dpi.

Step 2

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

Step 3

Resize your image to fill the canvas of the document and click Enter.

Step 4

Right Click on your image layer and select Rasterize Layer.

Step 5

Press M and then select the square area of your document.

Step 6

To crop our image, Right Click on your selection and select Layer Via Cut.

Step 7

Select your empty layer and click on the Delete Icon in the bottom right corner of the Layers panel.

Step 8

Double Click on your new layer name and change it to "Placeholder".

Step 9

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

2. How to Create Frames and Animation Elements

Step 1

Now we need to create frames for our future animation. Create seven duplicates of your smart object using Right Click > Duplicate.

Step 2

Rename the duplicates of the layer to a frame sequence.

Step 3

Make all layers Invisible except the second.

Step 4

Select your second frame, click Control-T, and then click on the Warp icon.

Step 5

Pull out the points of the warp grid to different sides to make your image look stretched.

Step 6

Make the next layer Visible and stretch it using the Warp Tool in the same way. 

Step 7

Stretch out the next layer a bit using the Warp Tool.

Step 8

Select the next layer, click Control-T, and then go to Edit > Transform > Distort.

Step 9

While holding Shift, move the upper right point to -2° and the bottom right point to 2°, and click Enter.

Step 10

Double Click on the same layer and then Uncheck the Green and Blue channels.

Step 11

Select the next layer. Use the Transform Tool in Distort Mode to move the upper left point 2° to the left and the bottom right point 2° to the left, and click Enter.

Step 12

Double Click on the layer and then Uncheck the Red and Blue channels.

Step 13

Select our last layer and change the Blending Mode to Hard Mix.

Step 14

Now we need to create the TV lines texture. Press U and create a new Rectangle with the following settings: Width: 500 px; Height: 4.

Step 15

Move the rectangle to the top of the document.

Step 16

Duplicate the rectangle and move it 8 px down while holding Shift.

Step 17

Now you need to create more duplicates of the rectangle until they fill the whole document.

Step 18

Select all rectangle layers while holding Shift, and then Right Click and select Rasterize Layer.

Step 19

After that, Right Click and select Merge Layers.

Step 20

Duplicate our new layer and move it 504 px up while holding Shift.

Step 21

Merge these layers and Rename the layer "Tv Texture".

Step 22

Change the Opacity of the layer to 15% and the blending mode to Overlay.

Step 23

Create a new layer using Shift-Control-N and name it "Frame", and then Fill it with black. Change the Fill option to 0%.

Step 24

Double Click on the layer and select the Stroke parameter. Use the following settings: Size: 25 px; Position: Inside; Color: Black.

Step 25

Now we need to rasterize the layer style: Right Click > Rasterize Layer Style.

Step 26

Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and use the following settings: Radius: 4px.

Step 27

Resize the layer to fill the canvas using Control-T and holding Shift.

3. How to Create the Animation

Step 1

Now we are ready to start creating our animation. Go to Window > Timeline and click on Create Video Timeline.

Step 2

Make the first and second frames visible, and then select the second one and go to the Timeline panel.

Step 3

Change the Opacity of "Frame 02" to 0%.

Step 4

Open the second frame in the Timeline panel and move the Time Indicator to 0:00:00:05.

Step 5

Now you need to create the first keyframe. Click on the Timer icon near the Opacity to create the first Keyframe.

Step 6

Move the Time Indicator to 0:00:00:13 and then change the Opacity of the layer to 100%.

Step 7

After that, move the Time Indicator to 0:00:00:20 and change the Opacity of the layer to 0%.

Step 8

Select the next layer and change the Opacity to 0%. After that, create three Keyframes with changing opacity, the same way as we did above, at 0:00:00:13, 0:00:00:20, and 0:00:00:26.

Step 9

Select the three Keyframes on the Timeline panel, and then Right Click and select Copy.

Step 10

Move the Timeline Indicator to 0:00:01:00, and then click on New Keyframe and paste your keyframes by using Control-V.

Step 11

After that, move the Timeline Indicator to 00:00:02:00 and paste your Keyframes again. Move the first Keyframe to 0:00:00:24 and the last Keyframe to 0:00:02:20. So we can add variety to the use of our layer.

Step 12

Now we need to move the Timeline Indicator to 00:00:03:10 and paste the Keyframes one more time. After that, move the first Keyframe to 0:00:03:13 and the last Keyframe to 0:00:03:21.

Step 13

Let's animate our next layer. Select the layer "Frame 04" and change the Opacity of the layer to 0%. After that, add two short sequences of Keyframes as we did before, with central Keyframes at 0:00:00:18 and 0:00:01:03.

Step 14

Add another Keyframes sequence at 0:00:03:00 with the central Keyframe at 0:00:03:05 and the final Keyframe at 0:00:03:20.

Step 15

Create a copy of the Keyframes we've just made, and move it to 00:00:04:00.

Step 16

Select the next layer in the Layers panel, and change the Opacity to 0%. After that, add three short sequences of Keyframes as we did before, with central Keyframes at 0:00:00:15, 0:00:01:00, and 0:00:01:15.

Step 17

Add one more Keyframes sequence with points at 0:00:02:15, 0:00:02:20, and 0:00:03:20.

Step 18

Now we need to create an animation for the next layer. Change the Opacity of "Frame 06" to 0% and create three short sequences of Keyframes with central Keyframes at 0:00:01:00, 0:00:01:15, and 0:00:02:00.

Step 19

Copy the Keyframes and paste with the first Keyframe at 0:00:03:00.

Step 20

Select the last layer and change the Opacity to 0%. After that, create a Keyframe sequence with the following points: 0:00:00:15, 0:00:00:18, and 0:00:00:22.

Step 21

Create two duplicates of Keyframes and move it to 0:00:01:24 and 0:00:01:24.

Step 22

Сreate a duplicate of the last Keyframes sequences and move it to 0:00:03:10.

Step 23

And now we need to create an animation for our TV texture. Select the layer and click on the Timer icon near Position to create the first Keyframe at 0:00:00:00.

Step 24

Move the Time Indicator to the end of the Timeline and then move the layer 500px down while holding Shift.

4. How to Save the Animation as a Gif File

Our animation is ready to render now. Press Alt-Shift-Control-S to open the Save for Web window, and then set the Looping Option to Forever. After that, you can save your animation as a gif file. You can also change the Image Size in this menu if you want to reduce the size of the gif file.

5. How to Replace the Image Used in the Template

Step 1

If you want to change the image used for your animation, Right Click > Edit Contents on the placeholder layer.

Step 2

Place your new image above the old one, press Alt-F4 to close the placeholder, and then select Save.

Awesome Work, You're Now Done!

In this way, we can create an animated template in Adobe Photoshop using smart objects.

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial, and feel free to contact me for any help with the tutorial. You can also check my Retrowave 8 Bit Template in my portfolio on GraphicRiver.