Final Image Preview

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Time to get all wound up! Start up C4D and open the scene you created in Part I.

Step 52

First we’re going to use a few free materials from the web. You’re going to have to register to be able to grab these, but it’s free and totally worth it! The first one is a brushed metal material. After you download it, open it. You’ll have an empty scene and you can find it inside the Materials Menu. While having the mouse pointer over it, copy it.

Step 53

Paste it into our type scene and double-click on its icon from the Material Menu. Inside the Editor, make a few changes to the following tabs. The first one is Diffuse A.

Step 54

Then change Specular 1 A.

Step 55

Change the Intensity of the Specular 2 A to 20%.

Step 56

From specular 3 A, change the color, size and glare.

Step 57

To apply a material to an object drag it onto one inside the scene, or over a layer from the Objects panel.

Step 58

Place this metal texture over the rest of the word as well.

Step 59

The dots that come from the letter will also have a metal casing. We’ll create a different appearance for the rest.

Step 60

It’s time for a new material. I know it’s strange to modify a wood texture into a bronze surface, but with a few tweaks, it should fool most people. Download this material and place it in the scene. This material comes with a texture, or image. This means that it will have to be linked to this texture the whole time. All you need to do is add a reflection with the same texture, so activate the Reflection tab and find it inside the download folder.

Step 61

Drag it over center loop.

Step 62

Place it over all all the remaining objects of the first letter.

Step 63

And finally, add it over the rest of the word.

Step 64

The final material we’re going to use for this scene is gold. Get this material and make one simple change. Switch the Color to black.

Step 65

We want this material to appear only on the front of certain objects. Drag it over the diamond and change the Selection to C1. While C1 is the front face, C2 is the back. You can also use R1 and R2 as selections, but not for this tutorial.

Step 66

Place this material over the following objects.

Step 67

With the type all done, it’s time to make a final render. You’ll need to bring up the Render Settings (Command + B) and from the General tab, use the settings shown below.

Step 68

Next is Output. Here you can change the render size and aspect ratio.

Step 69

Check the Save Image box and don’t forget to specify a path. Also, by clicking on the Alpha Channel, you get to use it to make a quick selection of the content in Photoshop.

Step 70

And finally, change the Antialiasing settings to the ones shown below. You should calibrate these according to what your computer can handle, or how much time you’re willing to wait.

Step 71

Hit Shift + R to render it in a new window. This might take a while.

Step 72

Once you have the file saved, open it in Photoshop. Bring up the Channels menu and Command-click on the Alpha 1 icon. This will make a selection of the content.

Step 73

Go back to the Layer Menu, and double-click on the background layer. Give it a name if you like, and press OK. Add a quick mask by clicking on the highlighted icon.

Step 74

We’ll now create a different background so create a new layer, and move it underneath the “Type” layer inside the Layers panel. Change the foreground color to #aaaaa9 and background color to #403c3b. Drag a radial gradient with the Gradient Tool from the center out to the top-right corner.

Step 75

Now we’re going to create the slots for each letter. Start with the bottom of the first letter. Follow the inner edge of the border and trace a vector shape with the Pen Tool. The color is irrelevant.

Step 76

You’ll now need a Small version of this clockwork image. I bet I’ll read comments about the gears not being able to physically fit inside the casing, but that’s not the point. You can use whatever mechanism image you like. Once you’ve pasted it over the shape, press Command + T, hold Command and drag each endpoint until it has a skewed appearance. Keep in mind that you have to match the perspective of the letter.

Step 77

Once you’ve done that, press Enter and Command + Alt + G to make it a clipping mask.

Step 78

Use the Clone Stamp Tool (S) to expand parts of the image that are missing. First of all, make a selection of an even surface (Alt-click), and then paint the top and bottom of the mechanism.

Step 79

Command-click on the layer icon to make a selection of the layer, and go to Select > Modify > Expand. Enlarge the selection by 1 pixel and press OK.

Step 80

With the active selection, give it a layer mask and make it a clipping mask.

Step 81

Release the clipping mask (Command + Alt + G) now and delete the shape.

Step 82

To give it an extra bit of realism, add an Inner Shadow (Layer > Layer Style > Drop Shadow). The shadow color is #282020.

Step 83

Let’s give the image a bit more contrast. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves. After you create a similar curve, press OK and make it a clipping mask.

Step 84

In the same way, create a Hue & Saturation Adjustment Layer with -25 Saturation. Make this a clipping mask as well.

Step 85

And for a final bit of realism, let’s add a glass cover. Glass is transparent, but not perfectly transparent. You can also see it’s there by glares that appear from light sources, so let’s use these two concepts to create a Reflected Gradient (G) with black and white.

After you create one on a new layer, Make it a clipping mask.

Finally, drag the Opacity to 30%.

Step 86

Repeat the process for the remaining layers.

Step 87

This can take quite a long time, but is great for adding rich detail and making it more realistic.

Step 88

Download this pipe image and cut it out from its background with the Pen Tool (P). I’ve placed the pipe in a place that fits the perspective of the letter, but not the lighting unfortunately. The darker side of this image is near our light source, so you should normally find a different photo. But this is a tutorial after all, and with the sole purpose of learning, so it will work for now.

Step 89

Next, we’re going to make a series of Adjustment Layers to change the appearance of the pipe. The first one is Curves.

Step 90

Change the contrast again with a second Curves Adjustment Layer.

Step 91

The higher contrast has also intensified the colors, so bring down some of the Saturation.

Step 92

Now you’ll need a pen tablet to create a few highlights, visible here on black.

Once you’ve painted those on a separate layer, drag the Opacity to 70%.

Step 93

Duplicate the pipe and place it on the top of the third letter. Flip it and erase the top.

Step 94

Another image that we’ll use in this tutorial is this gauge photo. Fortunately, the perspective is spot on, so just cut it out of the background.

Step 95

Make it smaller and place it in the center of the diamond.

Step 96

To add a bit of contrast to the background, we’ll darken the gradient. Create a new blank layer (Command + Shift + N) and drag the layer opacity to 45%. Now reset the color selection (D) and fill the layer with black (Alt + Backspace).

Step 97

Next with a pen tablet, use the Brush Tool (B) to paint a few soft cloud-like shapes.

Step 98

On a layer above these, create a Gradient Map Adjustment Layer. Use these colors for left (#676767) and right (#e6d7c8). Don’t make this a clipping mask. Change the Blending Mode to Overlay.

Step 99

A final stock image that you need is this sky photo. No need to resize it, just move it around until you find a nice stream. Change the Blending Mode to Overlay and Opacity to 70%.

Step 100

Reset your foreground and background colors (D) and create a Gradient Map Adjustment Layer. Press OK and Command + Alt + G.

Step 101

Create a few more soft glows in the back.

Step 102

Now create a new layer above all the other ones and while keeping track of the light source, add highlights to all the elements.

Step 103

Create yet another layer and draw some steam. Use mostly white, but black too.

Here’s a close-up of the steam. I’ve used a pretty large brush size, but you’ll also need a small one to add detail.

Step 104

Let’s add a light reflection to the entire text. Locate the “Type” layer and add a Bevel and Emboss Layer Style.

Step 105

Now let’s make a few color adjustments to the scene. Over the top layer, add a Selective Color Adjustment Layer. Use these settings for Whites and Neutrals.

Step 106

Now add a Channel Mixer and find the Black & White with Orange Filter from the drop-down menu. Press OK, change the Blending Mode to Overlay and Opacity to 35%.

Step 107

And finally, add a Selective Color Adjustment Layer. Find the Blacks and input the values shown below.

Final Result

Believe it or not, we’re through with the second half of this tutorial! It’s been quite the trip, but three programs later, and this steampunk type is ready to blow off some steam. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this tutorial, and managed to complete it without any hiccups! Have a great day!

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Introduction

In this type treatment, I sought to bring together a Blackletter font with the alluring Steampunk Style. A quick search on the net about the movement will show a well defined style and a few dominant leitmotifs. Raging steam engines, whistling exhausts and shiny metals are the norm, so in keeping with the guidelines, I created this illustration.

Be sure to check out one of our other Steampunk tutorials on Psdtuts+, How to Create a Steampunk Style Illustration in Photoshop for great inspiration and some traditional Steampunk gadgetry!

Final Image Preview

Take a look at the image we’ll be creating. Want access to the full PSD files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Psd Plus for just $9/month. You can view the final image preview below.

Here’s what we’ll achieve by the end of these two parts.

For now though, we’re going to try and get this far.

Step 1

The first program on today’s list is Illustrator. Start it up, create a new web document with standard settings and type in your word using this free font.

Step 2

As you can see when zooming in, the font has a lot of harsh edges because it’s free, and not meant to be used for display purposes. We want a clean, few-endpoints font that won’t reveal any bugs in Cinema 4D. So turn down the Opacity of the text, and create a new layer. Lock the previous layer and start to trace your own version of the first letter.

Step 3

Try to keep the lines as smooth and natural as possible. You may choose to follow the edges by the letter (pun totally intended) or create a slightly different version like I did.

Step 4

Create a new layer underneath and create two bars over the old ones. While the color has no importance, I chose different values to make the tutorial easy to follow.

Step 5

Then on a layer above, create some dots with the Ellipse Tool (E). Create a rectangle too with the Rectangle Tool (M) and rotate it by 45 degrees.

Step 6

Then trace the… swirly thing near the center. Once you’ve done that, go to Object > Path > Offset Path. Use the values shown below.

Step 7

Locate your Pathfinder (Window > Pathfinder) and click on the Trim icon.

Step 8

Select the Direct Selection Tool (A), or white arrow, and click firstly away from the object, then in the center. Delete that part.

Step 9

Now trace the rest of the word.

Step 10

Copy all the letter faces and paste them on a separate layer (Command + F).

Step 11

Go to Object > Expand Appearance.

Step 12

Go to Window > Stroke and give the text a 1 pt stroke.

Step 13

You’ll now have to click away and click back to only the top part of the text. For some reason, you can’t change the stroke alignment of all the elements at once. Anyway, change the alignment by clicking on the middle icon. Also, change the Weight to 7 points.

Step 14

Now go to Object > Expand Appearance.

Step 15

Trim it with the Pathfinder.

Step 16

Then offset it by -2.4 pt.

Step 17

Trim it again to flatten the effect.

Step 18

Now you can use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to delete the center.

Step 19

Repeat this process for all the remaining portions of the text.

Step 20

Now save it as an Illustrator 3 file. Cinema 4D won’t be able to access later formats.

Step 21

Our second software choice is Cinema 4D. Create a new Scene and go to File > Merge and locate the Illustrator 3 file. Click open to have the file placed inside the scene. Now go to your Objects panel and Shift-click on the first nine paths. Delete those. These are corner markers you get when importing the Illustrator file.

Step 22

Move paths five and six away from the group by Shift-dragging them over the group in the Object Menu. Any object that you want to extrude individually, you’ll have to separate from the group.

Step 23

Now click and drag the Add HyperNURBS button and release over Extrude NURBS.

Step 24

Shift-click on the two paths, and drag them on top of the Extrude NURBS.

