Pull edges into paint trails
The effect measures luminance above and below each pixel to find horizontal boundaries, then selects a seeded portion of those edges. Selected colors extend downward with decreasing opacity and a controllable trail width, as if the print were rehung before the ink dried.
Drip length is a percentage of image height. Trail spread controls width variation, Edge threshold limits which boundaries qualify, and Drip amount changes how many qualifying positions produce trails.
Keep the subject recognizable
Start with a high edge threshold and moderate amount. This favors silhouettes and strong clothing boundaries over skin texture or background noise. Lower the threshold when smaller surface marks should melt as well.
Long trails can overlap details beneath the subject. Reduce length or spread before lowering amount when the lower half of the image becomes too dense.
Example: melting neon sign
Night shots with bright signage against dark walls are the strongest sources, because every letter edge passes the threshold while the background stays still. Set Edge threshold near 70, Drip length around 30, and a low spread so each letter sheds a few thin, saturated streaks. The dark surroundings hide the trails’ soft tails and make the color pop.
For a portrait, invert the priorities: threshold near 80 so only the jawline and shoulders qualify, length under 15, and a couple of seed changes until no trail starts on the face.
Transparency and layering
Trail tails fade by reducing opacity, so the export is always PNG regardless of the source format. Over a transparent or dark layer in another editor, the fade reads as thinning paint. Flattening onto white shortens the visible trail because the faint tail blends into the background, so judge trail length against the surface where the image will finally sit.