Hi. This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV. I'm going to show you how to make this mysterious,
overlapping shadow text and add a reflection. Create a new document
by pressing Ctrl + N on Windows or Cmd +N on a Mac. I'll make its size 1550 by 870 pixels with a resolution
of 150 pixels per inch. I want the Background Contents to be black and since black is my
background color, I'll click Background Color and click OK. Open your Horizontal Type Tool
and pick a thick, heavy font. I'm using a font called, "Baby Teeth". If you'd like to
use it, I provided its link in the video description or project files. I'll choose a size of 175
points. You may want to choose a larger or smaller point size depending on the amount
of characters in your word. Choose Sharp...Center Alignment...and White for the color. Go to
View and make sure "Snap" is not checked. Go the the right, middle of your screen and
type the first letter of your word. We'll make copies of the character. The amount of
copies depends on the number of characters in your word. For example, the word I'll be
using is "Shadow". There are six letters in Shadow and since the first letter is already
typed out, I'll make 5 copies for a total of 6 layers. I'll click the "T" and press
Ctrl or Cmd +J, five times. Click the "T" of the bottom text layer to make it active, go
to the character and press and hold "Shift" as you drag it all the way to the left. Pressing
"Shift" keeps it aligned to the other characters. Click on the next layer above it, go to the
character on the right and as before, press and hold Shift as you drag it across. Repeat
these steps for each layer.
Double-click on the name of the top layer and type in the last character of your word. Double-click on the second layer and type in the second
to the last character. Continue to re-name each layer, so your word is spelled in reverse.
Click on the "T" of the bottom text layer to make the layer active. Click on the "fx"
icon and click "Gradient Overlay". The Blend Mode is "Normal"...the Opacity is 100%...and
the Style is "Linear". Click the Gradient bar and click the Black-to-White thumbnail. Then, click OK.
Make the Angle, 180 degrees and click OK. To duplicate the effect to the other characters,
press and hold Alt on Windows or Option on a Mac as you drag the "fx" icon to each layer.
Double-click on the "T" of the top layer to highlight the character and type the last
character or letter of your word. Double-click on the "T" of the next character and type
in the second to the last character of your word. Continue to double-click on each layer
and type in its corresponding character. Next, we'll adjust the spacing or the "kerning"
of the characters. Make sure your second character is active and open your Move Tool. Press your
Left arrow key on your keyboard to slide it to the left. We'll slide the third character
to the left by making its layer active and pressing the Left arrow key. Continue to kern
each one until your happy with the overlap. Next, we'll add a reflection. First, let's
group all the text layers into a folder. To do this, scroll down and Shift-click on the
bottom text layer to highlight it and all the layers above it. Then, press Ctrl or Cmd
+G. Now, drag your text to the center of your document. Make a copy of the folder and drag
it below the original folder. Name it, "Reflection" and name the top layer, "Text". Make the Reflection
folder active. Go to Edit, Transform and Flip Vertical. Press and hold Shift as you drag
the copy down until the edges touch. Reduce the opacity to 25%. Click on the Layer Mask
icon to make a layer mask next to the Reflection folder. Make sure your Gradient icon
is on and your Linear Gradient is chosen. Click the Gradient bar and the lower, left
"Stop". Click the Color box and type in 333 to pick a 20% grey. Then, click OK on both
windows. Go the the bottom of the shadow and press and hold Shift as you drag up the Gradient
line to the top of the shadow. Next, we'll add another word in a different, but complimentary
font. Make the top layer active. Open your Horizontal Type Tool and choose a font. I'm
using an ultra-thin, condensed font called, "Nova Light Ultra SSi". If you'd like to use
it, I provided its link, as well. I'll make the size, 53 points. Type out your text. To
center it over your other word, click on your Move Tool and press Ctrl or Cmd + A and then,
press the Align Horizontal Centers icon. To delete the selection, press Ctrl or Cmd +D.
I'd like to slide the word down a bit, so I'll press the Down arrow on my keyboard.
The last step is to add a Linear gradient to the word. Click the Layer mask icon to
make a layer mask next to the top word. Press "G" on your keyboard to open the Gradient
Tool and press and hold Shift as you drag up the gradient line to the top of the word.
This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV. Thanks for watching!