Preview

New PLUS Tutorial - How to Make 3D Neon Light Typography

Nov 13th in Drawing, Text Effects by Alex Beltechi

This is a new addition to the PSDTUTS PLUS section. This is a super creative tutorial with a professional results. Learn how to create dynamic 3D Neon lettering with a hefty dose of Photoshop techniques and a dash of Illustrator know-how. Learn more at the jump!

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Author: Alex Beltechi

Digital Illustrator and graphic design student Alex Beltechi is based in Romania and currently writing tutorials based on personal projects. He also works as a freelancer, enjoys composing piano based music in his non-existent free time and thinks that talking about yourself in 3rd person narrative is pretty cheesy.

New Exclusive PLUS Tutorial Glowing with Creativity

This new PLUS Tutorial is titled "How to Make 3D Neon Light Typography," by Alex Beltechi. He is a digital artist and illustrator who has written tutorials for us before and created PLUS material, such as a unique artistic brush set. You can find him on Behance here.

This tutorial will take you through how to create a unique piece of digital artwork. You learn how to compose the 3D type and then add effects and imagery to achieve the final results. The great thing about this technique is the fact that it is very easy to apply to all sorts of neon lights. You can choose to make 3D typography, as in this tutorial, or stylized neon tubes in abstract compositions.

Members can Log in and Download! Otherwise, Join Now! The preview of the final illustration is below, multiple views are shown. You can view the large version here.

Adding that Touch of Realism

This tutorial takes this technique and adds levels of realism, like making the neon tubing glass looked aged, or adding shadows, textured background, graffiti, and more. Sign up for PLUS today and get access to this awesome new tutorial. Members can Log in and Download! Otherwise, Join Now!

PSDTUTS Plus Membership

As you know, we run a premium membership system here called PSDTUTS Plus that costs $9 a month (or $22 for 3 months!) which gives members access to the PSD files for tutorials as well as periodic extra tutorials, like this one! If you're a member you can log in and download the tutorial. If you're not a member, you can of course join today!

Also, don't forget to subscribe to the PSDTUTS RSS Feed to stay up to date with the latest vector tutorials and articles. Be the first to hear about the next PLUS Vector Pack as it's released!


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User Comments

( ADD YOURS )
  1. PG

    doda November 13th

    Looks fantastic! I ll check this out now =P already a plus member!

    ( Reply )
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    Rijalul Fikri November 13th

    Wow, another nice tutorial. Unfortunately I don’t have the plus account :(

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    Vader November 13th

    every good tut is in plus ! … why ? :(

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    Ben Reid November 13th

    Can anyone tell me what programs this is using? I’d love to see how this is done but don’t have any 3D software in my roster at the moment! This would probably get me to sign up just for this awesome effect.

    :(

    ( Reply )
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    Ben Reid November 13th

    @Vader

    So it entices you to join. :P

    ( Reply )
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    hiperkarma November 13th

    :)

    Thanks for nothing, join now?

    ( Reply )
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    Josh November 13th

    Looks pretty good. Maybe I should ask for membership for Christmas =]

    ~Josh

    ( Reply )
  8. PG

    wildwise November 13th

    YOU KNOW WHAT AM TALKIN BOUT!!!!! THIS! IS! AN EXTRA PLUUUUS TUT!!! :)

    ( Reply )
  9. PG

    Dutchversion November 13th

    Again a plus.
    Very nice tut I think ;).

    ( Reply )
  10. PG

    joshua November 13th

    This is fantastic, I love the fact that is is “plugged” in. That makes all the difference on the realism.

    ( Reply )
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    Venossi Designs November 13th

    Nice effect.

    ( Reply )
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    chad November 13th

    Good Stuff! I looked quickly through the tut and it looks like this one is only using photoshop…no 3D programs.

    ( Reply )
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    Sean Hodge November 13th

    @Ben Reid - Illustrator is used to position the text 3D, but Photoshop is used to bring out all the glows and rich details that make it neon.

    ( Reply )
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    insic November 13th

    very cool. Too bad i dont have a plus.

    ( Reply )
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      AGUS May 26th

      INSIC YOUR BEAUTIFUL

      ( Reply )
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    Bryan Grajales November 13th

    Damnn another tutorial for plus users !
    this site is mad Boring….
    why dont u just make it plus for everything asnd we dont have to lose our time ….