Step 25

Tick the Hierarchical box. This means that the Extrusion will affect all the objects placed under the Extrude NURBS.

Step 26

Click on the Caps tab and change the settings to those shown below.

Step 27

After doing this for each part of the letters, move the Extrude NURBS back and forth until you have the paths aligned at different points in space. Also, click back to the Object tab and change the Movement to 40.

Step 28

Pick the center detail and repeat the process explained above. Just change the movement to 20 meters.

Step 29

Next up are the dot paths. You can see more tabs at once by Shift-clicking on two or more, in this case Object and Caps. Use the following settings. Notice that we’ve changed the appearance of the edges from a soft corner, to a half circle.

Step 30

Then create the same Extrusion effect for paths 1, 2 and 3, but with a 30m Movement value.

Step 31

For the diamond, use slightly different values. We’ve also constrained the effects to the original size by ticking the Constrain box for the dots and diamond. Doing that with small objects may create artifacts, or visual bugs. This happens when the constrained effect expands past the object dimensions.

Step 32

Create an Engraved effect over the rod that connects the letter.

Step 33

Use the following settings for the final dot.

Step 34

Finnish off the first letter by extruding the borders.

Step 35

Do the same for the remaining letters.

Step 36

Copy the connecting rod (Command + C) and paste it (Command + V). This will paste it in the exact same position.

Step 37

Use the move tool to reposition the rod inside the following letter.

Step 38

On the left side of the interface you have different methods of selecting an object. We want to move just the top endpoints in order to resize the rod. First though, hide the extrusion effect by clicking on the green check mark from the Objects menu. Then select the Point Tool and Move Tool (highlighted in the following screenshot) and Shift-click on the top two endpoints.

Step 39

Drag the yellow arrow down until the dots disappear inside the letter.

Step 40

Do the same for the bottom endpoints until they reach the bottom loop and bring back the Extrude NURBS.

Step 41

It’s time to add a light source to the scene. For the lighting, we’re going to rely on an HDRI map environment and one Area Light. First of all add an Area Light.

Step 42

Bring it up over the text with the Move Tool.

Step 43

Rotate it by 45 degrees with the Rotate Tool.

Step 44

Change the dimensions by dragging the endpoints with the Move Tool.

Step 45

Now add a Sky Object.

Step 46

Create a new material from the Material Menu.

Step 47

Double-click on the material icon from the menu to bring up the Material Editor. Uncheck all the boxes and activate Luminance. You’ll now need this free HDRI map collection. Remember where you place it, and don’t make it a temporary location. Try to find a safe spot because you may find yourself linking more files to these HDR files. After you press Open, you’ll be asked if you want to copy the HDR file to the root folder. You can do that, or press No if you don’t move the folder after this point.

Step 48

Click on the three dot button and find the studio number seven from the folder. Open the small version.

Step 49

Drag the material over the Sky object.

Step 50

Find an appropriate angle to view the text from and add a Camera.

Step 51

To activate the camera, click on the white icon from the Object menu.

Final Result

A quick render will reveal what we’ve done in this first part of the tutorial. In this render, I’ve duplicated the light source for more brightness. You won’t need that for Part II though. I’ll see you next time when we’ll add textures and a scene to our text!

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Final Image Preview

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Introduction

To make this image look more interesting I added some snow falling down and some dropping down from the letters. The first thing to do before opening Photoshop is to install a few Brush sets. If you don’t know how to, follow this very good guide which tells you how to install extra presets in your Adobe Photoshop.

As mentioned, this effect is made from scratch, but I used two useful sets of tree Brushes: this one and this one (the set n°17 from the top) from this list. Thank you very much to pixelgratis and Velavan. For the text we’ll use a special font called Berlin Sans FB in Bold version.

This tutorial is easy, made with basic techniques, can be done with Adobe Photoshop CS2 or superior and you don’t need a pen tablet, a mouse is good enough. OK, now let’s get working!

Step 1

Create a document of the size you want, staying near to 1600 pixels by 1200 pixels, 300 dpi resolution (if you are going to print it) or 72 dpi if you’re going to publish it on the Web. We can use 72 dpi to keep our document tidy and work faster. Set the Foreground color to black #000000 and then press Alt + Delete to fill the “Background” layer with a black color. Our “Background” layer become black with a touch!

Now choose #ff0000 as our Foreground color and type some text with the Horizontal Type Tool (T) using the settings shown below and the font we previously downloaded. We’re using a red color just to create some contrast with the black background and the white effects that will come next.

Step 2

Now double-click on the Layer thumbnail (or go to Layer > Layer Style > Stroke…) and choose #ff0000 for the color and set the Stroke at 15 pixels. This way we’re making the text more rounded and fatty to avoid rough edges.

Step 3

Create a New Layer by clicking Command + Shift + N, then pick the Brush Tool (B), right-click with your mouse and finally load the new sets of Brushes by clicking on the little black arrow (look below). After choosing Load Brushes… browse to your Presets folder and then to the Brushes folder to load the Brushes. Load all the three sets we previously downloaded, as we’re going to need some variety to create the ice effect.

Step 4

Before beginning the work with Brushes, let’s see how to modify the Angle of the Brush selected because it’s essential for the next steps. Press F5 to open the Brushes Window: using the Angle option you can rotate the Brush you’re using. Allow the Smoothing option for a softer Brush.

Step 5

Now click near the red area of the letters, everything which happens outside of that area is not important, and we can erase it later. Use your creativity to make something which should look like cracks in the ice – you have a lot of Brushes available to work with.

Step 6

The Angle and Size settings allow you to set and rotate the Brushes; uncheck the Spacing box to have more control when you’re painting the ice cracks. For every letter create a new Layer hiding the one you’ve already made, so it’s easier to look at what’s happening in the red area.

Step 7

Always give a name to layers, as it’s easier to keep them organized. During the making of the ice effect it’s important to use more linear Brushes to create the main shape of the letters and some bigger ones for the deeper cracks.

Step 8

Convert the “ICE” Layer (the red one) into a Smart Object (Right-click > Convert to Smart Object). Then Command-click on this Layer’s thumbnail to select it completely and apply a Layer Mask to the other Layers.

Step 9

Create a New Layer, call it “extra” and with a tree brush draw some extra ice into the red letters using the settings below (F5).

Step 10

Use the Brushes near the borders to make it look more three-dimensional. Help yourself by selecting the three letters so you can paint directly where you need to.

Step 11

Now go to the Blending Options of every ice layer (the white ones) and apply the settings shown below. These features are very useful also to colorize layers. We’ll use a very light blue color (#c9eaf1) in the Outer Glow options to create some halo around the letters and inside to make it look frozen.

Step 12

Using the Inner Glow option we’ll create a glow effect. Apply a value around 10% of noise to make it look more crispy.

Step 13

Select the “I” letter of the “ICE” layer, then go to Select > Modify > Contract… > 25 pixels. Then click OK. Create a new layer (”Layer 1″) and press Alt + Delete to fill the selected area; use full black (#000000). Then Deselect and go to Filter > Blur >> Gaussian Blur… 15 pixels. Do the same for the other letters applying always the same Blur.

Step 14

Name these black Layers with “black E, C, I” and set their Opacity to 40%. Then create a New Adjustments Layer and go to Levels. Applying the settings shown below, from here they will influence the whole image.

Step 15

Command-click on the “ICE” layer to select it and then create a new layer and call it “gradient.” With a white to transparent gradient draw the bottom to the top. We’re drawing some light from the bottom. Set the Opacity to 40%.

Step 16

Hide the “Background” layer (which is black) and select one letter with the Rectangular Marquee Tool. Go to Edit > Copy Merged then Press Command + V. Do the same also for the other two letters and name the layers with the corresponding letter. Then you can hide all the other layers because from now on we’ll work on these new ones, but keep the old ones because they can always be useful.

Step 17

Right-click on the thumbnail layers and Covert them to Smart Objects. Now Command-click on the “ICE” layer and go to Select > Modify > Contract… by 35 pixels. Apply this Selection as a Layer Mask to every letter. Don’t worry if the masking is covering all three letters.

Step 18

Select the Layer Mask thumbnail and go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur… 25 pixels. Do this to all the “I,” “C,” and “E: layers. This process is useful to create some darker areas inside.

Step 19

Below is how it should look like.

Step 20

Press Command + L on the Layer Mask to Open the Levels and reduce the darkness (value 30). This way the Layer Mask become lighter showing more of the ice inside.

Step 21

Duplicate the “I,” “C,” and “E” Layers, Right-click on the Layer Mask > Apply Layer Mask. Finally Merge them. Hide all the rest and create a new layer. Let’s start making the snow now.

Step 22

Pick the Brush Tool (B) and choose a normal circle brush. Then apply the settings shown below in the Brush Windows (F5).

Step 23

Create a new layer and paint the snow increasing and decreasing the brush size.

Step 24

Select the “Ice” layer and press Command + T. Then click on the Warp icon and choose the Shell Upper with Bend set to 11%.

Step 25

Change the settings of the brush with these new ones. Start to paint the snow leaving some slightly darker areas.

Step 26

Paint the snow on top of the letters. We can work on one single layer now.

Step 27

After you’ve done this, retouch the corners and edges with the Eraser Tool (E) using a soft brush.

Step 28

Create a new layer on top and begin to paint some snow near the base of the letters using the same brush, with the same settings as before.

Step 29

Leave some little darker areas.

Step 30

Clean the edges using the Eraser Tool (E) with a soft brush.

Step 31

Create a New Layer above the snow on the letters and start painting with a black (#00000) Brush to create shadows. Let’s suppose the light comes from the top.

Step 32

Make some bigger shadows where there are humps.

Step 33

Create a new layer on top and paint some shadows using the same brush. These are the shadows of the letters.

Step 34

Apply this Inner Glow to the shadows just made.

Step 35

Add some more falling snow on a new layer on top.

Step 36

Now select the snow on the top and Duplicate it by dragging the thumbnail to the New Layer Icon.

Step 37

Do the same with the letters and the snow on top of them. Merge these two layers to make the reflection. Press Command + T, then Right-click > Flip Vertical.

Step 38

With the Gradient Tool (G) draw on the Layer Mask a vertical black to transparent gradient. Hold the Shift key to keep it vertical. Then apply some Motion Blur: Angle 0° and Distance 20 pixels.

Step 39

Do the same as before for the falling snow layer: Duplicate, Flip Vertical, add a Gradient Mask, and apply a Motion Blur.

Step 40

Create a new layer behind the letters and draw a horizontal white line with a brush (always holding the Shift key). Set the Size to 15 pixels and the Hardness to 80%. Set the Opacity of the layer to 90%.

Step 41

Create a new layer behind the reflections and draw a white to transparent Gradient starting from the line drawn in the previous step. Also add 70% Gaussian Noise by going to Filter > Noise > Add Noise.

Step 42

This is the actual situation: every effect on his own layer. Now Create a new layer, then go to Image > Apply Image… and click OK.

Step 43

Call this new layer “ICE IMAGE” and Duplicate it. Now we can hide all the rest, we’ll be working a bit on sharpening and increasing the definition.

Step 44

Duplicate this layer again and apply a Gaussian Blur of 0,3 pixels just to smooth everything.

