PS Online Tutorial: Douyin-Style Celebrity Poster

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The skeleton of a Douyin-style celebrity poster is offset plus clashing color. Start a new canvas, duplicate the layer and split it into channels, nudge red, green and blue apart for the glitch feel, then layer on color and line accents before setting the type. The same recipe works for portrait or landscape formats in Online PS.

1️⃣ Getting set up

  1. Open the Online PS editor and click File → New in the top left (or press Ctrl+Alt+N).
    Set the canvas to 210 mm × 297 mm (A4), resolution 72 dpi, color mode RGB, background contents White, then click Create.
  2. Bring in the celebrity photo you want as your subject (say, Jay Chou) via File → Open, or drag it straight into Photoshop.
  3. Back on the new A4 canvas, use File → Place Embedded… (or Ctrl+Shift+P) and choose the photo you just opened.
    Apply the rule of thirds (leave roughly 1/6 of the frame as margin on the left, right, top and bottom to give the composition more tension), confirm, and the image becomes a layer — rename that layer Jay Chou.

2️⃣ Creating and duplicating layers

  1. Select the Jay Chou layer and press Ctrl+J three times to get three identical layers. Rename them R, G and B in order (you can delete or hide the original).
  2. Each of the R, G and B layers gets its own channel mix settings in the next step, which is what sets up the color channel offset.

3️⃣ Channel mixing (RGB offset)

This is the key step behind the "glitchy color fringe" look you see in so many Douyin short videos.

  1. Select the R layer → right-click → Blending Options… → open Advanced Blending on the left of the dialog → in the Channels row, check R (keep the red channel only).
  2. Likewise, keep only the G channel on the G layer and only the B channel on the B layer.
  3. Move the R layer 7 px to the left and the G layer 7 px to the right (leave B where it is), using V (Move tool) with the arrow keys or simply dragging.
    The image now shows a slight color offset, like a preview of a broken TV signal.
Tip: for a stronger "signal failure" feel, push the offset to 10–15 px, or nudge the B layer left and right as well (say ±2 px) — just make sure the overall color doesn't end up looking washed out.

4️⃣ Displacement — breaks and short circuits

  1. In the Layers panel, select the R, G and B layers and press Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E (Merge Visible to New Layer) to get one merged layer; name it Displace.
  2. With the Displace layer selected, use the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) to draw several selections at random across the image (varying sizes, loosely scattered).
    When you're done, switch to the Move tool (V) and drag each selection a few pixels left or right to create that shattered, short-circuit look.
  3. Optional: apply filters such as Filter → Distort → Wave or Filter → Pixelate → Mosaic to the Displace layer (or parts of it) for extra glitch texture.
    Start with a gentle Wave (amplitude around 5–10), then switch to Mosaic with a cell size of 3–5, and fine-tune by eye against the whole image.
  4. When all the displacement is done, deselect (Ctrl+D) and check the overall result. If the fragments feel too dense and clutter the image, remove a few with the Eraser or a Mask.
Balancing density: start with large displacements (5–6 rectangles about 150 px wide and tall) to establish the overall silhouette, then slot small ones (20–30 px) between them — that gives the image both punch and depth.

5️⃣ Color and accents

  1. Create a new blank layer above the Displace layer with Shift+Ctrl+N → confirm.
    Press Ctrl+Delete (or set the foreground color to #f018cd in the Color panel and fill) to fill the layer with that color.
    Set the layer's blending mode to Overlay and its opacity to 85 % to wash a soft magenta over the whole image, giving the glitch more atmosphere.
  2. Create another blank layer with Shift+Ctrl+N → choose Pattern as the fill contents, click Custom Pattern and pick Horizontal Lines (or a line pattern you downloaded; the default "Grid" will do if you have nothing else).
    Set this layer's blending mode to Linear Burn and its opacity to 8 % to add a fine line texture, like the scan lines of an old TV.
Alternative palettes:
  • For a cooler look, change the foreground color to #0ddff5 (pale blue) and keep using Overlay.
  • For a warmer look, use #ff9326 (orange) the same way.

6️⃣ Typography

Type is the soul of a poster. The example below uses "Jay Chou" and "Nocturne" — swap in any artist name or title you like.

  1. Create a type layer (T) and type Jay Chou. A common sans serif works well (Source Han Sans, or the Douyin favourite "PingFang SC Medium"); size around 96 pt (adjust to your canvas), color pure white #ffffff or a slightly glowing #ffde00, aligned center.
    Use Layer → Layer Style → Outer Glow with color #ff018c (pink) and size around 30 px to add depth.
  2. Create another type layer and type RED SUN (or the Chinese title "Nocturne"), size around 48 pt, in the same white or a metallic #ffd700 (gold), and skew it along the text path (Edit → Transform → Perspective) to make it more dynamic.
  3. To add depth, draw two thin lines behind the type (Shape → Line) in #f018cd (same as the overlay layer above), blending mode Overlay, opacity lowered to about 30 %, placed freely like decorative scan lines.
  4. Adjust the overall layout: keep the celebrity portrait (the main layer) behind the type layer but not hidden by it, and place text in the empty areas or add a subtle shadow for readability.
Layout tips:
  • Use the Align tools (Window → Align) to centre the text horizontally or vertically in one click.
  • For an interleaved text-and-image effect, set the type layer's blending mode to Screen, or move the type layer below the Displace layer for semi-transparent "glitch text".

7️⃣ Exporting

  1. Once positions, colors and text all check out, save a PSD first so you can edit later (Ctrl+Shift+S → choose PSD).
  2. Export a file for social platforms:
    File → Export As → PNG (or JPEG), keeping the size at 210 mm × 297 mm (72 dpi) and quality at 90 %+ (JPEG).
    If you're posting to Douyin (vertical), convert it to a 1080 × 1920 px portrait canvas with Image → Image Size, or enter the dimensions manually in File → Export As → PNG.
  3. Done! Upload the finished image straight to Douyin, Weibo or any other platform, add music, and you have a high-impact celebrity poster 🎉

References

  • Online PS
  • Adobe official documentation
  • PS tutorial sites
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