In this video, I'm going to show you how to create the neon text effect in Photoshop.
Welcome back to another very exciting tutorial here at the Photoshoptrainingchannel.com.
My name is Jesus Ramirez, and you can find me on Instagram @jrfromptc.
In this video, I'm going to show you how to use layer styles to create a neon sign text
effect.
And then, I'm going to show you how to change the color of the neon sign by using adjustment
layers.
Okay, let's get started.
I'm going to start by selecting the type tool, and then I'm going to select a font called
Proxima Nova, you can download it from Adobe Type Kit, and I'm going to select Bold.
And I'm just going to click in the center and type the word "neon."
And here's a trick for you, if you press Ctrl A, Command A on the Mac, to select all, then
press the V key on the keyboard to select the move tool, you have access to the align
buttons in the options bar.
So, you can select this button to align vertically and this one to align horizontally.
So, we have the text right in the center.
Then you can press Ctrl D, Command D, to deselect, and we can press Ctrl T, Command T, to transform,
and hold shift and Alt, click-and-drag to scale up in proportion, and this is Shift
and Option on the Mac.
I'm going to hit enter to commit the changes, and this is the text that we're going to work
with.
We only want to work with the outline of the text, so let me show you how we can create
that.
I'm going to double-click to the side of the layer and bring up the layer style window.
We're going to add a stroke to this text, so I'm going to click on stroke, and we're
going to select a white stroke.
And we'll change the position to outside because we want it outside of the text.
And I'm going to increase that to about maybe 12 pixels.
And, if you go into the blending option, you can reduce the Fill Opacity, and this is the
result that we want.
We want that outline, but it's not going to quite work just yet.
So, let me show you what to do.
I'm going to press "OK," then I'm going to right-click to the side of the layer where
it says FX and select "Create Layer."
So, it's going to create a layer based on that effect, but it also has the original
fill pixel.
So, what I'm going to do is I'm just going to press Ctrl, Command on the Mac, click on
the type layer to make a selection out of the original text, then select the new layer
that was created out of the layer style.
And then just hit the backspace key, that's the delete key on the Mac, to delete those
pixels.
And now we're left with only the stroke, and that's what we want to work with in this tutorial.
Ctrl D, Command D, to deselect.
So, we don't really need the original text anymore.
So, I'm just going to leave that layer off and work with this layer.
And what we're going to do is apply different layer styles that are going to create that
neon effect.
So, I'm going to zoom in by double tapping on the hand tool, that will fit the image
to screen, and maybe I'll even zoom in just a little bit closer so that we can see what
we're actually going to be doing.
Then I'm going to double-click to the side of the layer to bring up the Layer Style window,
and I'm just going to place this right up here, so we can see a lot of the text, and
then see the different layer styles that we're going to apply.
We're going to start with color overlay, which is going to overlay a color onto that stroke,
and I'm going to double-click on the color [inaudible 00:03:29] here to bring up the
color picker.
And the color that we want is this pinkish magenta color, a color right around this color
that you see here.
And just I'm going to copy it so that I can keep using it.
So, I'm going to right-click on that color, select "copy," and press "okay."
So, now we have that as our main color.
And maybe I'll bring down the opacity just a little bit to about 80%.
Then, select "outer glow," and we're going to use the same color.
So, I'm going to double-click here to bring up the color picker and just paste that same
color we selected a moment ago, and press "okay."
We're going to change the blending mode to "linear dodge add," and we're going to increase
the opacity.
Then, I'm going to change the spread to maybe about 10 and increase the size as well, or
go up to 25, and we'll increase the range all the way to 100%.
Then, we'll add an inner glow.
We'll increase the opacity to about 80%, increase the size, we'll go to 5.
And, by the way, I'm using white as my glow color.
Then, I'm going to add a stroke, and I'm going to reset it to default, and I'm going do a
stroke that's about 4 pixels.
And I want this outside.
And, instead of color, I'm going to choose gradient, and we're going to do a gradient
that's got four stops.
First, I'm just going to create a stop here in the center.
You see where it says "location?"
You can just type in 50, and that will put it right in the center.
I can double-click on this first one here and then paste that color that we selected
earlier in the video.
And then, we can use variations of that color for the other color stops.
So, I'm going to past that color in there, and I'm going to make a darker color.
So, I'm just going to select the B input box here for brightness and just press the down
key to make that darker.
So, I'm just trying to find the right darkness for that.
So, maybe right about here.
And then, I'm going to make one more stop right next to that one.
And I'll paste that original color, and that one maybe.
I'm going to move over to the left a little bit just to make it a little bit brighter,
sort of like that, and I'll add the location at 50 for that one as well.
And instead of this one being white, we'll use that same color that we started with and
maybe just a little bit brighter.
Maybe something like this.
And now that I'm looking at it, I think it might be a little too bright.
So, I'm just going to make this one darker, so I'm just going to come down here, maybe
right there.
And this one, I think, may be a little too bright, so I'll make it darker.
So, I'm just now looking at the different colors here and trying to get a better effect.
And you can we're creating this line here in the center.
And that's looking pretty good, so I'm going to press "okay."
And now, to finalize the effect, I'm going to the bevel and emboss, and this is what's
really going to help us create that neon tube effect.
Make sure that you have "inner bevel" selected, smooth depth of 100, and we're going to increase
the size of this bevel to about 15, we'll go to 20 pixels.
I'm just going to type in 20, to 20.
Soften, you can leave that at zero, and I'm going to change the angle of this a little
bit.
So, the angle, I'll go right about here, 130.
We'll make it 120, and I'll make the altitude 25.
And now you'll see how this is looking more like a tube, which is what we want, and I'm
going to change the gloss contour to give it a different shape.
And I'm just going to click on this preset here.
See that?
So, this is before and after.
You can see that glowing effect there inside that we're creating.
I'm going to change the highlight mode to normal and bump that up to 100.
Then, the shadow mode, I'm going to change it to normal as well, and I'm going to paste
that color that we've been working with, and we're just going to use a lighter version
of that, maybe something like that.
So, that's before and after.
And if the effect is a little too strong, you can always come back and make adjustments.
So, I'm thinking the size might be a little too much.
So, I'm just going to bring it down to maybe 10 pixels.
And, when you're done, you can press "okay."
And I'm going to zoom out so that we can see our effect.
If you want the neon sign to be a different color, just create a new hue and saturation
adjustment layer, and then adjust the hue, and you can see the neon sign in different
colors.
And, by the way, if you use these techniques to create something, don't forget to share
it on Instagram with the hashtag #ptcvids.
I often look for that hashtag to see what you're all up to.
And that's it for this tutorial.
I hope that you enjoyed it and that you learned something new.
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Thank you so much for watching, and I will talk to you again next time.