Step 45

Then go to Filter > Other > High Pass and apply the following settings.

Step 46

Again, create a new layer by going to Image > Apply Image… and click OK. Set it to Overlay and 30% for Opacity.

Step 47

Draw a circle on a new layer with the Elliptical Marquee Tool. Fill it with black, then Deselect with Command + D. Now go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur, and set it to 25 pixels. This gives some sort of vignetting effect.

Final Result

And here’s the final outcome! It could be very nice to add some Christmas decorations! Well it’s not that time yet!

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Final Image Preview

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Step 1

First we need to define a pattern of dots. Lets start by creating a new document 100 pixels wide and 100 pixels high, with a Resolution set to 300 pixels/inch. Fill the "Background" layer with black. Grab the Elliptical Marquee Tool, set the Style to a Fixed Size and set the Width and Height to 24 pixels. Click anywhere inside the canvas, then click inside the selection, drag and position it in the top-left corner of the canvas.

Fill the selection with white. Drag one vertical and one horizontal guide to the center of the selection. Hold down the Shift key, press Down the Arrow key four times to move the selection down 40 pixels. Fill it with white. Now move the selection 20 pixels up and 20 pixels right, then fill it with white again. Move the selection this time, 20 pixels down and 20 pixels right and fill with white.

Now drag two more guides to the center of the selection as in the image below. Move the selection 40 pixels up and fill with white once again. Now grab the Rectangular Marquee Tool and select the area between the crossing guides as shown below. Go to Edit > Define Pattern and name the pattern "Holes." Now that we have defined our pattern, you can close this document.

Step 2

Now create a new document 1450 pixels wide and 700 pixels high at a resolution of 300 pixels/inch. Make sure the Color Mode is set to RGB. Use the Horizontal Type Tool to type your text. I used Arial Black at a size of 116 pt.

Step 3

Now we’ll apply two Layer Styles. First apply a Stroke using these settings: Size set to 10 pixels, Position set to Inside, Blend Mode of Normal, Opacity at 100% and color set to black. Then apply a Pattern Overlay and use the following settings: Blend Mode set to Normal, Opacity at 100%, Pattern set to “Holes,” and scale set at 50%.

Step 4

Make the "Background" layer invisible and create a new layer on top and name it "2 Alpha." Go to Image > Apply Image and check Invert. This will flatten the current visible layers in the selected layer and invert it.

Step 5

Command-click the "2 Alpha" layer to load the selection and hit Command + C to copy. Go to the Channels Palette and create a new Channel. Hit Command + V to paste. Hit Command + D to deselect.

Step 6

Go to the Layers Palette. We don’t need "2 Alpha" layers anymore so delete it. Turn off the visibility of the Pattern Overlay style of the "PSD" layer and set the Text Color to white. The layer is named "PSD" because I typed the text: "PSD". Your text layer is named whatever you typed.

Step 7

Create a new layer on top and again name it "2 Alpha" because this one will be going to an alpha channel. Make sure the "Background" layer is still invisible. Go to Image > Apply Image and uncheck Invert.

Step 8

Now Command-click the "2 Alpha" layer to load the selection and hit Command + C to copy, go to the Channels Palette and create a new channel, then hit Command + V to paste. While you’re in the Channels Palette, Command-click the "Alpha 1" channel to load the selection.

Step 9

Go to the Layers Palette and create a new layer named "Text." Set your Foreground Color to 80% gray by hitting Alt + Backspace, then Deselect.

Step 10

Since we’ll have a dark background in our final image, it’s a good idea to make the background darker now. So fill the "Background" layer with 90% gray. Now we’ll apply two Layer Styles to the "Text" layer. The first one is a Pattern Overlay with these settings: Blend Mode set to Soft Light, Opacity at 100%, Pattern set to “Black Marble,” which is located in the “Rock Patterns” and Scale set at 100%. The second Layer Style is a Drop Shadow with these settings: Blend Mode set to Multiply, Opacity at 100%, Angle set to 120 degrees, Distance set to 16 pixels, Spread set at 30% and Size set to 15 pixels.

Step 11

Go to Layer > Duplicate Layer and name the duplicate "Paint." Drag the Effects of this layer to the trash in the Layers Palette as shown below.

Step 12

Go to Channels Palette and create a new channel. Go to Filter > Render > Clouds. Now go to Filter > Render > Difference Clouds. We’ll apply this filter twice more, so Press Command + F twice. Now go to Image > Adjustments > Invert. Go to Image > Adjustments > Levels (Command + L) and set the Input Levels to 200, 1, 255. The white areas in this image is going to be the eroded parts of the paint. Command-Click the channel to load the selection.

Step 13

Go to the "Paint" layer in the Layers Palette and hit Delete to clear the selected area. Go to Layer > Duplicate Layer and name it "Grain." Make the "Grain" layer invisible for now, then Deselect.

Step 14

Go back to the "Paint" layer and apply a Drop Shadow Layer Style with these settings: Blend Mode set to Multiply, Opacity at 100%, Angle set to 120 degrees, Distance and Spread set to 0, and Size set to 5 pixels. Apply an Inner Glow and use these settings: Blend Mode of Color Burn, Opacity at 35%, and Size set to 1 pixel. Now apply a Gradient Overlay with these settings: Blend Mode set to Overlay, Opacity at 60%, Gradient set to Black and White, Style set to Linear and Angle set to 90 degrees. Set the "Paint" layer Blending Mode to Soft Light.

Step 15

Create a new layer above the "Paint" layer and name it "Color." Grab the Gradient Tool, open the Gradient picker in the Tool Options and pick: Blue, Red, Yellow. Set it to Linear Gradient and fill the layer as shown below. Hold down the Alt key and click the line between the "Paint" and "Color" layers to define the "Paint" layer as a Clipping Mask. Set the "Color" layer Blending Mode to Difference.

Step 16

Go to the "Grain" layer in the Layers Palette and make it visible. Go to Filter > Artistic > Film Grain. Set the Grain to 10, Highlight Area and Intensity to 0, and set the Blending Mode for the layer to Color Dodge.

Step 17

Command-click the "Text" layer to load the selection. Create a new layer on top and name it "Highlight." Grab the Elliptical Marquee Tool and use the Arrow keys to move the selection 1 pixel left and 1 pixel up. Fill the selection with white. Move the selection 1 pixel right and 1 pixel down, back to where it was and hit Delete to clear. Apply an Outer Glow Layer Style to the "Highlight" layer using these settings: Blend Mode of Overlay, Opacity at 100%, and Size set to 2 pixels.

Step 18

Go to the Channels Palette and Command-click "Alpha 2" to load the selection. Go back to the Layers Palette and create a new layer on top. Name it "Highlight 2." Move the selection 2 pixels right and 2 pixels down. Fill the selection with white. Now move the selection 2 pixels left and 2 pixels up and hit Delete to clear. Now deselect.

Step 19

Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and apply with a Radius of 1 pixel. This is going to smooth the highlight.

Step 20

Go to the Channels Palette and Command-click "Alpha 2" to load the selection again. Go back to the Layers Palette and create a new layer on top and name it "Shade." Move the selection 2 pixels left and 2 pixels up. Fill the selection with black. Now move the selection 2 pixels right and 2 pixels down and hit Delete to clear.

Step 21

Deselect by hitting Command + D. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and apply with a Radius of 1 pixel.

Step 22

Command-click the "PSD" layer to load the selection. Create a new layer on top and name it "Shade 2." Fill the layer with Black. Move the selection 2 pixels up and 2 pixels left, then hit Delete to clear. Command-click the "PSD" layer again. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and apply with a Radius of 2 pixels.

Step 23

Command-click the "PSD" layer again and load it’s pixels. Create a new layer on top and name it "Highlight 3." Fill the selection with black. Move the selection 2 pixels down and 2 pixels right and hit Delete to clear. Command-click the "PSD" layer and load the selection again, because we don’t want this highlight to be blurred towards the outside. Now go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and apply with a Radius of 1 pixel. Deselect by hitting Command + D.

Step 24

Create a new layer above the "Background" layer and name it "Texture." Fill the layer with black. Go to Filter > Render > Lens Flare. Set the Brightness at 160% and set the Lens Type to 50-300 mm zoom. Then go to Filter > Render > Difference Clouds. Go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate. Apply a Glass filter by going to Filter > Distort > Glass and use these settings: Distortion set to 20, Smoothness set to 2, and Scaling set at 100%. Finally, apply a Gradient Overlay Style to this layer and use these settings: Blend mode of Multiply and Opacity set at 70%.

Step 25

You can achieve different variations of this effect by changing the gradient or color of the "Color" layer and changing the Texture of the Pattern Overlay Layer Style of the "Text" layer.

Conclusion

Yes that’s it! I hope you learned something new and enjoyed this tutorial!

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Final Image Preview

Let’s take a look at the image we’ll be creating in Part II of this series. Want access to the full PSD files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Psd Plus for just $9/month. You can view the final image preview below or view a larger version here.

Introduction and Preparation

Welcome to Part II of this tutorial series. As I mentioned before it’s kind of a continuation of the tutorial Super Malleable Lines, there are some similar effects shown, but from a very different angle. In Part Two of this tutorial, we will focus on great glowing effects, some messy brushing and gloss effects.

We will begin with creating text reflection in our splatter, so you need to download the demo version of Xara3D 6. You may use Adobe Illustrator as well, but I strongly recommend to get Xara for this piece.

Images to use:

• abstract lights from 123rf.com
• bubbles from 123rf.com
• metal texture from cgtextures.com
• another metal texture from cgtextures.com
• papertexture from cgtextures.com
• ice crack from sxc.hu
• ink brushes from brusheezy.com
• watercolor brushes from brusheezy.com

Step 1 – Let’s Continue: Adding Text Reflection to Splatter

Just to remind you what we did in the previous image looks like when we ended, the first image below is the final one from Add Fantastic Color to 3D Text – Part I.

And as I said we will now move forward by creating text reflection. To do this you need to open Xara3D 6 and again create the same text with the Agenda font. Same size but a different view (second image below). Why are we doing this? Well, this is the time when you need to close your eyes and try to imagine how would the reflection look. Look again at the second image below. If you imagine this text flipped vertically, you will get a mirror reflection of our original text.

The colors of this text reflection aren’t that important as in Part I. This text will be barely visible so we will darken it anyway and erase half of it. But the main thing to remember, is that the text needs to be pink (as our original text).

If you already got this text generated, save it (Export) as shown in the third image below.

Step 2 – Creating Reflection: Adjusting

Bring the reflection text to our main project, name it "reflection" and put it somewhere below the main text (and below the shadow of this text) in the Layers Palette. Then hit Command + T (Free Transform) flip it vertically and then use Warp to adjust the reflection to the main text (second image below).

OK, now if your text is as bright as mine, grab the Burn Tool (O) set the Range to Midtones and darken it a little (third image below). It looks good but it’s still a little too colorful. I decided to decrease the saturation a little (Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation, and add a value of -22 to the Saturation).

