The use of 3D type is an increasing trend in design today. Creating such type usually requires advanced 3D software. Yet, not all of us own such software, nor know how to use it. In this tutorial, I will teach you the basics of creating polished 3D type using Illustrator and Photoshop. Let's get to work.
Step 1
Open up Illustrator and with the Type Tool, type some text. I used the font Bifurk, which is available to download for free. I used this font because nice thick fonts work best with this effect. Using a thin font usually yields poorer results. The font size has been set to 77pt. Don't worry about the font size too much. We'll be using Smart Objects, so we can adjust the size at any given time.
Step 2
Now change the color to white. If you don't like not being able to see your text, you can simply use a different background. Next go to Effect>3D>Extrude & Bevel. Use the settings shown below, making sure to open up ore options, and make sure that Preview is on.
Step 3
Time to migrate your work to Photoshop. Simply copy and paste the artwork (or drag it from one canvas to the other). I prefer to use Smart Objects. You can now resize your text to whatever size you want. In fact, the bigger the better. For the purposes of this tutorial, I will stick to a relatively small canvas. I placed the image on a blue background, so it's easier to work with than white on white.
Step 4
Now the magic happens! Use the Settings below to apply Layer Styles to the text. The result follows the settings images.
Step 5
Let's go over the top with this design. After all, this is a funky style we're creating here. Ctrl-Click your text layer to obtain a selection. Next, on a new layer add a smooth black to white gradient. Set the layer mode to Soft Light, and the Opacity to 40%. This creates some awesome contrast.
I also want to add some shadows so that my text sits on a surface. Select a low Opacity (around 20%) and a small-sized soft, black brush. Then brush a shadow below the text on a new lower layer. The further away you get from the text, the fewer strokes you should use. If you feel your shadow needs a blur then go to filter>blur>Gaussian blur. Use a value that seems appropriate to you. It's a basic shadow, nothing too fancy.
Step 6
You could call it a day and stop here, or you could go on. Duplicate the smart object and rasterize it by going to (Layer > Rasterize > Smart Object). Hide the bottom smart object. Now go to the Clone Stamp Tool. Get a nice irregular brush, like a spatter brush, or something similar. Then clone some parts of the text. This creates a sweet broken-up effect. Be careful not to overdo the effect though.
Step 7
I'm going to add more elements. Instead of glowing swirls, I'm going to add what I like to call :road marks". Perhaps the proper term would be "pinstripes". I use the Pen Tool to create a shape that has the proper perspective (this is all by eye), and then I fill it with white. This enhances that illusion of a surface. You can tweak it with a mask and a low-opacity brush—fading some parts creates a sweet effect.
Step 8
Lens flares are underestimated. When used well, they help to enhance the effect of a glowing object. Create a new layer on top of everything else, and fill it with black. Go to Filter > Render > Lens Flare. Go for the 105mm prime. Put it a tad off center, so you get a nice beam shooting out of it. Set the layer mode to screen. Perhaps you noticed that if you move the layer around, you can see a harsh edge at the end of the lens flare. Simply erase it with a soft eraser or mask it with a soft brush. You can regulate the layer's opacity in order to control the intensity of the effect.
Step 9
Let's add some color to the type now. Create a new layer on top of everything else. Grab a fuzzy, medium-sized brush, and set it to a color like (#e02c97). Start brushing the bottom of your type. When you are done, Ctrl-click on the layer where your type is located, so that a selection is visible around the type. Now hit the layer mask button at the bottom of the Layers palette. This should remove all the color that is outside the bounds of the text. Next, you should set this layer to soft light.
Step 10
Let's work some more on the background. Create a new document that is 40px by 2px. Make sure that the background is set to transparent. Now fill half of the document (20px) with black. Go to edit > define pattern. Then save this new pattern.
Step 11
Return to your original project. On a new layer, located below your type layer, go to edit > fill. Set the use field to Pattern. From the patterns available, select your freshly made custom pattern from the previous step. Now hit OK. The whole canvas should fill with a bunch of stripes.
Now go to edit > transform > perspective. Take the lower-left anchor point, and while holding Shift, drag it outwards and to the left. Keep doing this until the stripes seem to match the orientation of the shadow. This adds to the 3D effect in the design.
Finally, I changed the layer mode to Soft Light. With a low-opacity brush and a mask, I added some texture to the whole thing. I also removed parts of the line patterns to focus the design with a mask.
