Guides / Glitch
How to make a glitch text effect in Illustrator
Add two extra fills in the Appearance panel, colour them cyan and magenta, and offset each with the Transform effect. Then cut horizontal bands with clipping masks and nudge them. JuicyType's Glitch effect does the colour split and the torn bands from a handful of sliders, on live text.
JuicyType Glitch · screen recording goes hereSkip to JuicyType ↓
The manual way, in Illustrator
- Select the text. In Window › Appearance add two new fills below the main one.
- Colour them cyan and magenta, then give each Effect › Distort & Transform › Transform with a small horizontal move in opposite directions.
- Draw thin rectangles across the text, select a rectangle plus a copy of the text, and make a clipping mask (⌘7), then nudge the masked band sideways.
- Repeat for a few bands.
Each torn band is a separate masked copy, so the text is no longer one editable object once you start cutting.
Steps drafted from Illustrator's documentation; to be checked in Illustrator 2025–2026 before launch.
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 colourdefault 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
JuicyType≡
Glitch✓
Colour distance, horizontal
Colour distance, vertical
Left colour
Keep live text●
Apply
0:45
Common questions
Does the glitch stay editable?
With JuicyType yes. The manual bands are copies and need redoing if you change the word.