Step 3 – Correcting Reflection and Adding Splatter Shine

This reflection still needs some touch-ups. So go to Layers Palette and select the "reflection" layer, then add a Layer Mask to it. Now grab the Gradient Tool (G), change its color to black and (while having the Layer Mask selected) drag a gradient from the bottom to the top of the reflection text (first image below).

Next Command-click on the "reflection" layer’s thumbnail to call the selection of this layer. Create a new layer above it, name it "reflection touch up" and change the layer’s Blending Mode to Multiply. Pick a dark pink color (#853b6d) from the colors palette, then grab the Brush Tool (B). Make the brush very soft and start painting inside the selection (second image below).

Now, make sure you still have your Brush Tool (B) selected, and also make sure it’s set to 0% Hardness and around 5-10% Flow. Pick a white color, go to the Layers Palette, move somewhere above our splatter layers and create a new layer there. Name it "splatter shine" and change it’s Blending Mode to Overlay. Now use a brush and start painting on splatter to create a nice shine (3rd, 4th, and 5th images below).

Step 4 – Adding Messy Splash Brushes

First important note before you start doing anything is to create a new layer group below the shadow splatter. Then open one of the downloaded brush packs and select a big messy brush (brush in first image below). Create a new layer, name it "Brush." Use #cceeff color and set it throughout the whole splatter. Then go to Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask, set the Amount to around 80-90% (first image below).

Once you do this, recall the selection of the splatter, and hit Delete on the keyboard while still having selected the "Brush" layer (second image below). Now press Command + D to deselect the selection, next turn the Opacity of the "Brush" layer to 30% and set its Blending Mode to Overlay (you should get something similar to the third image below).

Step 5 – More Splashy Brushing

Basically there are two ways of adding these brushes. The first one is shown in the previous step, and the second in the pictures below. You need to recall the selection of splatter, then go to Select > Inverse. Create a new layer, set its Blending Mode to Overlay. Grab the Brush Tool (B), pick a nice splash/splatter brush and add them on the left and right side beyond the splatter (like you see in the first image below). Play around with layer opacity, the higher opacity the harder the color.

Keep adding brushes the way you’re comfortable with. Work dynamically with the brush size and help yourself with Eraser Tool (E). Sometimes, you just need to get rid of unwanted splatter brush part.

Step 6 – Enhancing Splatter Shadow

Now let’s get back to the splatter shadow. As we made the shadow tiny before, now with the new surface we need to enhance it. Refer to adding shadow in tutorial Part I. So grab the Brush Tool (B). Set the color to dark blue (something like #125361), make your brush soft as before and add a little bit more shadow. Do it pretty much the same way as in tutorial Part I, just add a little bit more shadow and this time without having any selection.

Step 7 – Creating Brush Splatter

OK, now find some free space on your background. To do this pick only splatters that spread their parts widely. Create each brush on a new layer. I prepared a small guide below, what to do, and how to set these brushes and layers:

1. #a5efff, Brush Opacity 60%, Flow 60%
2. #a5efff, Brush Opacity 80%, Flow 90%
3. #c4f2ff, same opacity/flow
4. #e1f7ff, same opacity/flow
5. #e1f7ff, same opacity/flow
6. #e1f7ff, Layer Blending Mode: Overlay, Layer Opacity: 73%
7. white color (here use a regular rounded, soft brush and enhance the center of this splatter)
8. #d5f4ff, Layer Blending Mode: Overlay (here use a regular rounded, soft brush, in the center of splatter to create glow)
9. #97f2ff, Layer Blending Mode: Overlay (here use a regular rounded, soft brush, around the splatter to create more glow)

When you’re done, go to Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask, and set the Amount to around 60%. Apply this to each brush layer.

Note: If somewhere lacks information about Opacity or anything, it means it should be set by default to 100%.

Step 8 – Adding Lights

Select all the light layers and group them. Next, grab this group and drag it into the New Layer icon around 7-8 times to create many lights (fist image below). Place them where the natural light hits letters (but behind the text).

Now change your brush to a regular rounded shape (big diameter). Set the Hardness to 0%, Opacity to 100%, and Flow to 15%. Pick a dark blue color like #1c364d. In the Layers Palette create two new layers, one above the lights, and one below them.

Now refer to the third and forth images below, and start adding a darker color to the background between the lights. This will enhance the lights, making them more readable (you may even change the Blending Mode of this layer to Hard Light to make this effect even more visible).

Then copy the group with lights two times and add more lights. One to the shine inside the splatter and another one behind the text.

Step 9 – Texture effects

Open a cool ice crack image. Go to the Channels Palette and drag the Red Channel into the New Layer icon. You should get now something similar to the second image below. Now select the "Red copy" channel, select the black dropper (I believe it’s correctly called Black Point Dropper). Then click on a gray spot, and you should get something similar to the third image below.

When you’re done, Command-click on the "Red copy" channel’s thumbnail to load the selection of the white texture that remains. Now select the RGB channel and switch to the Layers Palette (fourth image below). Select the layer and use Command + C (copy). Then go to our main project document and hit Command + V (paste) – fifth image below.

Step 10 – Creating Texture

Now go to the Layers Palette into the texture blending layer options. Select Color Overlay and set the color to #94e3ed (first image below). Then create a new empty layer and merge the texture with this empty layer using Command + E (second image below). Now set this layer Blending Option to Overlay. Make several copies of this layer and use Command + T to rotate this layer.

Step 11 – Manipulating Textures

Now grab the Lasso Tool (L) and draw a path around any interesting you part (I selected here a really messy and detailed spot). Hit Command + I to inverse the selection and press Delete on your keyboard to remove unwanted parts (second image below).

Next select a spatter brush 39px, add a Layer Mask to this ice crack layer, select a black color and remove some texture (third image below).

Step 12 – Messy Texturing

Once you get this done, go to Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask and increase the Radius a little. Repeat the whole process and create a few effects like this. The best solution is to put each one on light spots.

Step 13 – Color Spheres

Now, create a new layer group and make new a layer inside it. Name it "orange ball." Pick #ffc000 for the color. Select the Ellipse Tool (U) (make sure you have the option Shape Layers selected) and create a circle. All needed settings you have are shown here in the second and third images below.

Next you need to create a new shape layer (on new layer) and set the color to white. Then create a new Layer Mask over there and paint with black on this mask to get rid of the middle and bottom parts (7th image below). Now this looks like a gloss or a light, so move this on our sphere and match it.

Step 14 – Creating Spheres, Continuation

For each sphere pick another color. Each process looks the same, only colors change. Work a lot with proper colors, they must fit your illustration. Try to find a good tone in between too bright or too dark.

Step 15 – Touching-Up Sphere Shadows

I don’t want to bore you showing the settings of each sphere that I created. I showed you how it works, so you should be able to pick some colors by yourself. Anyway create many spheres in different sizes and each one in a different color.

Now take a look at the first two spheres from the bottom – the green and red one. I like to see some realism in my work so I always try to put some stuff on the ground. I mean, we will just add some shadows to these front spheres (it’s not like you must do this, as this looks OK for now, but I think it gives a great overall touch).

So Command-click on the red sphere’s layer thumbnail to call the selection. Hit Command + Shift + C (Copy Merged) and paste (Command + V) this sphere. Now select this copy, drag it below the original red sphere, hit Command + T (Free Transform), and select Flip Vertical. Grab the Eraser Tool (E) with soft settings, then erase the bottom of this flipped sphere (third image below) to create the reflection.

Now refer to the fourth image below, select the Brush Tool (B), and pick #1a525f color. Make your brush very soft (by me soft always means like 0% Hardness and 10-20% Flow). Set your diameter to 2-3px and create a new layer below the original red sphere, but above the red sphere reflection. Then first paint exactly below the original sphere, along its bottom line to create a tiny hard shadow.

Step 16 – Flying Sphere Shadow

Now, let’s take care of the green sphere shadow. It looks to me like it was more in the air than on the ground so I decided to create an illusion with shadow that this sphere is really flying.

So take a look at first image below. I drew some arrows to show you how you should add this shadow. Because we are in 3D space, and there is some perspective, we need to make some depth with this shadow. As previously grab the Brush Tool (B) with the same settings, but change your diameter to a bigger one and create a soft shadow. Try to get a soft ellipse with a little harder center.

Step 17 – Malleable Lines

You probably should remember the Super Malleable Lines tutorial where I showed you a great technique of simulating shape layers. Well it’s the same thing now. If you like you can refer to the Malleable Lines tutorial as well. But in this one, I made it more custom.

Grab the Line Tool (U), drag three lines in one column (first image below). Then apply some layer styles (second image below) to give this piece a color variety. Then use Command + T and select Warp. Bend this shape layer as many times as you need, and try to achieve a nice, thin, curvy lines.

Step 18 – Selecting Proper Parts

These shape layers are never perfectly shaped after bending. So in the first picture below I selected the parts that we’re interested in. In the second image below I selected the parts that you need to get rid of. And in the last picture below they are simply erased using Layer Masks with a hard black brush.

Note: It’s a great thing that you actually can use layer masks on shape layers, you simply loose nothing, you can recreate the layer when you want.

Step 19 – Constructing Lines

Something like this is very hard to achieve using only the Pen Tool with path stroke, so I construct lines with small pieces (and it’s great because they are still shape layers).

As you have prepared a few shape layers (curvy lines), use them, copy them and rotate them to create one curly line going around the orange sphere. You just need to set lines properly and they will do everything for you.

Note: Remember to blend the connections between lines nicely. Use layer mask to do the blending part.

Once you achieve a cool curly line, select all these shape layers and merge them into one (Command + E) (but always save some extra copies of your shape layers that you don’t need to recreate them). Next, you probably should get something similar to the third image below, and you need to decide which line to erase from the sphere because now it’s not looking right.

Refer to the forth image below. Add a Layer Mask to our merged layer, call the selection of orange sphere, grab the Brush Tool (B), pick a black color and erase one of these two lines that cover the sphere.

Step 20 – Enhancing Malleable Lines

Before we do anything further, you need to change your brush settings. Go to the Brush Palette and apply the settings shown below. Change the brush Opacity to around 15% and the Flow to something like 50%. Pick a bright blue color (like #baf3ff).

Create a new layer, change its Blending Mode to Overlay and start painting on the malleable line. This will make the line thicker, and this brush the way we made should easily allow you to paint with the mouse. You need to set many small marks to get this line more visible, and this covers some imperfections.

Step 21 – Creating Glow

Now this is my favorite part. I believe the photo of abstract lights was taken on slow shutter, looks like a painted glowing light, and it’s great. Open it in Photoshop, pick the Lasso Tool (L) and select a piece of this glow. Drag this to our main project.

Use Command + Shift + U to desaturate this it. Then grab the Eraser Tool (E), make the settings very soft and erase the hard edges of this piece. Then hit Command + T (Free Transform) to match it to our malleable line. Select Warp (Command +T to get the option bar) and adjust it to the line shape. Help yourself with a soft eraser if something doesn’t fit.

Step 22 – Creating Glow, Continued

Select a very light blue color (like #8cfbff). Reset your brush settings, and set the Hardness to 0% and Flow to 5%. Then create new layers above the previous ones (and above the malleable line). Set this layer’s Blending Mode to Hard Light and add some more glow to shining parts of the sphere and the line. Don’t overdo this, we’re looking only for a touch of glow.