Step 12
Next we'll create the rings. Take the Ellipse Tool and set it to paths instead of shape layers. Now make a nice circle (hold Shift to create a circle). Then stroke it with a 2px brush. Now you have one ring. Duplicate this layer, decrease it's size, and repeat this process about four more times. Now you have a bunch of rings. Merge all these layers. Then add a default glow, but with the color changed to white. Then add a lens flare on top, as we did earlier. For the fancy effect I used a mask (yes, again), and I got rid of a portion of the rings.
Step 13
The next things to do are add the clouds and the 'smoke' below the letters. The clouds are from a stock image from Stock.Xchng. After downloading and importing the image, I heavily masked and duplicated it. Play around and see what happens. Every outcome is different with this one. The smoke was created with the same techniques as can be found at the beginning of the Flaming Meteor Text Effect tutorial by Fabio.
Conclusion
Add a new layer below our "Pinstripe" layer. Then create a pink gradient, which goes from top to bottom, and fades to transparent about halfway down. And we're done!
You've learned to create 3D style text without the use of advanced 3D software. There are many options available when creating a design like this. This kind of 3D text really looks great on posters or when blended into urban or nature scenery. Once learned, this technique can yield spectacular results. Enjoy!
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User Comments
( ADD YOURS )Cain May 4th
Very nice. The 3-D effect is awesome.
( )Brian May 4th
Great tut – the final products is amazing! Perfect attention to detail as well.
( )BroOf May 4th
I love the endeffect
!
( )Nate May 4th
Pretty cool
( )Lamin Barrow May 4th
Awesome results. Thanks very much.
( )Ben Griffiths May 4th
Hey, this looks pretty cool! I think it’d work better with a different font, but a great little tutorial!
( )Daniel May 4th
Thanks that you did it with Ps & Ai
Daniel
( )Wouter May 4th
Nice effect’s
( )Constantin Potorac May 4th
Pretty funny effect. I like it. 
( )Rjton May 4th
nice
( )giackop May 4th
yeah i agree with constantin funny effect!!! cool
( )D. Carreira May 4th
Cool! Thanks for this tutorial!
David Carreira
( )Nick May 4th
Awesome! Thanks!
( )yan May 4th
And without xara 3d Mortel !!!!!!!!!!!!!!(no xara 3d on mac)
( )Daniel May 4th
very nice tutorial ! and the whole result is very cool !
( )Has.n May 4th
cool one!!!!
( )Zach May 4th
cool effect. i know how to do this and to create some cool effects in a 3d software. seeing it in illustrator was cool though. i think that there may be something wrong though with the final pic. it looks kinda distorted.
( )Qbrushes May 4th
no offense bu i think it looks cheesy.
( )Mohammed May 4th
Thanks for you Arik …
( )I tried to write a tutorial of something like this, but was not accepted.
I think mine was too complex.
your work is simple and so beautiful.
thanks again.
Mike Rundle May 4th
That looks totally awesome. Great tutorial!
( )KillaBoY May 4th
looks very good
( )kamel May 4th
not clean dude!not clean
im disappointed
( )Arnaud May 4th
Really cool !
( )Snorri3D May 4th
3D i love it
( )goldenthunder May 4th
Way cool Arik! Thanks!
( )Seraphim Collective May 4th
Nice. We need more 3D Tuts… uh oh
( )Danny May 4th
Yes! Another awesome text-related tutorial, been waiting for this one
( )MONSTER May 4th
Soft and pillowy. It makes me sleepy and I like to get “sleepy”.
( )Coconut Pete May 4th
I like it! thanks for sharing
( )Joefrey Mahusay May 4th
Cool text effect.
( )mxsf May 4th
great tut! very cool.
( )Harry May 4th
This is Honestally one of my fav tuts! thanks
( )Ariful Khan May 4th
nice
( )Kyle Wegner May 5th
Just wanted to stop by and give this a 2 thumbs up. Absolutely amazing, and simple! Great tut!
( )Rax May 5th
simply awsome, great work!
( )Soelberg May 5th
To be hornest, somehow I think this one is a little under what I expect from the tutorials at PSDTUTS.. It’s nearly like all the other 3d effects, just with a little new..
– But thanks anyway..
( )v1ktor May 5th
greattt!!
