Portrait Slice Effect (Step-and-Repeat Masking + Shift-Move)

Overview

A named, fully manual (no AI, no generative credits) Photoshop compositing technique that produces a "sliced" look on a photo — alternating strips of the image shifted out of alignment — built entirely from ordinary layer, selection, and mask tools. Marketed explicitly as a non-AI alternative to generative slice/glitch effects.

Workflow

Unlock the image (double-click the Background layer, click OK) and duplicate the photo layer (Cmd/Ctrl+J) — the duplicate carries the shift.
Draw one bar shape with the Rectangular Marquee Tool on a new layer and fill it white (Edit > Fill).
Use Step and Repeat (Photoshop Offset-Duplication Technique) to evenly duplicate that bar across the whole image, producing a striped bar layer.
Cmd/Ctrl-click the bar layer's thumbnail to load its shape as a selection, select the duplicated photo layer, and click the layer-mask icon to apply that selection as a mask (see Active Selection Auto-Loads as New Layer Mask) — the bar layer itself can then be hidden.
With the masked photo layer active, use the Move tool and hold Shift while dragging to nudge the masked strips left/right in a straight line, producing the visible slice offset.
Toggle the mask's chain-link to the layer to choose between two distinct looks — see Layer–Mask Chain Link Toggle: Linked vs. Unlinked Move Behavior.

Parameters

Bar thickness (thin vs. thick) is purely aesthetic and doesn't change the underlying process; both can be kept as separate toggleable layers on one file for side-by-side comparison.
Orientation (horizontal vs. vertical bars) likewise doesn't change the mechanism.
Free companion PSD templates (thick/thin × horizontal/vertical) ship pre-built with this layer structure so a viewer can drop in their own photo and reproduce the effect without rebuilding the steps.

Insight

Because the mask is generated from a selection (the bar shape) rather than hand-painted, the bar pattern is swappable without redoing the masking step from scratch — duplicating the layer and loading a differently-sized bar selection yields a new mask (e.g., thick vs. thin) instantly.

Из тем: Photoshop Foundations: Non-Destructive Editing & Selection