Step 23 – Malleable Line, and Glow Process Repeat

As the title says, yes this will go the same way again and again. Apply these effects to each sphere that you have created. And remember that everything needs to be set up as in this tutorial. You simply cannot create these glowing effects in blue color if your illustration has pink or orange background, this also needs to be blue. And most important information: glow effects work the best when they are applied to the dark background. Below is a small case study for blue sphere treatment.

Step 24 – Adding Bubbles

OK, after applying more of these glow effects you will reach something similar to the first image below. Now, let’s take care of some more details. I found a nice picture of bubbles and thought it may be used well. The only rule is that this picture needs to have a black background.

So drag this image to our main project document. Press Command + Shift + U (Desaturate) – second image below. Change its Blending Mode to Screen (third image below). Now use Command + T to rotate it in different ways to create a messy look. Help yourself with a hard eraser if some bubbles are disturbing.

Finally create a new layer above all the bubbles, set its Blending Mode to Overlay and select the Brush Tool (B). Use very soft settings, pick #8cfbff color and slightly paint on these bubbles. This will give a nice glowing touch.

Step 25 – Background Textures

Now open some dirty image (I picked the one below, as it has mass details). Hit Command + Shift + U to Desaturate (second image below). Next hit Command + L (Levels) and adjust it to get a visible difference between black and whites. Next go to Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask and sharpen this texture a little.

Step 26 – Applying Textures

When the texture is ready, drag it to our main project document. Set its layer Blending Mode to Screen. Grab the Eraser Tool (E), set it to Hardness 0%, Flow 10% and blend the texture with the background. Repeat this process to fill some empty space in the background.

This may be hard to see, but the texture is there. This gives a little noise to the background and makes it irregular. I like it this way.

Step 27 – Paper Texture Effect

Open the paper texture image. Unlock this layer by left-clicking two times on it. Then use Command + J (duplicate). Once you get the duplicate, set its Blending mode to Overlay and go to Filter > Other > Highpass, and set the Radius to around 40% to get some depth in the darker spots. Then drag both these layers to our main project. Grab the Eraser Tool (E), set it to Hardness 0%, Flow 10% and blend both textures with the background. Use this technique to sightly fill the whole canvas.

Step 28 – Final Adjustments

The final adjustments are very important as they give a unique look to your work. Go to the top of the Layers Palette and add several adjustment layers as you see in below. Add them one by one and work with their opacities and on the layer masks.

Example: When I added Levels (first image below) the shadow below letters seemed too dark, but the adjustment layer fit the whole illustration well. So I selected the Layer Mask of the Levels layer and erased the black shadow from below the letters using a soft, black brush. And so on with more adjustment layers, if something doesn’t look right at some spots, help yourself using layer mask and a black brush.

The gradient maps in the third and fourth images below are from Black color to Gray and from Black to White (I guess there was no need to write this down, but if you need to know here it is).

Conclusion

In the end you can sharpen this image a little using highpass or unsharp mask. This will give it some more quality. But anyway, it’s the end, I’m glad you could reach it to this point, as this was a tough piece. Have fun with your own works. May the color be with you!

You can view the final image below or view a larger version here.

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Final Image Preview

Take a look at the image we’ll be creating by the end of this two Part series. Want access to the full PSD files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Psd Plus for just $9/month. You can view the final image preview below or view a larger version here.

Introduction and Preparation

This tutorial series is kind of a continuation of the tutorial Super Malleable Lines. There are some similar effects shown here, but from a very different angle. In Part I of this tutorial, we will focus on how to create 3D text and the splatter effect.

First of all, to create the 3D text, you need to download the demo version of Xara 3D6. You may use Adobe Illustrator as well, but I strongly recommend you get Xara for this piece. Also download the stained metal texture image we’ll be using from cgtextures.com.

Step 1 – How to Begin?

The best way to start a colorful art piece is finding the right colors. In the Super Malleable Lines tutorial, the colors of the background were sunny, so this gave us a warm impression. Here we’ll move more into cold tones.

Let’s start with opening a new document of around 1350 pixels by 1600 pixels with a resolution of 300px/inch. Create a new layer and make a short color matching. Don’t pick the first color you choose, try to play around with some different tones. People often destroy their works with bad looking backgrounds.

So now that we found a good fitting color, grab the Paint Bucket Tool (G) and fill the new layer with #166a91. Name this layer "background."

Step 2 – Background Depth

Now what we need is to give this background some life. Again, spend some time on searching colors, try to get some proper cool tones. What I’m talking about is finding darker and lighter tones of this blue color. The colors that I used are shown in the images below.

If you already picked some good darker color (or if you have some problems with colors refer to the images below – I showed the specific color used). Grab the Brush Tool (B), set the Flow to 5%, Hardness to 0% and make your diameter very big as you see below. Create a new layer, name it "bg_color" and paint in the corners with this big brush. Make each brushing of new color on it’s own new layer.

Try to paint in different spots, basically make the edges darker and the middle brighter. This way you will receive some irregular gradients and that’s what we want.

Step 3 – Adjusting Color

When you’re done with coloring the background make sure everything works for you fine. The colors seemed a little too bright for me, so I decided to go to the Layers Palette and I added a new adjustment layer of Hue/Saturation above all the layers. Then I slightly decreased Saturation, removing some color.

Step 4 – Preparing Texture for Splatter

Now open some stained metal texture. I don’t know why is this called "metal," seems to me like some stains. Anyway, stains are the point, you can pick an image of your own choice. It must be suitable to your needs.

Now hit Command + T, use Distort to make a perspective of this picture. Then hit Command + Shift + U to desaturate. Command-click on this layer’s thumbnail to call the selection. Copy it using Command + C.

Step 5 – Creating Splatter, Shape and Shadows

Get back to our main project document. Grab the Pen Tool (P)and draw a splatter shape, then turn it into a selection. Create a new layer above all, name it "texture." Now go to Edit > Paste Into. Our texture should now dynamically be pasted into the selection, it means you can change its position inside the selection. Now change this layer Blending Mode to Overlay and set the Opacity to 70% and your project should look like the second image below.

Now create a new layer above all and name it "splatter shading." Grab the Brush Tool (B) and change the color to #125361. Make sure your brush settings are very soft, something like Hardness 0%, Flow 10%. Now make the selection of the texture layer (Command-click on the layer’s thumbnail). Take a look at the third image below and paint in the indicated spots. We need to darken the inner curved parts of this splatter to create a convex look. This splatter needs to pop up a little, to be not so flat. Refer to the 4th and 5th image below.

Step 6 – Creating Splatter: Lights

OK, now as you created some shading, let’s move to lights. Look at the first image below. I made a small preparation (this is not something you need to do). Before you add lighting you need to imagine how it would look like if it was real. So I created several simple lines to show you which places are good to set the lights.

If you’re ready, then create a new layer above all and name it "splatter lighting." Call the selection of the "texture" layer. Now with the same brush settings and a brighter color #99e9ea, start painting in the indicated spots (keep a small space from the splatter edge).

Note: Remember that you’re able to make changes anytime you feel something is not right, so if you give too much shade or lighting, help yourself with the soft Eraser Tool (E) to erase unwanted parts.

Step 7 – Creating Splatter: Brush Settings

Before we move further, go to the Brush Palette and change the brush settings, as shown below.

What’s this for? Using a small, soft and faded brush you can easily paint with a mouse. If you paint in one spot, you’re allowed to make some failure lines, as they will be barely visible. Refer to the second image below, and look how the light lines are being created. In the third image below there are white arrows that indicate where to paint. Add these light lines on each outer curved edge of the splatter.

Step 8 – Creating Splatter: Adding Lights

Now, don’t change your brush settings, only increase the diameter a little and change the color to white. Then create a new layer above all, name it "lighting overlay." Set this layer’s Blending Mode to Overlay, and start painting in the same spots that were indicated in Step 6. Create only little spots, not lines.

Step 9 – Creating Splatter: Adding Lights More

Continue adding lighting on selected splatter parts. Remember to work dynamically with your diameter. You can go from bigger to smaller to create nice spot lights.

Also help yourself with the Eraser Tool (E) and a very soft eraser, something like 0% Hardness and 8% Flow. Take your time while working on the details.

Step 10 – Creating Splatter: Touch Ups

Next, create a new layer above all, name it "splatter touch ups" and change it’s Blending Mode to Multiply. Reset your brush settings. Then set the brush to Hardness 0%, Flow 5%, change the color to #125361. Now look at the first image below and darken in the indicated spots just a touch. Then switch to a white color, create a new layer, name it "splatter light," then use the same brush settings to add some more light to this splatter.

Step 11 – Shading Process Explanation

Before we move to creating splatter shadow, here are a couple things you need to understand:

1. If you want to put an object in 3D space and place it on the surface, you need to pay attention to where is your light source (or sources).
2. Remember that objects also drop shadows below themselves (refer to the image below, “the shadow between box and desk”). This is something many designers forget (or don’t know) about it.
3. This means that sometimes one object may have fewer shadows depending on light sources and where it’s placed.
4. Also keep in mind that the "darkened area" (refer to image below) of objects always remains darker than other parts.
5. And it’s the same for the "lightened area," it’s lighter than other parts of the lightened object.

Step 12 – Creating Splatter: Shading Process

We have not specified the source of light in this work so we will skip the shadow caused by the source light. We will only take care for the shadow below the splatter (refer to pointer 2 in the previous step).

Step 13 – Splatter Shadow

Now there is only a slight difference between splatter with shadow and without it. But it’s OK for now. In Part II of this tutorial, we will make this surface more dirty and this will give a stronger shadow effect.

We’re almost done with it, but before we move further I want you to look at the third image below. Maybe you’re wondering why these spots have no shadow? The splatter looks like a 3D object, so if you had it in 3D program you could rotate it seeing how each side looks. Now, if you could look at the splatter from the right side, the shadow would be there. But from our point of view (front) it’s just not visible, so we don’t add it.

It’s kinda hard to explain, sometimes you just need to imagine how it would look like in reality.

Step 14 – Text Preparation

OK, once we’re done with the splatter, we can move further to creating text. But before you do this, let’s take a look at the first image below. As you see, not the whole splash was covered with lights and shading. The area indicated with the pink color looks unfinished. It’s OK, because I planned this illustration from the beginning to create a text in the middle. So the text should cover some imperfections of the back.

The second, third and fourth image below are a little show of how I basically planned to do the text. I made a small preparation as I didn’t exactly know how this should look. This isn’t something you must do, but sometimes it’s good to experiment. So now when this flat text occurred a lot of ideas came to my head. This pretty much helped me to see what I want to achieve.

Step 15 – Text in 3D Space

To put 3D text on a surface in 3D space you need to set the horizon line. Take a look at first image below. My base was the splatter I created. In our case the horizon line should be a little above the top edge of the splatter. You don’t have to draw these lines like I did in the first image below, just try to imagine where this line should be.

This isn’t necessary in some abstract pieces where for example: letters are flying in the air, as they can rotate.

Before we move on to creating the 3D text, you need to also understand the position of letters: take a look at the second image below. If the letters lay below the horizon line, then remember that you look at them from the top, and this is the way we will create our text.

