This text portrait effect is known as a Calligram.
It's where a passage of text bends and warps around the contours of the subject's face.
This effect is particularly powerful when used to present famous speeches
by depicting the orator through their words.
It could also be used to produce artwork of musicians and their song lyrics, writers and
their stories, poets and their poems, or any other popular figure who is remembered for their words.
In my example, I combine a stock photo of a man with a transcript of the speech from the movie The
American President to create a totally fictional presidential portrait, but this calligram effect
could be ideal to create poster art for the real presidents and world leaders of the past.
The process uses just a small selection of Photoshop's tools,
with the Displace filter and a clipping mask being the key ingredients to making the effect.
This stock photo of a confident businessman is from Envato Elements,
the creative library I use myself.
Envato Elements provides unlimited downloads of all the creative assets
you need under one flexible, budget-friendly subscription.
Not only does it include stock images like this, you also get access to millions of
graphics, fonts, effects, actions, video templates and even royalty free music.
You can even find toolkits to create this very text portrait effect with the click of a button!
Follow the link in the description to
get a discount off your annual Envato Elements subscription.
Open your chosen image and crop it around the head.
This stock image is pretty big,
so I'm shrinking it down slightly with the Image Size menu to a 2000px width.
Go to Select > Subject to make a quick and easy selection around the head.
Go to Select > Inverse so the white background is selected.
Add a new layer and fill it with the default
black foreground colour using the ALT+Backspace shortcut.
Then go to Select > Deselect.
Add a Black and White adjustment layer, followed by a Brightness and Contrast adjustment layer.
Max out the Contrast, then bring down the brightness. We're looking for a
nice balance between the darkest and lightest parts of the image.
Go to Layer > Merge Visible,
but hold the ALT key while clicking to create the merged copy on a new layer.
Convert this layer into a Smart Object, then give it the name of Displacement Map. This is
the reference image that will be used with the Displace filter in a moment.
Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and enter around 10px. Adding a subtle blur will help to
soften the warping of the text, otherwise it will be harshly deformed over every little detail.
Go to File > Save a Copy and save this Displacement Map file as a
PSD. We'll reference this file later with the Displace filter.
Turn off the visibility of this Displacement Map layer now we're done with it.
Next we need to process our quote or speech into a large wall of text with
no line breaks. Delete any spacing in a text editor, then select all and copy.
Back in Photoshop, use the Text tool to draw a
large text box over the entire canvas. Paste in the text and format the font.
I'm using a bold geometric sans named Proxima Nova. You can activate it in
Photoshop using the link in the description.
Use the uppercase style and set the font size and line height so
the words are tightly packed with no large gaps.
If the text doesn’t completely fill the image,
simply copy and paste the contents to fill out the required space.
It can help to extend the size of the text box slightly beyond the edges of
the canvas so the words flow on and off the page.
To create the warping effect, go to Filter > Distort > Displace. Choose
to convert the text layer to a Smart Object.
Use 10 as the scaling, but I'll show you the difference this setting makes in a moment.
Then navigate to the displacement map file we saved.
You can see the passage of text has been warped and deformed around the
contours of the subject's face, based on the greyscale tones of the image.
If you double click the Displace filter under the
Smart Object layer you can edit the settings. Try a scale of 20 instead.
The text is now warped too much and is stretched in places, but depending on
the size or contrast of your artwork, a higher or lower scale might be necessary.
Drag this text layer right to the bottom of the layer stack, then hold the ALT key and
click between the original subject and the black outline layers to turn them into Clipping Masks.
Those layers will only be visible within the area of the text,
so the subject is now entirely made out of tiny letters.
It's a little difficult to see until a black background layer is added. Place a new layer
to the bottom of the layer stack and fill it with black using the ALT+Backspace shortcut.
The black outline layer is hiding the text around the subject. Reduce
its opacity to bring back the text in this area. 0% will make the text bright white,
but a 50-60% opacity will make the text a mid-grey.
As an optional finishing touch, add a Gradient Map
adjustment layer to inject some colour into an otherwise black and white image.
Set up the two halves of the gradient with contrasting colours to create a duotone effect,
which can help to add a certain mood or emotion to the artwork.