Choose glitch art software by the piece you want to finish. A single treated image, a poster whose words stay readable, a real-time effect mixer, a general photo edit, and a motion-graphics timeline are different jobs.

Your task Starting point
Treat one image and export it Artfkt’s free demo, or another browser glitch tool.
Keep type readable on a glitch poster or cover Artfkt: Glitch on the picture, optional CRT scanlines, editable text, and a saved project.
Mix real-time glitch presets, MIDI, or live output Mosh-Pro: a separate desktop mixer for images, video, and GIFs.
Retouch a photo, develop RAW, or build a general graphic Pixelmator Pro: a Mac image editor with layers and a broad effect set.
Animate a timeline of motion graphics After Effects: a subscription compositing app.

Disclosure: Artfkt wrote this guide. The three pictures are real Artfkt renders. Mosh-Pro, Pixelmator Pro, and After Effects were read from their official pages on 1 November 2026, and were not installed or tested hands-on. Prices are in US dollars as those pages listed them. This is a workflow comparison, not a speed test or a ranking.

Let the picture break and keep the words intact

The useful test is whether you can damage the image and still change the title later. These stills use one original 1200 × 1200 drawing: an orange disc, cream diagonal bars, and a fine grid. The type is Inter.

In the first picture, the words are part of the image. RGB Split and Slice Shift therefore cut through SIGNAL FAULT along with the bars.

Orange disc and cream diagonal bars on a dark grid. Red and blue fringes and horizontal slices cut through the bars and the words SIGNAL FAULT.

Flat pass — RGB Split and Slice Shift applied to the artwork and the lettering together. No scanlines.

In the second picture, those letters sit on their own text layer. The image layer carries the glitch, then CRT Scanlines. The headline stays sharp because the slices never touch it.

The same orange disc and sliced cream bars, now with CRT scanlines, while the cream headline SIGNAL FAULT and the label SIGNAL STUDY stay sharp.

Layered pass — the same Glitch settings, plus Scanlines on the artwork only. This is the cover.

The third picture is that layered composition saved as an Artfkt project, opened from the project file, and edited. The headline became SYSTEM CLEAR, and Slice Shift Coverage went from 0.35 to 0.20. The other settings stayed.

The scanline treatment with fewer sliced bands, and a sharp headline that now reads SYSTEM CLEAR.

Revised project — Coverage 0.20 and new wording. The disc, bars, and scanlines remain.

Settings for the glitch, with animation off and Mix at 100%:

  • RGB Split: Amount 0.018, Angle 0°.
  • Slice Shift: Shift 0.045, Band height 4.50%, Coverage 0.35 (0.20 in the revision), Seed 37, Variation rate 0.

Scanlines, on the layered and revised artwork only: Visible lines 160, Gap width 0.32, Strength 0.42, Beam 0.20. Playback is at the start.

You can try the RGB Split and Slice Shift portion in the free demo. Scanlines are in the desktop CRT collection. The CRT and VHS comparison goes further into screen and tape recipes.

Artfkt: stack the damage, then revise the poster

Artfkt fits when the image is the project: a poster, a cover, a collage, or a signal-damage study. Put Glitch on the picture. Leave the title on an editable text layer. Add a desktop collection such as CRT when the picture should also feel like a screen.

The desktop app includes 46 collections and 361 effects, including Glitch and the CRT, VHS, and other desktop collections. You can save the project, reopen it, and keep reusable effect stacks. Content and effects masks can limit a treatment to part of a layer; these stills use a separate text layer instead of a mask. A soundtrack or live audio can drive effect controls. Those audio workflows are desktop features, and this article’s stills do not demonstrate them. The album-art video walkthrough shows a soundtrack example.

Artfkt runs on Apple Silicon Macs with macOS 13 or later, and on 64-bit Windows 10 or 11 PCs. The purchase is US$39 once, or US$29 with the launch code LAUNCH. It includes the current release and Artfkt 1.x updates. Future major upgrades are excluded. Check the license terms and the system requirements. The button below uses the current checkout offer.

