Photoshop Text Effects
By tennis8668
This tutorial is mainly for text effects, but they can be applied to any layer, not just text.
What we want:
Set-Up:
First you will need a good font. Practically all of the defaults are plain old boringness, so to add some zest to your artwork, go to http://www.dafont.com to download some very cool fonts on your mac or PC. In this example I used VTS Rock Garage Band.
Getting Ready:
Make sure when you create the new image, you use rgb color, not greyscale.
Open the new document and type whatever in your chosen font. Photoshop will automatically make it a new layer, so don't worry about having to do it manually. It will also save it as text, and not just pixels, so you can go back and edit it later.
Explanation:
OK, your text must look pretty boring right now. Even if you're using an absolutely awesome font, it is still just one color, doesn't have any shadows or gradients or whatever, NADA. Lets change that, shall we?
Double-click on the layer your text is on, or highlight it and click the FX button on the bottom of the layers window.
A menu should pop up with some general settings. You will see on the sidebar on the left that you can add gradients, drop shadows, bevels and embosses, borders (called "strokes"), color overlays, textures, pattern overlays, and more. Pretty sweet huh?
In the example, I used the following:
-Strokes
-Bevels and Embosses
-Gradients
-Drop Shadows
I definitely abused the effects, but that is because it was my first text with understanding how to use layer effects :P
--Strokes
A stroke is basically a colored border around everything in the layer individually. You can edit the thickness of the stroke by changing the number that says "px width" or something along those lines. Play around with it to get a feel for how it works.
You can change the color of the stroke by clicking on the box of color and moving the pointer on the popup color wheel.
--Bevel and Emboss
Well, I'm not really sure what Bevel and Emboss litterally means, but I know that it basically allows you to give the layer a 3D look, whether it be a slight shadow within the text or a press-down feeling with the pillow emboss, or more.
In the example, I used a pillow emboss. Change the type of emboss it is by clicking on the menu scroll bar thing and selecting a different style. Play around with the other effects to see what they do.
--Gradients
Well, this is a really important part of making nice text. A gradient is where you make one part of the image a certain color, and another part another color, and Photoshop will make all the pixels in between fade from color A to color B.
For example, suppose my two colors are black and white. I go to the layer effects -> gradients and check the box, adding a gradient. The default gradient angle is completely vertical (360 degrees). So, the very top of my text would be white, the bottom would be black, and the middle will be grey. The grey turns darker in shade as it nears the bottom (which is black), and vice versa for white.
IMPORTANT: A Common Problem
ZOMG I ADDED THE GRADIENT AND IT TOOK AWAY THE COLOR AND JUST MADE IT BLACK AND WHITE!?!?!?!?
Don't panic! This is because the default gradient style is just standard gradient. What you have to do is change the style to "Overlay" the same way we changed the Bevel and Emboss styles -- by clicking on the scroll bar and selecting a new style.
There! Now it works. Suppose your text color was red. It should now be a light red at the top, and a dark red at the bottom. Pretty spiffy, huh?
You can also do different kinds of gradients. The default is just go from color A to B and make everything fade in-between, but you can make it so it starts dark, gets very light in the middle, and then goes back to dark. Or you could use the rainbow gradient (that's what I used in the example). Or the other ones. Try 'em out to get a feel for the different effects.
Keep in mind that you can change the angle of the gradient by dragging the line on the circle diagram to a different positon.
--Drop Shadows
This is a final touch of spiffiness to your already beautiful text. It adds a shadow under your text that makes it look like it pops out.
You can change the opacity of the shadow by dragging the arrow up and down the scale.
You can change the angle of the shadow like we changed the angle of the gradient - by dragging the line on the circle diagram to a different place.
There you have it, people. All the photoshop spiffiness you could ever ask for! Well, maybe not, but this took me a while to write, so appreciate it :P
This guide is by tennis8668 of The Spriting Shack Forums. Only he may post this guide on sites he chooses. You may not use this guide on your site without tennis8668's explicit permission.
|
