Quick Tip: Add a Frosted Background to Photo Captions
Tutorial Details
- Program: Adobe Photoshop CS2+
- Difficulty: Beginner
- Estimated Completion Time: 10 Minutes
Download Source Files
Final Product What You'll Be Creating
In this Quick Tip tutorial, we will demonstrate how to improve a text caption by creating a frosted glass-like text bar that can improve the look of your photos or designs.
Step 1
Open up any image in Photoshop. I used an autumn photo. You can use a similar one if you like. Otherwise, any image will do. Unlock the background layer by double clicking on the layer, call it "Leaves".
Step 2
Create a new layer (Cmd (Ctrl) + Shift + N) on top of the Leaves layer, and call it "Frosted Bar". Using the Rectangle Marquee tool (M) making sure you’re on the Frosted Bar layer, drag out a selection of the bar size that you desire, making sure it touches both sides of the document. The placement of the bar is up to you; in my case I am putting it down at the bottom of the image as shown.
Step 3
Fill in the selection using the Paint Bucket tool (G) with white (#FFFFFF) and deselect the current selection (Cmd (Ctrl) + D).
Step 4
Apply the following layer styles to the "Frosted Bar" Layer. (Blending Options: Custom – Set Fill Opacity to 20% under Advanced Blending)
Stroke: Using white (#FFFFFF) with size set to 2 and position outside and 50% opacity.
Step 5
We will need to edit our original image so it’s best to make a duplicate copy so we can always reverse it. So with the Leaves layer selected duplicate it (Cmd (Ctrl) + J). With the "copy Leaves" layer selected, load the frosted bar selection again by Cmd (Ctrl) + clicking the Frosted Bar layer icon. Apply a Gaussian Blur (Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur) input 20 as the radius and click OK.
Step 6
With the basis of our frosted bar created, we can now apply highlights. Create a new layer (Cmd (Ctrl) + Shift + N) on top of the Frosted Bar layer, and call it "Highlights". Load the Frosted Bar selection again if you have not got it already selected, and select the Brush tool (B). Using a large soft brush (500px, no hardness and White as the colour: #FFFFFF) paint highlights in the middle of the bar, both on top and below (as seen below), finally drop the opacity down of the layer to 60%.
Step 7
Our final step is to add text. Using the Text tool (T) add whatever text you want within the bar at whatever size suits you (In our case out font size is 100px). Drop the opacity down to 40% on the text, and change the blending mode to Overlay, and that’s it.
Final Image
Take a look at the final image. Hope you enjoyed the tutorial!
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By Aaron Vanston
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Simple and elegant. It’s easy to accomplish and has an outcome that looks as it should!
I like it.
thnx
Looks like 2004 to me…
not everyone is a photoshop pro yet. So, I appreciate the tut.
I do agree! Does look good though. I reread my comment and it sounded harsh.
I think I know what you were trying to say though. The feel of it is very reminiscent of when screenshots of Windows Vista (then Longhorn) first started to spread across the internet (though this was 2005-ish). Vista / Aero themes utilized that frosted look with a heavy hand.
I think that this quick tip is perfect though – it’s a quick and effective method, and when used with thoughtfulness creates quite a nice effect.
Looks good to me!
simple and elegant/ (2)
nice~
@Scott
Your website looks like it was from 2004.
True
Don’t go leaving stupid comments on peoples work when you don’t have any examples of your own.
@Jacob They just wanted to say that @Scott feedback was a bit hash… (no big deal)
The effect looks elegant and modern. I like it.
@Pawel Why is Ben talking about Scotts website then? Sounds like quite a personal insult to me
very simple but looks very nice
Awesome tutorial. Thanks a lot for posting this nice one….
you looks so sweet!!
awesome work
absolutely awesome, this is totally mega!!! i cant imagine anything better 2 do with PS…
Look something i did :D. This is not new right ?
Simple and stylish………..
this is just great!! keep the good work guys
Really enjoying these simple tutorials. Some cool tricks to pick up in them :)
I like it too! It is a really nice quick tip!
mm there should be short tips for advanced designers too
This is a great tip, I really like this tutorial, very cool final effect.
There are faster ways to do it but I like the effect.
Great job Aaron! Keep ‘em coming!
Thanks to all for the comments, yes this is a simple tutorial but we all had to learn from somewhere. The problem with Quick Tips for advanced users is that you will still need to explain it as best as possible to the novice users, and thus does not become a Quick Tip. I myself feel that I do blabber on even in these simple tutorials to try to explain every last detail. I’m all open for criticism, so keep the comments rolling in.