Step 16 – Preparing Text in Xara

OK, finally some action. Open Xara3D 6. And as I said before keep the top of the letters visible. Xara is very easy to use, if you spend around 5 minutes you will get to know everything.

In the images below I indicated some more important options that were used here to generate this text. I recommend you play around with your own settings. But if you want to achieve something similar to mine, then the colors used here are:

• Light 1: #FBDBFF
• Light 2: #EF72D2
• Light 3: #E35DB0

The rest of the color options stay untouched.

Step 17 – Saving Text

People sometimes forget about a few things in Xara3D 6:

• Before you save your project, go to Shadow options and turn off Shadow (we don’t want to be bothered with Xara’s original shadow, which looks pretty bad).
• Then to save the file to a Photoshop readable format, go to File > Export, select PNG format and save the image with the same settings, as shown in the second image below.

Step 18 – Adjusting Text

OK, we saved the text in PNG format so it’s transparent. Now open the text in Photoshop and drag it into our project. Then hit Command + T (Free Transform) and select Warp. Try to make this text less straight and more rounded like it was circling. It gives a better 3D feeling.

Next refer to the third image below: grab the Burn Tool (O), set the Range to Midtones, the Flow to 25% and paint a little on the bottom of each letter (later this will help achieve a better shadow effect).

After this, correct some tones of the text using Layer > Adjustments > Selective Color (forth and fifth images below). This is up to personal taste. Try to adjust mostly Reds, as this option will mostly affect your pink text.

Step 19 – Text Touch-Ups

OK, now take a look at the first image below. I have indicated some places that look pretty bad. This dark color doesn’t exactly fit our illustration. Beside, the red arrow indicates a spot that Xara kinda destroyed, this looks dirty. We’re going to touch up all these spots.

So first grab the Pen Tool (P) and draw a path on the worst looking spot of this text (it’s indicated by a red arrow). Turn this selection on (right-click > Make Selection). Then select the Clone Stamp Tool (S), refer to the third image below. Make your settings the same as mine (also set the Hardness to 0%). Then touch up this bad looking spot. And it’s good to do this on a new layer.

Step 20 – Text Touch-Ups: Brightening

OK, now let’s take care of the rest of the bad looking spots. Create a new layer above the text layer, you can name it "text correction" and change its Blending Mode to Overlay. Grab the Brush Tool (B), change the brush settings to Flow 10%, Hardness 0%, and give it a big diameter. Now pick #ffbdf3 for the color. Next hold Command-click on the text layer thumbnail to call the selection of this text. Then make a soft brushing on the spots that look too dark.

The main task is to pick a bright pink color (that matches the color of your text) and cover some imperfections using overlay blending mode. You can even go through some random spots of text faces, this will give a nice tonal variety to the text.

Step 21 – Creating Gloss

Now let’s take care of the gloss. I wrote everything on the images below, you should be able to easily follow them. The main thing about this is to create a soft gradient from the middle of these letters heading to the top.
You can do this the way you’re comfortable with, although I think the way shown below is pretty cool and fast.

Step 22 – Creating Inner Reflection

Let’s move to creating some depth. These letters look OK for now, but it’s nothing special yet. We need to give them a more unique look. We’re going to create an illusion that the text is reflecting something from the environment. And the thing is no one cares wether the reflection is showing real objects or fake ones, as long as it looks good.

So Command-click on the text layer thumbnail to call the selection of this text. Then hit Command + Shift + C (Copy merged) and Command + V (Paste). Now we made the exact same duplicate of the whole text. Name this layer "Reflection 1," make a few duplicates of this layer and name them in order "Reflection 1," "Reflection 2," and "Reflection 3."

Now grab one of the reflection layers, hit Command + T (Free Transform), and rotate it as you see in the first image below. Then call the selection from the original text layer (second image below). Go to Select > Inverse and hit delete (remember to select the transformed reflection layer while you’re hitting delete). You should get something that looks similar to the second image below.

Then change the reflection layer Opacity to around 15-20% and set its Blending Mode to Overlay. You should get something similar to the third image below. Make sure the reflection stays only in the text faces, so if it goes somewhere to far use a soft eraser to make the touch ups (forth image below).

Repeat the reflection process around 2-3 times until you cover the whole text (carefully, don’t get to messy). Refer to the fifth image below, you should get something like this.

Step 23 – Gloss and Reflection Correction

Now we’ll make the gloss and reflection effect even stronger. Grab the Eraser Tool (E), set its Flow to 5% and Hardness to 0%, then make a small erasing around the gloss of each letter (where the white arrows indicate). Then switch to the Burn Tool (O), set the Range to Midtones and Exposure to around 20%, and add some depth to each letter (where the red arrows indicate).

Step 24 – Text Touch-Ups

Now let’s solve some lighting problems. Obviously the text is mostly lightened from the top-left (first image below). You can see that the top-left side of these letters is brighter than the right side. Of course there area few light sources on this text because the front is also bright, but let’s focus on the strongest light source.

Look at the second image below, it looks like we’re missing something. The rest of these letters have a nice light and shade, but the top of the letters "L" and "R" almost completely lack shading. It’s probably caused by the light from Xara. I guess it was too low to reach the top of these letters. But it’s no problem, we’re going to fix it, as it will look much better afterwards.

So call the selection of the text layer (third image below). Grab the Brush Tool with the same settings as previously (Hardness 0%, Flow around 5%), change the color to the some darker pink (#79185d). Create a new layer above all, name it "additional shade" and start painting by the right side of the top of these letters, refer to the third image below.

Next create new layer above, name it "additional light" and repeat the same process but this time from the left side of these letters (refer to 4th image below).

Note: Always remember to help yourself with a soft eraser if something doesn’t go right.

Step 25 – Text Touch-Ups

Go to the Layers Palette and create a new adjustment layer Gradient Map above all the layers. Select the gradient from Black to White, and you should have something similar to the first image below. Then change the Blending Mode of this layer to Soft Light, and lower the Opacity to 70% (second image below).

Finally call the selection of the text layer, go to Select > Inverse. Then go to the Layers Palette and select the Mask of the Gradient Map layer. Once you do this, grab the Paint Bucket Tool (G), change the color to black and fill the Mask (third image below).

And what did it do? Now we’re sure that this gradient map affects only this text, nothing outside it.

Step 26 – Text Touch-Ups

Now it’s a small detail, but I like to add this. Change you brush settings to Hardness 100%, Flow 100%, then grab the Pen Tool (P). Create a new layer above all, and make a curve or straight line on the top of each letter like you see below.

When you’re done, right-click and select Stroke Path. Make sure option Simulate Pressure is checked.

Step 27 – Creating Text Shadow

I guess the hardest part of all is always adding shadows. OK, first of all let’s make a standard shadow between the splash and letters.

Before you begin, remember that it’s good to treat shadows with the same color that the surface has but in different tone. So our splatter surface is a light blue color, then for the shadow choose a dark blue color (something like #092330). Now grab the Brush Tool (B), remember to have Hardness set to 0%, and the rest of the options you have got below.

Create a new layer below the text layer and name it "text shadow." Start with a small diameter and add tiny shadow lines exactly below the letters. Make your diameter bigger to fill the empty spaces between the letters.

Note: Always help yourself with a soft eraser!

Step 28 – Final Adjustments

We’re heading to the end of Part I of this tutorial. I usually play around with some overall adjustments when I’m about to finish. So go to the Layers Palette, create a new Gradient Map adjustment layer, select the "Violet, Orange" preset and click OK. Then change this layer’s Blending Mode to Soft light and lower its Opacity to around 20% (this will give a little more warmness to this piece).

Next repeat this process but this time create a Gradient Map from dark blue (greeny black) #202930 to a lighter color (even turning into grey) #31505b. Set this layer’s Blending Mode to Soft Light and Opacity to around 80%. This will increase some color and contrast.

This text still looked too cold for me so I decided to create another Gradient Map using the same process. This time I used colors from #2e2111 to #e2be84 (third image below). These are some browny, yellowish colors to add some more warmness. And again change this layer’s Blending Mode to Soft Light and its Opacity to around 30%.

And finally you may add Curves adjustment layer if you like. This is not necessary, but I think the dark and contrasted tone gives a nice feeling. You can also play with the Red Channel in Curves to give the text color a more desired look.

Step 29 – Final Touch-Ups

After adding a few gradient maps I decided to move some light parts (indicated by white arrows). I also made a small shadow correction as it seemed too dark and dense.

Also as you can see in the second image below, I lowered the opacity of shadow between the text and splatter. It’s just because curves made it a little bit too dark.

Be ready for any corrections, after adjusting colors and contrast sometimes you may wanna change something. And it’s good to take a fresh look at your piece and work on some details if they don’t fit correctly.

Conclusion

So now you know how to create a cool splatter from scratch, add glossy colorful 3D text. Fill the whole image with great colors and place everything in 3D space. I think there are many useful effects and techniques you can use in your own projects.

And this way we have reached the end of Tutorial Part I. Although this piece needs some more detailed work all over it, as it is too empty. So in Tutorial Part II you will learn about some nice techniques for achieving glowing effects and creating a creative messy look. Check it out soon!

Thanks for reading the tutorial. You can view the final image of this two part series below or view a larger version here.

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Final Image Preview

Take a look at the image we’ll be creating. Want access to the full PSD files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Psd Plus for just $9/month. You can view the final image preview below or view a larger version here.

Step 1

First of all, I want to make clear that the image with the face that I’m using here, is an personal image of my self, Face Image. I would recommend you to get this image for this tutorial, for you to follow me step by step, also you can use any other image you like. It will be easier for you to choose an image that has a Black Background, in order to use this effect in a similar way.

In this tutorial, Im also using a brush set, that I found really useful. You can find it on Deviantart or from obsidiandawn.com. I also used a stock image of Fireworks that helped me to get the effect of an explosion. Before you get the Brush Set and the Fireworks image, please do not forget to credit the Artists.

Step 2

After you downloaded all the needed material, it’s time for us to start. Open the Face Image, press Alt + Double-click on the layer so you can Unlock it. Rename the layer "Face." Now you have to create a New Layer by pressing Command + Shift + N, below this one and fill it with Solid Black, rename the layer "Background."

Step 3

Go to Brush Tool (B), select one of the brushes from the set you downloaded before. I recommend you select one that has more letters. In this case, I used number 22. Before you apply the brush, be sure you create a new layer using Command + Shit + N, then select the new layer so the brush will apply on it. Also for the brush size, the Master Diameter has to be set for the maximum, which in this case is 2500 px. Later after you got the idea, you can play more with the brush sizes.

Step 4

Now it’s time to work a bit more, select the "Layer 1", hold Control Key, Command-click on the layer "Layer 1," you will see that all the letters of the brush are selected.

Select the Layer called "Face," be sure the letters are still selected, and copy the selected pixels from the layer, then paste. You will see an automatic layer is created below "Layer 1" and layer "Face." I call that layer “Cameleon” because it has the same colors as the Image. You have to Delete "Layer 1," or you won’t see any difference. If you hide the layer "Face," you will see that the letters become the same as the Face Image.

