Hi. This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV. I'm going to show you how to create this powerful,
glossy, black text effect and then, how to replace it quickly and painlessly. I provided
this texture for you to download, so you can follow along. It's located in the video description
or project files. I downloaded it from cgtextures dot com. Make a copy of it by pressing Ctrl
+ J on Windows or Cmd + J on a Mac. Click off the eyeball next to the copy to
temporarily hide the layer and click the thumbnail of the background to make it active. We'll
darken it by adjusting its Levels. Press Ctrl or Cmd + L to open the Levels window. For
the Highlight Output level, type in 100. For the Shadow Input, type in 90... then, click
OK. Make Layer 1, visible and active. Click the
Layer Mask icon to make a layer mask next to the active layer. Invert it by pressing
Ctrl or Cmd + I. Your image looks dark again because the black layer mask is masking out
or hiding the the layer that's next to it.
We're going to brush white over the layer mask to reveal the lighter background over
the darker background. Open your Brush Tool and make sure the Hardness
is 0%. We'll adjust the size in a moment. Reduce the Opacity to 50% and press Enter
or Return. Press the F5 key at the top of your keyboard to open the Brush Tip Shape
panel. Make sure nothing is checked except Smoothing. Press F5 again to close the panel.
To increase the size of your brush, press
the Right bracket key. Keep pressing it until your brush is approximately the height of
your document. Then, left-click twice. Go to the left a bit and left-click once.
Repeat this on the right. We're ready to set out text. Open your Horizontal
Type Tool and choose a font. I'm using Abaddon II Regular. If you'd like to use it, I provided
its link, as well. I'll make the size 250 points, Sharp and Center Alignment. The color
is irrelevant, since we're going to replace the color with a gradient overlay.
Type out your text. To center it on your document, click your Move Tool and press Ctrl or Cmd
+ A to select it all. Then, press the Align Horizontal Centers icon......and the Align
Vertical Centers icon. To deselect it, press Ctrl or Cmd + D.
Click the "fx" icon and choose Gradient Overlay. The Blend Mode is Normal and the Style is
Linear. Make sure "Align with Layer" is checked and make the Angle: 90 degrees. Click the
gradient bar and click the Black/White preset. Click below the gradient bar to add a color
Stop. Type in 50% for its Location. This will place the Stop in the center of the gradient.
Click the color box and for Brightness, type in 70%. Then, click OK.
Click the lower, right Stop and for the Location, type in 90%. Click the color box again and
for Brightness, type in 45%. Click the lower, left Stop to create this tiny icon in the middle. Drag it to the
right as far as it'll go. Make another Stop and for the
Location, type in 35%. Click the color box and for the Brightness, this time, type in 45%. Click on
the the small diamond icon to create another Stop and for its Location, type in 20%. Click
the color box and for Brightness, type in 40%. Then, click OK on both windows.
Click Satin. Change the Blend Mode to Color Burn...the Opacity is 50% and change the Angle
to 160 degrees. The Distance is 5 pixels. Open Contour and check the first preset. Make
the Size: Zero. Make sure Invert is checked, as well as Anti-Alias.
Check Bevel and Emboss and check Contour. The Style is Inner Bevel and the Technique
is Chisel Hard. The Depth is 300% and the Direction is UP. The Size is 3 pixels, the
Angle is 120 degrees and the Altitude is 30 degrees. The Highlight Mode is Color Dodge
and its Opacity is 75%. The Shadow mode is Multiply and its opacity is also 75%.
Click Inner Glow. The Blend Mode is Color Dodge and the Opacity is 37%. Click the color
box and pick a bright color for your bevel's accent. I'm picking a bright aqua color:
0 0 F F E A. The Technique is Softer, the Source is Edge, the Choke is 0 and the Size is 8
pixels. Open Contour and click the lower, left preset.
Click Stroke. The Size is 3 pixels, the Position is Inside and the Fill Type is Gradient. Click
the gradient bar. Click the gear icon and choose Metals. When this warning appears,
click OK, so we can see just the Metals gradient in the Preset window. Choose the Steel Bar
preset and click OK. Click Drop Shadow. The Blend Mode is Multiply,
the Opacity is 50% and the Angle is 120 degrees. Make the Distance is 5 pixels and the Size is 5
pixels. Then, click OK. Next, we're going to add deeper drop shadows.
First, we'll convert it into a Smart Object, so we can change the text and even the font
without having to redo the effects that we'll be adding onto it. I'll show you an example
later. Click the icon at the upper, right of the Layers panel and click "Convert to
Smart Object". Click the "fx" icon and choose Drop Shadow.
The Blend Mode is Multiply and the Opacity is 50%. Make the Distance: 25 pixels and the
Size: 30 pixels. Make a copy of it and double-click on Drop
Shadow to open it in the Layer Style window. Increase the Distance to 50 pixels and click OK.
If you're working on version CC 2014, I'll show you a simple way to add a
bevel with inward, curved corners. But first, if you're working on an earlier version of
Photoshop, I'll show you how to add a simple, rectangular bevel into the metal background.
Make the lighter background active. We'll
create a new layer above it by clicking the New Layer icon. Open your Rectangular Marquee
Tool and drag a rectangular selection over your text. Go to Edit and Stroke. Make the
Width: 8 pixels and the Position: Inside.
To deselect it, press Ctrl or Cmd + D. Reduce the Fill to Zero. This makes the border disappear,
but it it'll still retain any effects that we add to it will be visible. Double-click the border layer
to open its Layer Style window. Click Bevel and Emboss, the Technique is Chisel Hard,
the Direction is Down and the Size is 5 pixels. Then, click OK. Reduce the Opacity of the
border to 80%. To center it, use the same steps as you did earlier. To review, click your Move
Tool, press Ctrl or Cmd + A to select it all and click the Align Centers icons. Then, deselect it.
If you're working on version CC 2014, make
the lighter background visible and make a new layer above it. Go to Edit and Fill. Choose
Pattern, check Scripted Patterns and choose Picture Frame. Then, click OK.
The Frame window will appear. Open the flyout list of frames and choose "Inverse Rounded
Corners". I'll make the Margin: 25, the Size: 1, the Thickness: 35 and the Angle: 25. When
When you've entered your settings, press Enter or Return.
Make the Fill: Zero and double-click the border to open its Layer Style window. Click Bevel
and Emboss. Use the same settings as we had for the other border. The Style is Inner Bevel
and the Technique is Chisel Hard. The Direction is Down and the Size is 5 pixels. Reduce the
Opacity to 80%. If you want to change the text, double-click
the thumbnail of any Smart Object to open it. If we want it to be a longer word, we
first need to widen the Canvas, which is represented by the light, checkerboard background behind
the text. Go to Image and Canvas Size. Change the Inches to Percent and for the Width, type
in 150. You can always increase it later to fit your text. Then, click OK.
Double-click the large "T" of the thumbnail to highlight the text and type your new word.
Click the checkmark to accept it and then, click the small "x" on the right side of the
Smart Object tab. When you see this warning, click Yes to save the changes.
Immediately, your text is updated with all the effects and deep drop shadows. To widen
the border, click the border layer to make it active and open your Transform Tool by
pressing Ctrl or Cmd + T. Go to the middle of one of the sides and when you see a horizontal,
double-arrow, hold down Shift + Alt on Windows or Shift + Option on a Mac as you drag out
the Transform. Then, press Enter or Return.
This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV. Thanks for watching!