    Seriously ……… =/

    ( Reply )
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    ViniMan November 13th

    Brilliant tutorial.

    @Bryan Grajales: I would recommend you to buy a PLUS account, it would definitely be worth the money!

    ( Reply )
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    John bon Jovie November 13th

    Collin - the full size image is not working.

    404 Page Not Found error.

    ( Reply )
  18. PG

    FeatherHost November 13th

    Damn! I need to join Plus xD

    ( Reply )
  19. PG

    Shane November 13th

    Good stuff - I hope all the plus readers enjoy it.

    ( Reply )
  20. PG

    Moksha November 13th

    seem to be great tutorial, but its behind membership area ;) time to get one

    ( Reply )
  21. PG

    Tom Ross November 13th

    Looks like such a great text tut.

    ( Reply )
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    geir b nystad November 13th

    looks good! but that don’t interest me right now so i will keep off for xmas and then join for one month. i should support this website because i learn so much from this and that in itself is worth it!

    ( Reply )
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    Sean Hodge November 13th

    I fixed the larger image link. Thx.

    ( Reply )
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    CDA November 13th

    I’d love to hear if anyone has tried this tut yet. I’m still stuck at Step 2. No matter what I do I cant get the same results even though this is one of the simplest parts of the design and I’m using exactly the same settings.

    I’m sure that there must be something missing here :(

    ( Reply )
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    owain November 13th

    That Neon looks so realistic… Im contemplating joining up for the tut alone..

    Good work guys!

    http://www.icomcreative.com

    ( Reply )
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    thousand November 13th

    another plus onE!..

    oh man… you should think on wath you are doing couse you could take non-plus members away from the site..

    enjoy

    ( Reply )
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    Crazyhunk November 13th

    good outcome….

    ( Reply )
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    Daniel November 13th

    Wow, I don’t want to download the original PSD. I NEVER do it.

    I only want to study the tutorial. A shame it’s only for downloading the original psd file. This site used to be cooler. Now it’s only about the money.

    Probably because of the financial crisis!

    ( Reply )
  29. PG

    jmhilla82 November 13th

    Anyone having problems with the illustrator 3D extrude and bevel type settings they are giving you in the tutorial? The second step…ha

    ( Reply )
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    Nick November 13th

    @Daniel - What? It’s a tutorial and you can download the PSD if you want to.

    ( Reply )
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    jmhilla82 November 13th

    Got it thanks

    ( Reply )
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    Rui November 13th

    Very cool! Thanks for the tutorial! I guess it’s time for me to spend some money ;)

    ( Reply )
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    Chris November 13th

    Great tutorial. I wish i had this a few weeks ago.

    And guys - $9 is not alot of money to study with some master photoshop gurus. Especially since it is about using an app that costs $700. Besides they need to keep the site going on something.

    ( Reply )
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    Ben Reid November 13th

    @Sean Hodge - Thanks for getting back. If it only uses Illustrator then I’ll be signing up at the weekend!

    :)

    ( Reply )
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    digitalpharaoh November 13th

    Nice effect!

    ( Reply )
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    Jack November 13th

    i hate plus.

    ( Reply )
  37. PG

    Mabuc November 14th

    Very awesome, I really love here. this is nice nice nice.

    ( Reply )
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    Ben Reid November 14th

    I’ve just signed up to ‘plus’ to get this and the tutorial is fantasic!

    Even the first few steps made me gasp. Worth the sign up just for this!

    Hats of to you Alex.

    ( Reply )
  39. PG

    cristi_szd November 14th

    @ Chris:
    They have advertising to keep the site going. And besides that, most of the visitors are amateurs looking for nice effects and probably stimulants to work with Photoshop. I assume most of us have trials. Owning a software that expensive it’s not justified unless you work with it, and if that’s the case you know what you’re doing and don’t visit tutorial sites. Of course there are pirate versions for free, but that’s not fair either.
    @ Alex Beltechi:
    Pacat fratioare, mi-ar fi placut sa pot sa-l fac. Nu atat pentru tehnica eu fiind amator si probabil nu voi trai niciodata din asta. Ci doar pentru frumusetea efectului si satisfactia de a-mi creea poate un wallpaper personalizat extrem de spectaculos.

    It looks like an excellent tut anyway. Whoever gets it, enjoy! Whoever doesn’t, move on! Best of luck to you all. Including the author.

