How to make a glitch text effect in Illustrator

The manual way, in Illustrator

1. Select the text. In Window › Appearance add two new fills below the main one.
2. Colour them cyan and magenta, then give each Effect › Distort & Transform › Transform with a small horizontal move in opposite directions.
3. Draw thin rectangles across the text. For each band, select one rectangle plus a copy of the text, with the rectangle on top, and make a clipping mask (⌘7); then nudge the masked band sideways.
4. Repeat for a few bands.

Each torn band is a separate masked copy. Every copy can still be live type, but they are independent: change the word in one and you must change it in each, and a longer word may need the masks repositioned. Most tutorials skip the masks, outline the text and cut it with Pathfinder › Divide, which does give shapes rather than type.

Menu paths checked against Adobe's current Illustrator documentation; hands-on verification and screenshots are still to come.

Or, with JuicyType

Glitch with JuicyType

Select the text, open the JuicyType panel, choose Glitch, and drag. It is a live effect, so the text stays editable and every control can be changed later.

• Colour distance, horizontal0–2 em, default 0.05 em, so it scales with the type
• Colour distance, vertical0–2 em, default 0.025 em
• Left colourNone / TC1 / TC2 / Black / White / Cyan / Magenta / spot; default Cyan
• Right colourNone / TC1 / TC2 / Black / White / Cyan / Magenta / spot; default Magenta
• Artifacts count1–100 bands, default 6
• Glitch/space1–100%, band height as a share of its period; default 33
• Shift0–200 pt, default 6
• Randomon/off, seeded per object
• Rerollnew seed

Try it free for 14 days · then $15/moSee the Glitch effect →

Common questions

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