Step 5

In Step 3 and Step 4, I explain how the letters from the brush are colored as the image of the face. You now need to repeat those steps as many times as needed until the face becomes clear. In this case, I repeated the steps eight times, and I got the image below as the result.

Don’t forget to group all the layers (Layer > New > Group). Rename the group "Letters" and then select all the layers, drag them and drop them into the Group.

Step 6

To make more clear that the letters are overlapping each other, you need to apply shadow on them. Select one of the layers that is inside the Group "Letters." Double-click on it and choose Blending Options, then set the Drop Shadow with a Blend Mode of Multiply, Opacity 90%, Angle 30, Distance 8px, and Size 5px.

By applying this on one layer, you can copy this effect by Right-clicking on that layer and choose Copy Layer Style. Select all the layers that are inside the group, then Right-click again in one of them and choose Paste Layer Style. You will see that all the layers get this shadow.

Step 7

Everything now is done. This was the whole trick. Now it needs only the retro colors and the explosion effect to finish the design.

Create two layers (Command + Shift + N), call them "Blue" and "Orange." Fill the "Blue" layer with (#080d4c) and fill the "Orange" layer with (#ffc600).

The Opacity of the "Blue" layer has to be 50 %, and the Blend Mode, Lighten. The Opacity of the "Orange" layer has to be 6%, and the Blend Mode, Lighter Color. Be sure that the "Blue" layer is on top.

Step 8

Now we’ll make the lights. Select the Brush Tool (B), choose a normal brush Circle with a Master Diameter of 150 px. Choose two colors (#00fffc) and (#00ff4e) for the lines.

Create a new layer (Command + Shift + N), and start to draw with the brush from the upper-left corner to the right-lower corner, as I did in the image below.

Step 9

Select the layer with the lines you drew. Go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur. Be sure the Angle is -45 degrees, and the distance is 998 px.

Step 10

This time go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. The Radius has to be 124px. After you’ve applied the Blur, go on the Blending Mode of the layer and change it from Normal to Lighten, also reduce the Opacity to 50%.

Step 11

Create a New Layer. Choose the Brush Tool that we used before to draw the lines, and draw something similar to the image below with this color: #ff0066.

Step 12

Now go Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Be sure you have selected the rough layer, the one with Pink Light. And be sure the Radius is in Max 250.0 px. Go to the Blend Mode of the same layer and change the Mode to Screen.

Step 13

Now open the image with the Fireworks that you downloaded in the beginning. Go to Hue/Saturations (Command + U), and change the Hue to -98. You see that the color of the image changed into a Pink. Press Command + A to select all the pixels of the image, Copy the Image, and then go to our project and Paste it there. As you see, a new layer is created. Rotate the image as shown in the second image below.

Step 14

Change the Blend Mode of the image to Linear Dodge.

Step 15

Create a new layer (Command + Shift + N). fill it with Solid Black, go to Filter > Render > Lens Flare, and set the Brightness to 89%. Also, choose 35 mm prime, and try to move the light in the same place as shown below.

Step 16

Go to the blend mode of this layer, and from Normal Mode change it to Screen. Also, by moving and rotating the image, you can get something similar to that shown below.

Conclusion

Now save this project, and after you get the finished image you can play with the Brightness and the Contrast until you are satisfied with the result.

I Hope you learned something new and had fun. You can view the final image below or view a larger version here.

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Final Image Preview

Take a look at the image we’ll be creating. Want access to the full PSD files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Psd Plus for just $9/month. You can view the final image preview below or view a larger version here.

Step 1

First of all open up a new document and fill it in with black. Then add your text using a font you like and the color #00e5ff.

Step 2

Next duplicate the layer by pressing (Command + J), set the layer Opacity to 65% and move it down and left 1 px each.

Step 3

Next duplicate the text layer in Step 2 four more times. Then move each 1 px down and left as you did before.

Step 4

Next you need to select all the layers except for the background and the first text you created. Now right-click and chose Rasterize Type, then Merge the layers and set the new layer to 47% Opacity.

Step 5

Use the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L) and make a selection, as shown below. Next, use the Smudge Tool (R) set to a Master Diameter of 19 px, Hardness of 100%, Strength of 30%, and smudge the right part of the layer so you can cover up that empty part.

Step 6

Repeat the same process with the other letters.

Step 7

For the lower part of the “S” letter, make a selection as shown, but this time simply erase the unwanted part of the letter by pressing Backspace.

Step 8

Erase the upper part of the letters: “d,” “t,” “u,” and “t,” then erase the lower part of the “s.”

Step 9

Next use the Smudge Tool (R) as you did in Step 5. Use the Smudge Tool for the letters “t,” “t” and “s.”

Step 10

Next move the original text layer above the duplicate. Also, set the Opacity of the duplicated layer to 35%. Select the original text layer and double-click on it to enter the Blending Options and then add a stroke.

Step 11

Next select the text layer below and duplicate it. Use the Pen Tool (P) and create a stroke like below and transform it into a selection. Now simply erase over the selection using the Eraser Tool (E) set to 24% Opacity.

Step 12

Next create a new layer above the duplicated text layers. In this layer add some color to the text. To do this you first need to make a selection of the entire text by holding down the Command key and pressing once on the duplicated text layer thumbnail. Now fill the selection with #ff009c. Don’t mind the blue clouds behind the text.

Step 13

Set the layer to Hue and Opacity to 35%.

Step 14

Make a selection of the first text layer and then go into each of the below layers and press backspace to clear the selected areas. As you can see below, the text effect will still be visible, but we need to erase some areas for future adjustments.

Step 15

Create a new layer below the “pink” layer and make a selection as shown below, then fill the selection with white. Also, set the layer to 38% Opacity and the original “text” layer to 68% Opacity.

Step 16

Make a selection of the original “text” layer. Now use a soft brush for the Eraser Tool (E) to clear the corners of the white layer that don’t look good.

Step 17

Make another selection of the original text layer and create a new layer above it. Then select the Lasso Tool (L) and right-click on the screen and choose stroke. Set the stroke to 2 px and color to #00fcff.

Step 18

Duplicate the stroke from Step 17 and move it like below. Now make a selection as shown, and use the Eraser Tool (E) set to 40% Opacity to erase the stroke that is inside the selection. In the end, set the layer to 10% Opacity.

Step 19

Make another selection on the original text and then subtract like below. Create a new layer above the original “text” layer, and apply the same color as you used for the stroke add a simple gradient. Then add another stroke using #c2feff.

Step 20

Duplicate the “white text” layer and brush over it with the color #f1ff12. Then set the layer Opacity to 23% and move it as shown.

Step 21

Make a selection like below by Command-clicking on the original text thumbnail and inverse the selection. Then using the Eraser Tool (E) you need to erase the edges like in Step 16.

Step 22

Now it is time to get back to the “pink” layer. Activate it and set the Opacity back to 100%. Make a selection like below, invert it and erase the excess using the Eraser Tool (E).

Step 23

Move the “pink” layer you just created above the original text layer and set it to Overlay.

Conclusion

You are finished with the text effect but to make this a bit more interesting I will create another element and that is the plus using the same techniques. Also, add the final element, which is an interesting background that I purchased from Graphic River. You can view the final image below or view a larger version here.

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Final Image Preview

Take a look at the image we’ll be creating. Want access to the full PSD files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Psd Plus for just $9/month. You can view the final image preview below or you can view a larger version here.

Step 1

Start up Photoshop and create a new document (4000px by 2000px at 300 ppi). Type up your word, in this case "type," with this font: Sloop. Obviously this isn’t a free font because this font doesn’t have what free fonts usually have – bugs.

The swirls are constant and smooth. Any spikes or inconsistent endpoints will only get worse once we make this into a 3D shape. Another thing to take into consideration is the weight. I wanted an elegant font, but that is also bold enough to work as a 3D shape. If it’s too thin, it won’t work. Curls or lines that are too thin end up looking like knife blades.

Step 2

Right-click on the type’s layer and click on "Convert to Shape."

Step 3

Go to File > Export > Export Paths to Illustrator. Save it as an Illustrator file.

Step 4

Now you’ll need Maxon’s Cinema 4D, or any sort of 3D software. The instructions here though are based on C4D. Start a new project and go to File > Merge. Open the Illustrator file you created in the previous step.

And as a disclaimer, I barely know C4D, so forgive me if I mess things up a bit, or make up terms as I go

Step 5

Click and hold on the Hyper Nurbs button. Drag to Extrude Nurbs and release.

Step 6

Find the type path layer in the Objects menu and press the plus button to bring up its contents. Press Command and click on all the paths to select them together.

Right-click and go to Connect. After you do that you’ll be given a sort "flattened" version of the four on the top of the list. You can delete the old paths, as we will only use the connected version now.

Step 7

Now click and drag the new path onto the Extrude Nurbs effect. That will apply the Nurbs to the path.

Step 8

Click on the path inside the viewing area (I almost said canvas because I have no idea what it’s called). In the lower-right corner you’ll see the Extrude Nurbs effect. Click on the Object tab and change it to 10 meters.

Step 9

Now click on the Caps tab, and use the following settings. Now that I look at it, 15 steps for a smooth corner is overkill, so just use about 5 to save rendering time. Keep 0,75 or 1 for the Radius though. Anything under that might turn up too sharp in Photoshop when you sharpen the image.

Step 10

Click on the type and copy it (Command + V). Paste it in place (Command + V) and press the middle click button on your mouse. That should bring up four different views. Zoom into the Perspective view so that you can see how close the two type objects need to be. Now use the Move tool to drag the "Z" axis (blue) in the Right view about 12 points.

Step 11

In the bottom menu, click on File > Shader > Nukei. This is a material preset that we will alter slightly.

Step 12

Click on the material’s icon in the bottom dock. That will bring up the settings in the lower-right corner. Click on the Diffuse A tab. Think of this one as a primary color. Other colors follow, but we will only change the primary diffuse color. I still want a shade of cyan in there. Change the color by clicking on the Color icon.

Step 13

Now drag the material icon onto the first layer of the text, inside the viewing area.

Step 14

Create a new Nukei material and change the Diffuse A color to this one: R:255 G:241 B:74. Then drag it onto the second layer.

Step 15

It’s time to insert some lights. Click on the Add Light Object button and drag it to Area Light.

Step 16

Use the move tool and drag the "Y" axis until the light is at a proper height.

Step 17

Use the rotate tool to make the light face the text.

Step 18

Drag the green axis until the plane is facing the text.

Step 19

Create a second light source on the opposite side.

Step 20

Add one on the top that evens out the luminosity.

Step 21

In the same way as in the previous steps, add a few other characters as shown below. Create only one layer for these and use the golden color.

Step 22

Now go to Render > Render Settings. Change them accordingly.

Make sure the pixel size is pretty large.

Don’t forget to specify the path where you want the render to be saved.

When you’re done, create a first render by pressing Shift + R.

Step 23

Find the render in the folder you chose, and open it in Photoshop. Open the Channels menu (Window > Channels), and Command-click on the “Alpha 1 icon.” That will make a selection of the text.

Step 24

Go back to the Layers menu and double-click on the “Background” layer. Give it a name. We’re doing this just the make it a regular layer.

