The editor above is set to glitch. Edit the line, then watch the red and blue channels split and the slices shift.
How to use it in 3 steps
Type a line that can survive distortion
Pick two or three words in capitals. A glitch effect scrambles parts of every letter, so familiar words stay readable.
Choose a bold font and high-contrast colors
Anton and Bungee hold their shape when sliced. Light text on a dark plate keeps the color split visible.
Preview, then export
Watch several loops on a small screen. If a word flickers into nonsense, reduce the effect, then export MP4 or GIF.
Three tuning tips
Keep the RGB offset to a few percent of the font size
On 1080 × 1080 with a 200 px font, an offset of 6 to 12 px reads as a chromatic split. At 40 px, the channels separate into three words. Scale the offset with the size.
Use few slices, and make them wide
Two to four horizontal slices shifting sideways look like a bad video signal. Ten thin slices turn into static. Fewer slices also compress better.
Test jitter on a phone
Position jitter that looks lively on a monitor can make small text unreadable on a 6-inch screen. If you cannot read the word at a glance on your phone, cut the jitter in half.
Frame math for a glitch loop
A 3-second loop at 24 fps is N = round(3 × 24) = 72 frames. Glitch is not smooth by design. Most frames hold the clean word and a few frames break it, so changing fps changes how long a break lasts. One glitch frame at 24 fps lasts about 42 ms (1000 / 24). At 12 fps it lasts 83 ms, which feels slower and chunkier. File sizes in decimal megabytes (1 MB = 1,000,000 bytes).
| Canvas | 1080 × 1080 px (1,166,400 pixels per frame) |
|---|---|
| Frames | N = 3 s × 24 fps = 72 |
| Raw frames before encoding | 72 × 1080 × 1080 × 4 bytes = 336 MB |
| MP4 / WebM upper estimate | 2.8 Mbps × 3 s ÷ 8 = 1.0 MB |
| GIF frame delay | 1/24 s is 4.17 centiseconds; GIF stores whole centiseconds, so delays alternate (4 and 5 cs) to average out |
Hard-edged effects suit GIF better than glows do. RGB-split text uses a few saturated colors and sharp edges, which fit inside GIF's 256-color palette. The cost is movement: slices change large areas of the frame at once, and GIF compression only saves space where consecutive frames match, so a heavy glitch can produce a bigger GIF than a clean loop. A 1080 × 1080 frame at 4 bytes per pixel is 4,665,600 bytes raw, and 72 frames is about 335.9 MB raw.
Video is estimated at bitrate × duration / 8. At the default 2,799,360 bits per second for this canvas, 3 seconds is about 1.05 MB. Rapid cuts may force the encoder to spend more bits, so treat that figure as a starting estimate.
Sources
Common mistakes
Too much jitter for a phone screen
When every frame moves the text, the eye cannot lock onto the word. Keep most frames stable.
An RGB offset that does not scale with font size
A 20 px offset on a small font splits it into three unreadable layers. Use a smaller offset on smaller text.
Slicing into thin strips
Many thin slices look like noise and bloat the GIF. Use a handful of wide ones.
Using a thin or script font
Pacifico and Playfair Display have fine strokes that disappear under a split. Use a heavy sans.
Frequently asked questions
What does RGB split mean?
The red, green, and blue parts of the image are drawn at slightly different positions, so edges show colored fringes, like a misaligned print or a damaged video signal.
Which format is best for glitch text?
GIF handles hard edges and a few colors well. MP4 gives a smaller file at higher fps. WebM is the choice if you need transparency.
How long should a glitch loop be?
Two to three seconds is enough. Short loops hide repetition and keep GIFs small.
Why is my glitch GIF larger than my clean loop?
GIF stores differences between frames. Glitch changes many pixels per frame, so there is less to reuse.
Can I use the result commercially?
The fonts are open-licensed (SIL OFL 1.1 or Apache 2.0 for Special Elite), which permits using rendered output commercially. Check each license if you embed the font file itself.
Does anything get uploaded?
No. The text and frames stay in your browser.