Datamosh effect

Motion from a shot that isn't there: blocks drag, the picture melts, and the block grid survives.

Made with the Datamosh filterWorks in

Datamosh effect on a portrait of a man with spiky red hair on a blue background, made with the Datamosh filter in Filter Archive (Smear preset)

BeforeAfter

Datamosh fakes the glitch you get when video compression loses its reference frame. Blocks of the picture get dragged along invented motion, over and over, until the image smears and melts, while some blocks stay stubbornly still. It works on a single still image.

5presets
15settings
3apps

Same effect, different presets.

8 photos, each with its own preset. Try it on yours

Datamosh effect on a portrait of a man with silver hair and red sunglasses, made with the Datamosh filter in Filter Archive (Bloom preset) — Bloom

Datamosh effect on a portrait of a woman in white sunglasses with a lollipop, made with the Datamosh filter in Filter Archive (Melt preset) — Melt

Datamosh effect on a portrait of a woman in a red jacket on a blue background, made with the Datamosh filter in Filter Archive (Coarse Blocks preset) — Coarse Blocks

Datamosh effect on a portrait of a woman in headphones holding a CD, made with the Datamosh filter in Filter Archive (Barely Moving preset) — Barely Moving

Datamosh effect on a portrait of a person with goggles looking up, made with the Datamosh filter in Filter Archive (Smear preset) — Smear

Datamosh effect on a portrait of a woman in sunglasses against a blue sky, made with the Datamosh filter in Filter Archive (Melt preset) — Melt

Datamosh effect on a portrait of a woman with red hair in a studded beanie, made with the Datamosh filter in Filter Archive (Bloom preset) — Bloom

Use the datamosh effect in Photoshop, Affinity or Figma.

One licence covers all three: $9.99 a month or $59.99 once. See pricing

Photoshop

Open Filter Archive from the Plugins menu, pick Datamosh and press Apply. The result lands on a new layer above your original.

Mac & Windows · Photoshop 2024+

Affinity

Choose Filters, Plugins, Filter Archive on a pixel layer, pick Datamosh and apply it to that layer.

Mac & Windows · Affinity 3

Figma

Select an image, frame or shape, run Filter Archive and apply Datamosh as a new layer or in place.

Figma Community

Settings worth touching.

MacroblockBlocks: The size of the compression blocks.
FramesBlocks: How many times the motion is re-applied. Many small steps curve and smear; one big step just shifts.
Skipped BlocksBlocks: Blocks that don't move at all. Their stillness against moving neighbours is what makes it read as broken video.

Plus 12 more in the panel, all editable after you pick a preset.

Datamosh Effect questions.

What is a datamosh effect?

Datamoshing is a glitch technique where corrupted video compression makes one image bleed into the motion of another, leaving smeared, blocky trails. As a still-image effect it recreates those melting blocks.

How do I make a datamosh effect in Photoshop?

Open Filter Archive from the Plugins menu and choose Datamosh. Start from a preset such as Bloom or Smear, adjust the settings while the preview updates, then press Apply. The result goes on a new layer and your original stays untouched.

Can I use it in Affinity or Figma?

Yes. The same Datamosh filter runs in Affinity 3 on Mac and Windows, from Filters, then Plugins, then Filter Archive on a pixel layer, and in Figma on an image, frame or shape. One licence covers Photoshop, Affinity and Figma.

Which presets come with Datamosh?

5 presets: Bloom, Smear, Melt, Coarse Blocks and Barely Moving. Every setting stays editable after you pick one, and you can save a stack of filters to use again.

Can I change the colours?

Datamosh keeps the colours of the picture you run it on. To recolour the result, stack it with a filter that has its own palette, such as Thermal or Bitmap, in the same panel.