( )i’ve been waiting for a long time this kind of tutorial
i love it
thanks
Dmscopio May 5th
very cool effects! I enjoyed all of your tutorials, thank you for sharing them.
( )Ali May 5th
Very very nice, thanks
( )Shane May 5th
I understand the close relationship that illustrator and photoshop have, but not everybody has illustrator. I guess this is not a tutorial for me, but thanks for posting anyhow.
Sean: Any chance of marking tutorials with illustrator content so that readers can see those that require illustrator?
Just a thought.
( )Erika May 5th
You know you’ve made it when people are pouting in your comments! LOL!
Great work, guys
( )Tommy May 5th
Nice outcome! :O
( )Thanks! ^^
HamBoneZ May 5th
Nice tutorial man! Now I know that I can do some 3D effects with Illustrator and that also gives me some ideas!
- BoneZ
( )Mason May 5th
Those brushes really add a nice effect.
Thanks!
( )HamBoneZ May 5th
There is my outcome! Thx again man! Hope you will enjoy the fruit of your tutorial!
I tried to make a birthday card to my girlfriend and I think the result is nice! The withe line is to seperate them when I’ll print it!
See it : http://www.flickr.com/photos/25239414@N05/2465951789/
- BoneZ
( )kbryhl May 6th
Very nice and simple effect. Thanks for sharing.
( )stenkoo May 7th
thanks for this tuts. really nice effect.
( )Tammy Dickinson May 8th
Very nice! How much time in all did it take you to create this? Very nice, indeed!
( )Andrew D May 9th
Great effect, I need to try this out myself
( )Mike May 9th
Very nice! Some parts a little confusing, but thought common sense I was able to create a very similar effect. Thanks for this tutorial, hope to see more!
( )Sean Farrell May 9th
awesome, awesome, awesome
( )Chuck Madere May 10th
I sure like the way you teach!
( )Chuck Madere
tayzar May 10th
Amazing Result!!! I didn’t know that photoshop can create 3D Design. Nice tut!!
( )Jose Rosa May 12th
I’m loving your tuts! they’re getting better and better! congratulations.
( )TH May 14th
Nice tutorial!!
( )mamoun al bibi May 15th
WOW
Amazing
( )JokR May 16th
Great . . . just great . . . I didn’t know about 3D effects in photoshop . . . really learned a lot
( )James May 19th
WOW! I think I’m in love…
( )Nabil May 20th
Does this apply for CS3 because I can’t find the effects tab. Anyone care to enlighten me a bit?
( )T May 20th
I love PSDTUTS and I think you publish some truly awesome Tutorials.
The problem is sometimes these tutorials (most of the time) do not explain things in enough detail.
You go from a consistent starting point off on tangents.
It’s a real shame because Photoshop beginners like myself who start off on one of your tutorials get completely lost and will simply lose interest.
You’ve mentioned several things in this article that just make aboslutely no sense to beginners with Photoshop.
( )Michael D. May 23rd
Great effect.
( )alex May 28th
nice and cool efect. but, where can i find this plug in? thx
( )Wouter June 7th
I can’t use it on photoshop
( )D.T June 10th
Beautiful lighting. Thanks!
( )Sasuke61694 June 13th
awesome effect, I’ll be using this
( )JJP June 19th
I wish this tutorial was geared more towards PS beginners…
Any websites you know of that are?
( )Dannii June 25th
How do you do the “road marks” ? I’ve tried and failed…maybe you could go more in depth on this part of the tutorial as thats quite a major part for those following it exactly. It’s a shame to exclude telling us how to do that.
( )Bill Biwer June 30th
Awesome Tut!! Can’t wait to play with it.
( )sesebian July 13th
Beatifull
( )Antares July 29th
great…..give me more:)
( )stef August 7th
great tutorial – i love the effects but for me, the lens flare step won’t work.
it’s greyed out.
( )any ideas why?
T2 August 14th
http://www.dafont.com/plastic-pill.font
that font is similar
( )i like it better for some reason
Phill August 15th
Hi,
( )how it this effect?
Effect 3D Extrude & Bevel not in my Photoshop CS3
I hope answers, Thanks
TwoFace. August 26th
cool cool!
( )VonLog August 28th
Thanks a lot man!
( )i used a type i was working on with and it worked out excellent!
I really apreciate your share
Maxime September 3rd
The 3D part is in Illustrator !