Thanks,
Aaron
I liked your approach, it was detailed enough to follow along with, I hate it when I come across tutorials that are not informative enough (skipping steps, not saying what colors were used, etc.). I think this is a great “quick tip” and the detailed instructions are the best part, keep it up!
Good , simple, clear. Great start for beginners
So the author really get $150 for this tut?
Very simple. Nice outcome with just blur and brush.
10 minutes is too much, you can do it in a minute.
Reminds me a bit of this tutorial:
http://www.newelementdesigns.com/blog/2009/01/13/frosted-glass-tutorial-in-photoshop/
It’s practically the same tutorial
With that said, I had no intention to copy this tutorial, and didn’t know of it’s existences until now. There are many things the same but small changes in both allow for us to tell them apart. Simple details such as the highlights give this tutorial it’s edge.
Regards,
Aaron
Ha, Not so good, you steel it, but we have it in our PSDTuts+ Collection
You shouldn’t accuse fellow designers of stealing with so little evidence; it’s unprofessional.
Also, it’s not exactly like there is a myriad of ways to create the ‘frosted glass’ look in Photoshop, at least not so many ways that would be considered at all practical. I would say the only thing Aaron is guilty of is *gasp* not covering a 100% original idea.
And since there are no new ideas anymore, he’s guilty of nothing at all :)
Gr8t
My rendu : http://nsa14.casimages.com/img/2010/06/10/100610021831434681.jpg
Very nice!
Good to see you could follow the tutorial ok! haha
Nice frosting,
dirty camera sensor or lens thought buddy.
spend the time with the frosting just needed a quick click with the spot removal tool :0)
It’s often the simple things that give the most startling results. Never thought of this but the final look is really good. Gonna use it in my photo collection!
looks very simple, but nice for people who don’t know photoshop.
Agree! Well not everyone are Pro! Well explained and easy to follow!
good easy to follow tutorial. Is there any tutz for creating transparant text (water) for pic water mark?
…damned if you do, damned if you don’t quite frankly, once PSDtuts start rejecting stuff on the basis of “too simple” then you venture into a whole fracas of “why is this site leaving the novices out!”. Why can’t a site have something to cater for every level?
Nice tutorial for basic photoshop-ing
wew, great tutor’s…
:)
thank’s
it’s a simple and good tutorials anyone can do like it !!
u can Duplicate Layer and change to Soft Light it’s good effect !!
thank u.
All nice, but..
when I am doing this kind of effect…
I select the wished area, copy it out in a new layer (Ctrl+J), apply a Gaussian Blur, add a layer style, for example, same settings + Color Overlay (50%). This does not include details like highlighting edges but it’s more time efficient and less layer demanding (in complicated design number of layers can grow quite a bit).
Even in your method I see a small glitch. The highlighted area does not include the highlights for Stroke. That is, off course, only from my point of view, because I do not know if it was ment that way or not.
Sorry for the harsh criticism, T_T …I just wanted to improve the tutorial, if possible.
Hi,
The criticism is fine, it’s how I learn. The highlights where supposed to fade into the stroke, if people didn’t want it to, they could drop the opacity further on the highlights, or up it on the stroke. There are numerous of ways this could be done, and this is only one.
Thanks for the comments,
Aaron
Thank you for understanding. I didn’t meant anything harmful and I apologize if anyone took it that way.
Simple and useful
There are a lot of inflated egos amongst these commenter’s.
I apologize for irritating you. I’m no pro like you people, and maybe it wasn’t my right to write such a comment, but I’m using PS for 10 years now (for fun) and I thought that suggestive comments like that are more constructive than the comments of approval that are usually posted.
If you or anyone else think that I have “inflated ego” and have done something bad by writing that comment, I encourage you to contact the MOD and have him delete my comments.
so nice XD
Very nice. I love it. amazing effect!
The first tut about frosted glass effect that explain everything in few words..
Thank U!!
Thanks for the tutorial! It helped a lot.
Thank you very much for the tutorial!! :)
Nice. Almost like Windows aero effect.
I’m quite wonder where the white frosted bar goes, but i finally goes with my own version haha… But this tutorial really much helping me learn new ways… Thanks a lot Aaron Vanston!
I Like this.
Thx
That very easy for me but very interesting … ^^, i like this, thanks for your TUT !
Just quck, simple and nice.
Thank you for that.
awesome and simple thx
two thumbs up….simple but elegant
Wow, good job Aaron! I think this is one of the better tutorials on here o_o
I was so excited to find this tutorial. Thank you its beautiful and just what I need for the project I’m working on at the moment.
It’s so elegant yet simple enough for any beginner to follow. Thanks Aaron and keep up the good work.
Great! Easy and elegant, perfect for any presentation!