    ( Reply )
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    Sam Thompson November 14th

    Guys do you remember the 3D transformation filter back in photoshop 7 that helped us create 3D shapes easily?
    Yes, 3D Transform.8BF
    Missing the photoshop file for making 3d stuff? My pleasure to give you the link where I’ve posted the file ;)

    http://www.sanjaym.com.np/1.html

    CHEERS, Keep sharing..

    ( Reply )
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    Alex Beltechi November 14th

    Thanks guys, I’m glad you like it! :)

    ( Reply )
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    geir b nystad November 14th

    @cristi

    i work with photoshop, not so much, mostly InDesign, but i think even many who do work with photoshop they come here also to se what is going on and to get inspiration. i know i do!

    ( Reply )
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    Hennessy November 14th

    nice effect, but i’m not a plus member. :/

    ( Reply )
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    Chris November 14th

    @cristi
    Actually, I have used photoshop since 4.5 and use it every day in my professional career. As much as I know I always realize there is more to learn. I get into habits where I do things the same way and love to see how others solve similar problems.

    ( Reply )
  45. PG

    Ben Reid November 14th

    With all the realistic lighting going on it seems the cables coming off the neon tubes have avoided any lighting effect!

    I added a nice soft ‘bluey’ glow to the cables where they first connect to the tubing, just adds that extra little bit of realism.

    Sorry to nit pick!

    :D

    ( Reply )
  46. PG

    afrix November 15th

    Looks very nice !
    http://afrix99.deviantart.com/

    ( Reply )
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    Fin Maciver November 16th

    I’m also having problems with step 2. When I apply the rounded bevel with the settings shown, I get a warning: “bevel self intersection may have occurred” and the letter is a weird (if interesting) mess! Any idea what I’m doing wrong?

    ( Reply )
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    Ariful Alam Khan November 16th

    nice

    ( Reply )
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    Shr November 17th

    What’s that font?

    ( Reply )
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    JC November 18th

    This looks awesome - definitely an effect I want to try to learn. I’m going to bite the bullet and sign up for Plus.

    To all you whingeing kids out there moaning about actually having to pay for something - How about you spend years learning Photoshop and web design, build a website, pay for the hosting, then spend all of your spare time keeping the site fresh and updated.

    Then give it all away for free so that it ends up costing you a load of money just so that some snot nosed kid with a pirated version of CS4 can pretend to be as cool as you are.

    It’s $9 ffs! That’ll barely buy you lunch these days.

    ( Reply )
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    CD Abb November 18th

    @ Fin Maciver
    You need to start with a much larger font size than whats shown in the tut…I had the same problem at first :D

    ( Reply )
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    Fin Maciver November 19th

    @ CD Abb

    Thanks for the tip! You’re not kidding when you say a MUCH larger font!! :-)

    ( Reply )
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    TJ November 19th

    Made me go PLUS =)

    ( Reply )
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    l33tz0r December 1st

    I saw this tutorial. I thought like “Woah, this guy got some mad skills”. Then i saw “plus”. Then I thought like “Woah, this sucks”.

    ( Reply )
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    Heloá January 9th

    Did I lose my free time for this?

    ‘-w-

    ( Reply )
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    Ruth January 19th

    Wow this looks amazing, I will be definitely getting the plus account.

    ( Reply )
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    dylan February 7th

    the type face is in FFIL format on won’t install on my mac. bummer.

    ( Reply )
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    Woman February 13th

    Aww… plus. :( I know that $9 a month is not a lot of money, but I don’t get a lot of money, so it is a bit much for me. Plus difficult to pay for these sorts of things without having a credit card.

    ( Reply )
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    gialong April 5th

    wonderful

    ( Reply )
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    michael June 14th

    wow this looks so real you want to cry…

    ( Reply )
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    surendar June 17th

    Nice tutorial…

    ( Reply )
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    AckuitHD June 21st

    It’s soooo sad that we’re looking for cool tips that once we apply to our work will help us be better and in consequence help us make more money, and we want these tips for free!!! Man!
    $9 is tooo cheap for this, I’m a plus user and I’m learning stuffs that will up my ante a whole lot and fatten my charges. Besides, there are still lotsa free tuts that very nice!
    This tut can be applied to so many things….
    Awesome!

    ( Reply )
  63. PG

    Joe July 2nd

    Its awsome, can sometimes be difficult to read though…

    ( Reply )
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