The free demo includes Glitch, Pixel, Cameras, Halftone, Drawing, Refraction, Color, Light, Collage, and Hypnosis. A composition can use image, text, video, or effect layers without a layer count limit. Export of the current result is included in the demo. Saved projects, Scanlines, and the rest of the catalog are the reasons to use the desktop app. See what Glitch contributes inside the full library.

If long color streaks are the look you want, the pixel sorting software guide for Mac and Windows compares dedicated sorting tools and plug-ins with a layered gig poster you can revise.

Mosh-Pro: a real-time glitch mixer

Mosh-Pro is a separate app from Airtight Interactive. Its terms say Mosh is the new name for PhotoMosh as of December 2024. Mosh-Lite is the web app. Mosh-Pro is the desktop app for Mac and Windows. Artfkt is neither of those products.

The homepage describes a real-time mixer for images, video, and GIFs: stackable effects, presets, masks, captions, overlays, batch export, audio-reactive controls, MIDI, BPM timing, and Spout or Syphon output. Its own pages currently describe the desktop library as 60+, 64, or 67 effects, so this guide does not repeat a single count. Check the list on the site.

On 1 November 2026 the purchase module listed a one-time purchase at $49 (“no recurring fees”) and a yearly subscription at $24 per year. The page can show a lower purchasing-power-parity price for some countries. Help lists Windows 10 64-bit or later, or macOS 12 or later, with Apple M1 compatibility; a license for up to 3 devices; internet for the first registration; free upgrades within the same major version; and a 30-day refund by email.

Mosh-Pro is a strong place to look when you want a dedicated real-time glitch mixer, MIDI, or live video output. Confirm the current price, effect list, and Mac requirements on its site before you buy.

Pixelmator Pro: a general Mac image editor

Apple’s Pixelmator Pro page presents a photo and graphics editor: layers, masks, RAW files, video layers, and “over 60” effects, including Blur, Distortion, Sharpen, Tile, and Halftone. That is a broad imaging tool. The page does not present it as glitch or datamosh software.

The same page lists a one-time Mac App Store purchase at $49.99. Pixelmator Pro is also included in Apple Creator Studio at $12.99 per month or $129 per year after a 30-day trial. Educator and student subscriptions are listed at $2.99 per month or $29.99 per year. The page says the Creator Studio version includes the Warp tool, and that Pixelmator Pro is available on macOS 26 or iPadOS 26.

Choose this direction when retouching, RAW development, or general graphic layout leads the work, and a glitch treatment is only one filter among many.

After Effects: a timeline for motion graphics

After Effects is Adobe’s compositing and motion-graphics app. The product page lists plans starting at US$22.99 per month for After Effects, and US$59.99 per month for Creative Cloud All Apps. Those are subscription prices, not a one-time app purchase.

Adobe’s system requirements, updated 9 September 2026 for the listed 26.x versions, name macOS Sonoma 14 as the minimum. The recommended Mac is Apple silicon M1 Pro, M1 Max, M1 Ultra, or newer. Activation uses an internet connection. This guide did not open a composition in After Effects.

After Effects fits when you need a timeline, per-layer keyframes, and a full compositing application. It is a different kind of tool from a poster you glitch and then revise in place.

Try one image before you pay

  1. Open RGB Split in the free demo and add an image you care about. Set Amount to 0.018, set Angle to 0°, and turn Animate off.
  2. Add Slice Shift. Use Shift 0.045, Band height 4.50%, Coverage 0.35, Seed 37, and Variation rate 0. Leave Mix at 100%.
  3. Add a text layer for any words that must stay readable. The demo has no layer or FX count limits.
  4. Export and look at the file at the size you will actually use. If the next step is scanlines, more layers, a saved project, or the rest of the library, that is the desktop app.

Artfkt’s production renderer made the stills on the WebGPU backend. Rendering can vary by device.