VHS effect

A real tape signal chain: sharp luma, ruined colour, dropouts and tracking.

Made with the VHS Tape filterWorks in

VHS effect on a portrait of a woman with red hair in a studded beanie, made with the VHS Tape filter in Filter Archive (Tracking Lost preset)

BeforeAfter

VHS Tape runs your photo through the signal chain of a videotape. Brightness stays fairly sharp while colour smears sideways and arrives late, edges ring, and the tape drops out and loses tracking. Go from a clean SP transfer to a sixth-generation copy.

3presets
26settings
3apps

Same effect, different presets.

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

VHS effect on a portrait of a person with goggles looking up, made with the VHS Tape filter in Filter Archive (SP Transfer preset) — SP Transfer

VHS effect on a portrait of a woman in sunglasses against a blue sky, made with the VHS Tape filter in Filter Archive (Sixth Generation preset) — Sixth Generation

VHS effect on a portrait of a man in black sunglasses, made with the VHS Tape filter in Filter Archive (SP Transfer preset) — SP Transfer

VHS effect on a wide-angle portrait of a woman looking up at the camera, made with the VHS Tape filter in Filter Archive (Tracking Lost preset) — Tracking Lost

VHS effect on a portrait of a woman in headphones holding a CD, made with the VHS Tape filter in Filter Archive (Sixth Generation preset) — Sixth Generation

VHS effect on a portrait of a man in sunglasses on a red background, made with the VHS Tape filter in Filter Archive (SP Transfer preset) — SP Transfer

VHS effect on a portrait of a man with silver hair and red sunglasses, made with the VHS Tape filter in Filter Archive (Tracking Lost preset) — Tracking Lost

Use the VHS 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 VHS Tape 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 VHS Tape and apply it to that layer.

Mac & Windows · Affinity 3

Figma

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

Figma Community

Settings worth touching.

Colour SmearSignal: How much colour detail the tape throws away. This is most of the look.
Colour DelaySignal: How far colour arrives late, to the right of its edge.
Video LinesSignal: The number of lines the picture is locked to. 240 is VHS; 480 is a full frame.

Plus 23 more in the panel, all editable after you pick a preset.

VHS Effect questions.

What is a VHS effect?

A VHS effect recreates the look of video played from an old tape: soft, smeared colour, horizontal noise, colour fringes to one side of edges and tracking glitches.

How do I make a VHS effect in Photoshop?

Open Filter Archive from the Plugins menu and choose VHS Tape. Start from a preset such as SP Transfer or Sixth Generation, 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 VHS Tape 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 VHS Tape?

3 presets: SP Transfer, Sixth Generation and Tracking Lost. Every setting stays editable after you pick one, and you can save a stack of filters to use again.