( )Chris October 15th
I can’t get the blending options to look right.. the letters don’t take on the color overlay properly it seems… they just stay gray/white.
( )Garrett October 16th
the blending options will not work in photoshop for me. just stay gray and white.
( )chris October 22nd
Anyone know how to make that 3d effect without illustrator?, because i have photoshop just not illustrator
( )sixteen11arts November 7th
nice good job,,
( )NICKSN December 2nd
Hey Stef, check out if you’re in CYMK mode, change it to RGB mode
Good luck.
( )you can do this by going to Image > Mode > RGB Color.
After you’ve done that press Don’t merge and you can go on with this tutorial
Antonio Torres December 6th
Awesome tut! I made this for my sisters birthday with it:
http://s79.photobucket.com/albums/j123/Saedin/?action=view¤t=yishkabd2.png
( )Vaibhav Gupta January 12th
nice good job,,
( )VILA-ONER February 1st
PLEASE TELL ME WHERE I CAN DOWNLOAD THE 3D FILTER PLEASE PLEASE!!
( )Mycophobia February 14th
Just what I was looking for and in the font I was working with.
Goddamn, I love Google search…and now, of course, psdtuts.
Thnx
( )jackie February 24th
I cannot figure out the cirles!! ..i got the path down, but how do you fill in the 2px stroke?? i love this effect, can anyone fill me in?
( )Federico from Argentina February 26th
hello, im from argentina, i dont speak english so much.
( )where i can download the filter? what version of photoshop?
i have the version cs3
saludos
anonymous March 16th
cool.:)
( )tutorial.;D
thumbs up!
keep up the good work.:)
bye.:)
bobby March 22nd
hi,very nice tut. good work
here its my version.
http://home.arcor.de/bobbyinyourmouth/hp/works_portfolio/album/Wallpaper/slides/retrofuture.jpg
( )Nina March 28th
It does not allow me to Extrude and Bevel. Is there a step I am missing?
( )zaqueu de paula April 2nd
yes, I think so good, maybe I can do too, because I`m photografy man
( )and live here in brazil, I`m brazilian guy. I love photoshop.
halamanrumahku April 24th
weewwww wonderfulllll….. amazing……. good job!!!!
( )kasper April 26th
Hey, can someone tell me witsh photoshop i need to do the 3D thing ? i cant in adobe photoshop cs4… plzz help me
( )Gerlyn May 9th
You have to create the 3D in illustrator and then migrate it to photoshop.
( )wudan April 27th
nice~~~
( )Gerlyn May 9th
I am having problems when I add the layer style instead of being the color pink it comes out read when I add the satin, color overlay and gradient overlay. Please if some one can help I will appreciate it.
My email is Shapum_15@yahoo.com
( )VIGNESHWARAKANNAN May 21st
ITS VERY NICE. HAVE USEFUL THINGS FOR DESIGNER.
( )Flor May 22nd
What photoshop is it ? :S
( )aisha July 7th
I love it! — I used Xara 3D before to get an effect like that but sometimes its not as smooth as photoshop
( )Calls to India July 9th
Great work dud
( )this tip helped me to satisfy my client
Thank you
Ruby Rose July 11th
why cant i get the lens flare to highlight!!!
( )Malarkyd July 27th
Thank you VM…much needed and appreciated
( )ginaa August 15th
what program have wear for do the efect 3D ?
( )Aerodynamic August 23rd
Fantastic tut. Something I thought was only available in C4D.
( )tutorialslounge August 29th
really amazing tut you sharing. thanks
( )alice September 5th
It loooks really nice!
( )does someone know how much time it takes ?
Juan Hernandez September 10th
Hi Staff…. I’m From Venezuela… I like yours Tutorials…. When have a Spanish Versions?
( )Korean September 22nd
OH VERYGOOD
( )THANKS you^^♡
-Korea university student-
^^
oggi October 12th
SomeOne help me wheres The “effect>” Button?
( )PLZ
jmarreros October 21st
the 3D- effect looks awesome, great tut, thanks for sharing
( )HUssain October 30th
what program have wear for do the efect 3D
( )HUssain October 30th
CoOl EfFeCt……
( )Peter October 31st
The font is no longer available for download at dafont.com. Anyone has downloaded the font already like to share?
Thanks.
( )yi November 28th
xie xie
( )