Most CRT tutorials stop at scanlines, which is why most CRT effects look like a filter. A real tube has four things going on, and you need all four for type to look like it is on a screen rather than behind a pattern.
The four layers of a CRT
- Shadow mask. The RGB triad grid. In Photoshop: a 3 px wide pattern of red, green and blue vertical stripes set to Overlay at 30–50% over the artwork.
- Phosphor glow. Duplicate the type, Gaussian Blur 8–20 px, set to Screen, lower opacity. This is what makes bright areas bloom.
- Signal fringing. Duplicate the type twice, shift the red channel 2–4 px left and the blue 2–4 px right (Layer Style → Blending Options → turn off channels). The colour mis-registration is what sells the analogue signal.
- Static and roll. A noise layer (Add Noise 20%, Overlay) plus a soft horizontal gradient band that you can nudge up and down.
Scanlines are optional on top of this. Keep them subtle: a 1 px black line every 3 px at 20% opacity.
One click
AMRE CRT builds all four layers plus scanlines as a non-destructive action, works in any colour and scales to the file. Put text or a logo on an 80s screen in one run.
New to our presets? Start with the free Ink Bleed 01 to see how the install works.
Requirements
Adobe Photoshop 2022 or newer. Commercial licence included.