Step 25

Now press the add layer mask button to hide the black areas.

Step 26

Here’s the deal. We don’t want to cut out every character away from the render manually. It’s easier to make a render of each character separately and just use the Alpha Channel to cut it out from the background.

With the original layer underneath, we’ll piece it together by aligning each element with its position inside the original render. So go back to C4D, hide all but one element by un-ticking it inside the Objects menu.

Step 27

Render it, and separate it from its background as before.

Step 28

Then align all of them by placing them on top of the old render. One of them is highlighted to show that it’s separated from the original render.

Step 29

Now go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map. Use these colors (left to right): #ffffff, #ffe73f, #542a9a, and #07030e. Set the layer Opacity to 50% and make it a clipping mask for the text layer so that it only influences the text’s colors.

Step 30

Repeat the process for the remaining elements, and fill the background with this color: #ffe73f.

Step 31

Double-click on the text layer and add these layer effects. For the drop shadow use this color: #6b506b. Use this for the Outer Glow: #fff260.

Step 32

Over the background layer, paint a shadow with this color: #a89e3b.

Step 33

Now paint a smaller surface with this color: #a89e3b.

Step 34

For this part, you’ll need this brush pack. Start a new large document (about 2500 px by 2000 px) and paint with black on a white background (the brush is the first one in the pack). Select everything (Command + A) and paste it in a blank Illustrator file. The large size will make it easy to vectorize.

Step 35

Inside Illustrator, press the Live Trace button, and change the color to this: #776767.

Step 36

Copy and Paste it inside the Photoshop document.

Step 37

Use the second brush inside the brush pack and vectorize them as well. Just use this color instead: #3c2958.

Step 38

Go back to Illustrator and use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to copy only a single leaf out of the whole brush. Pick out a larger one for the most quality. Paste it in Photoshop with this color: #a39485.

Step 39

Add these small leafs all over the other branches.

Step 40

Now we’ll create a complementary pattern. Start a new Photoshop document (165 px by 165 px at 300 ppi). Bring up the ruler (Command + R) and drag guides that will snap to the edges of the canvas.

Step 41

Select the Crop Tool (C) and drag it over the whole canvas. Hold Shift and Alt, and drag the box until you get about double the canvas size. Use the Round Rectangle Tool (U) set on 10 px radius to create a symmetrical rectangle (Hold Shift when creating). Duplicate it, move it a few pixels with the keyboard (remember the number) and create a similar pattern as shown.

Step 42

Crop the document back to its initial size by snapping it to the guides. Fill the background color with #533d63 and shape color with #ac9c8f.

Step 43

Double-click on one of the shapes layers, and add a 5 pixel, inner stroke with this color: #ecdd18. Then go to Edit > Define Pattern.

Step 44

Select the Bucket Tool (G). From the drop down menu near the top of the screen, select Pattern. Make a clipping mask for one of the leafs, and fill it with this pattern.

Step 45

Fill a few other leafs with the same pattern.

Step 46

Change the colors around the pattern file with different shades of yellow, and fill some with those.

Step 47

Now we’ll add a few vector motifs. First of all, start a new Illustrator document and select the Polygon Tool. Hold the tilde key (~) and drag as indicated by the arrow. Don’t stop dragging until you’ve reached the end of the next step. I made two screenshots to break down the entire motion.

After dragging up, drag back down toward the center in a spiral pattern. The speed of your dragging determines the amount of lines.

Step 48

This is what it should look like. Change the motif to this color: #f5e750.

Step 49

Place it in the Photoshop document as a Smart Object.

Step 50

Place a second larger one on the left side.

Step 51

Create another motif, but using the Star Tool in Illustrator.

Step 52

Add a few small stars all over the canvas as well.

Step 53

Now create a rectangle somewhere inside the composition and give it a 5 pixel inner stroke, just like the pattern. Use this for the fill color: #543d63.

Step 54

Make a clipping mask for this shape, and paint with a soft brush with this color: #cbef8e. With the same two colors, create other rectangles.

Step 55

Repeat this process to sprinkle these motifs all over the composition. Keep it subtle and tasteful.

Step 56

Now create a new blank layer above the text, and use the Pen Tool (P) to trace in path mode what will soon be a thin line.

Step 57

When done, use the Brush Tool (B) to edit the settings (chose a small, hard brush) and press P when you’re done. Right-click, select Stroke Path, tick the Simulate Pressure box and press OK.

Step 58

Repeat the previous step to create a few more lines. Don’t add too many though.

Step 59

And finally, we’ll touch up the yellow values and make it look warmer. On top of all the layers, go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Selective Color. From the drop down menu, select Yellows and drag the sliders to the numbers shown below.

Final Image

That’s all folks! If you’re sure you want to get into type treatments, 3D is a great way to go. I didn’t think I’d need a 3D program, and thought that Illustrator’s Extrude and Bevel feature was all I needed. Well, I was wrong. 3D opens up a whole new dimension – literally!

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Final Image Preview

Take a look at the illustration we’ll be creating. Want access to the full PSD files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Psd Plus for just $9/month. You can view the final image preview below. Be sure to view the larger format, as there are details you miss at small sizes.

Video Tutorial

Our video editor Gavin Steele has created this video tutorial to compliment this text + image tutorial.

Introduction

I love doing type treatments. Out of all the designs I’ve created so far, it’s typographic illustrations that have always taught me a lot, mainly because I’ve usually tried to make the most of Photoshop and Illustrator’s tools. You are practically forced to create most of it from scratch, so how much you polish your design determines how good it will be.

In this tutorial, I went for a decorative look, by firstly choosing a typeface: Ayosmonika. I’ve used it before, and this time I wanted to go for a more flat look. The font seems very organic to me, so I sought and found a good online resource, the ornate pattern freebie. It’s got lots of rich detail, so it’s enough for what we want.

My initial colors were violet and yellow, but they seemed out of place. I later decided to go with a wood texture, and bronze shades (new and aged) for the decorative elements. These colors would give me an old-world look, so even though it’s not how it began, it is how it ended.

Step 1

The first thing we’ll do is create a very large wooden texture. Getting the same result may be difficult, so just try to obtain something that looks like a wood texture. Start up Photoshop and create a new document. Make it big; somewhere around 6000 px by 6000 px (300 ppi).

Select a dark brown (#48403a) as the foreground color and a lighter version (#ac9f92) as the background color. Fill the document’s background with the foreground color (#48403a) and go to Filter > Render > Fibers. Change the settings (Variance of 12.0 and Strength of 34.0) and randomize it until you get something similar. Playing around with the settings can help.

OR: If you’re a Graphic River user, you can download a similar texture from my Wood Texture Pack.

Step 2

We’ll now give the fibers more depth and a darker color. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map. Once you created it, change its layer Blending Mode to Overlay and Opacity to 50%.

Step 3

Now create a new blank layer and fill it with the color #633a1c. Set the layer’s Blending Mode to Multiply.

Step 4

And finally, select the Gradient Tool (G). Choose white as the foreground color, and create a white to transparent white gradient from top to bottom. Change the layer Opacity to somewhere around 10%. Select the entire canvas (Command + A) and copy the merged file (Command + Shift + C).

Step 5

Create a new Photoshop document using a landscape A4 canvas (29,7 x 21 cm at 300 ppi). I created mine in CMYK format, so if you want the colors to make any sense, make sure you select CMYK, not RGB.

Now add the type to this new document. Download this free font and type in each letter on a separate layer. The color doesn’t matter, as it will be replaced by a texture. I chose different shades of green just to show the layer order.

Step 6

Now double-click on the letter “T” layer and add these effects. Here are the color codes for each of them: Drop Shadow set to #000000; Outer Glow set to #476454; Bevel and Emboss Highlight set to #f09629 and Shadow set to #45293c, and Stroke set to #466454.

Altogether, your effects should look like the image below.

Step 7

Copy the layer style (right-click on layer and go to Copy Layer Style) and paste it over the rest. Also, create a large ampersand behind all the letters.

Step 8

Create a new blank layer above the letter “T” and make it a clipping mask. Place the wooden texture inside.

Step 9

Create another blank layer as a clipping mask above the texture. Make a selection of the “T” layer (Command + Click on the layer icon) and contract it by seven pixels (Select > Modify > Contract).

Step 10

Fill it with white and blur it slightly (Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur).

Step 11

Change the Layer’s opacity to 40% and select the eraser tool (E). Make it about 80% soft and erase the bottom part.

Step 12

Get this and this screw. Cut them out with the pen tool and desaturate them (Command + Shift + U). We’ll use the first one for large screws and the second for smaller ones. Place one of the large ones in the middle of the “T” and apply the effects shown below.

It will now look like it’s holding the “T” in place.

Step 13

Do the same to create the smaller one and place these screws on all the letters.

Step 14

Now you’ll need this free ornate pattern. Open it in Illustrator and double-click on the flourish detail (not the pattern). Use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select a white part of the detail. Change its color to #486554, Copy it (Command + C) and paste it (Command + V) into the Photoshop file as a Smart Object.

Step 15

Now add this layer style shown below.

It looks odd now, but it will be better once we add the second color.

Step 16

Create a new blank layer as a clipping mask and paint (#74cdd8) with a soft brush the tips of the flourish detail.

Step 17

Group the layers (Command + G) and duplicate the group, then position it accordingly.

Step 18

Place a large one on the bottom.

Step 19

Add a few smaller ones that appear to come out of the large one underneath. Try to keep an orientation that feels natural and organic.

Step 20

Add the final ones too.

Step 21

As usual, we’ll adjust the colors and contrast of the document with good ol’ Adjustment Layers. Add the first one by going to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map.

Step 22

Now add a Selective Color Adjustment Layer and use the Colors drop down menu to get to Blacks.

Step 23

I thought the composition needed a touch of another color, so let’s add some orange. Duplicate one of the floral patterns and make it smaller. Delete the bright cyan and paint with this color instead: #f7db58.

Step 24

Add a few more.

Step 25

Now, make a selection of each letter and paint with the same color.

Step 26

Go back to the Go Media Illustrator file and double-click the ornate pattern this time. Select the white part, and make it black. Copy it and go to Photoshop. Create a new document and keep the Clipboard size. Paste the pattern into the new document that should be an exact fit. Make the Background layer invisible and go to Edit > Define Pattern.

Step 27

Create a new blank layer above the wood texture background in our illustration. Select the Bucket Tool, and click on the drop down menu to paint a pattern. Select the newly created one and create one in the blank layer. Add the layer styles shown below.

This is what you should see at 100%.

Step 28

Create a new layer, make it a clipping mask and paint with a very large, soft shadow a few white glows near the center. Keep the Opacity low so that they don’t become too obvious.

Step 29

Use the same orange to paint a few subtle glows in a few places, just like in the previous layer.

Conclusion

Finding the right resources can be a great way to eventually create your own typographic illustrations. It’s like learning from others before you do everything by yourself. In time, you’ll be able to create details that are not only of the same or even better quality, but also something that reflects your style. And hopefully, I’ll be able to write a tutorial about that some day! You can view the final image below. Be sure to view the larger format, as there are details you miss at small sizes.

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