After seeing some recent Type work by Vicenç Fontanet (or, Drasik), in his recent project for “Miniblack“, I just had to give the effect a shot myself in Photoshop. It’s a wondeful little style that could easily be integrated into any dark graphic design where some upbeat text is needed.
Step 1 - Choosing a Background
For the best results with this effect, you’ll want to use a dark background. The background should have a hint of color, and should avoid from being too dark (such as pure black). Being inspired from Drasik’s work, I’ll use a dark violet (#120612).
Step 2 - Setting the Type
We’ll be setting the type in a not-so-traditional way, which will allow us to get a special layering.
Using the Type Tool, type whatever it is you’d like to apply the effect to, BUT only type one letter per layer. That is, you need to type a letter, apply the text, then create a new type layer with your next letter. When all is said and done, you should have a separate layer for each letter.
You’re image probably looks something like this (Quick Note: Type used below is Century Gothic):
Well, that leaves something to be left desired.
Rather than wasting too much time trying to get things aligned perfectly, let’s handle it all in a quick step. Select the Move Tool. Create a selection around the first letter (Ctrl + Click the Layer Thumbnail in the Layers Palette). Next, Select ALL of the Type Layers (Click the Bottom Type Layers name, hold shift, then click the top Type Layers name). Now, in the Options bar, Click “Align Bottom Edges” - the icon that looks like this 
Deselect everything (Ctrl + D), and now start moving your individual letters so that they slightly overlap one another.
Step 3 - Add a Gradient
Create a new Layer above your type layers. Using the Gradient Tool, and a White to Transparent gradient, fill in the work area so that the Gradient is not TOO OPAQUE, or TOO TRANSPARENT where it overlaps with the text, but fades nicely in that area. The gradient should move from top to bottom - Top being the most opaque (Hold Shift to make a perfectly straight gradient).
Step 4 - Cutting out Letters
Imagine that we’re making shaped-cookies. It’s a stretch, but stay with me. In a way, this gradient will serve as our ‘dough’, while the letters will be our ‘cookie cutters’. Those individual type layers created earlier are tools we can use to create shapes from the gradient.
Let’s go through it step by step and see if it makes more sense. Create a selection of the layer contents for your first letter (Ctrl + Click the Layer Thumbnail in the Layers Palette). Now, Select the Gradient Layer (By “Select”, I mean click the layer - do not select the layer contents. We want the selection of the first letter to remain). Copy (Ctrl + C) and Paste so that you’ve created a copy of the gradient in the shape of the letter. If you were to disable ALL of the layers except for this new layer you just created, and the background, you’d now have this:
It’s really a lot simpler than it sounds. Repeat this process for the rest of the letters, always making sure to selecting the gradient layer (the dough) prior to cutting out your layer. When you’re finished, put away all your letters and gradient layers (delete them, or hide them).
Step 5 - Just Add Color!
You may want to name all of your individual layers, that way you don’t lose track of which letter is which, but perhaps you’ve got a manageable number and that’s not necessary.
Create a new layer above all your ‘gradient-letters’. Grab the Paint Bucket Tool, and a bright color (I’m starting with #7fff5d). Create a selection of your first gradient-letter (Ignore any messages you may or may not see about no selection being shown), and fill in that selection with your selected color on the new layer. Set this layers Blending Mode to Screen.
Repeat this process for the remaining letters (each color on a new layer). Try using the same colors more than once every now and then.
Step 6 - Merge
When you’re sure that the type is set correctly, Merge all of your gradient-letters (Select the layers, then Ctrl + E). Then, Merge all of your colors into one layer (Make sure the blending mode is still set to screen).
You should now have two layers - one with the plain gradient layers, the other with the colors for the letters. We didn’t have to do this, it’s just easier to manage.
Step 7 - Getting the Glow
Duplicate your gradient-letters layer (Not the color layer). Apply a Gaussian Blur (See our Filters Tutorial) with value of 1-3 on this layer.
Repeat this step (Duplicate & Blur) on your Color layer. Set this layer to Lighten or Screen (use best judgment). Depending on the saturation and intensity of your colors, you may choose to duplicate the color layer a second time.
Step 8
Using the Eraser Tool, and a soft brush, go back and erase parts of the colored layers so that the type appears to fade from color to a ghostly white.
Step 9 - Reflect
Select ALL of the layers being used for the text effect, then Duplicate them. Merge the duplicated version into one layer. Use the trendy Surface Reflection Technique shown in our 5 Essential Reflections for Photoshop Tutorial to mirror your type.
Step 10 - Adjust as Needed!
From here on out, I’ll let you play on your own with the effect. I’d recommend playing with lighting effects in the background — simple things like adding some highlights behind the text… though you certainly could go all out as Drasik does in his work!
Here are some additional steps I took to improve upon the effect:
Playing with additional blurs can also add a bit of liveliness to the text. Try Duplicating a layer, and applying a motion blur to see how that works out for you!
Feel free to grab the PSD if you’re having any trouble!
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Great tut dude! simple but wonderful outcome!
Thats a really cool effect, i can see me using some thing like that for presenting work etc on portfolios, i like how you layered the PSD file as well.
Good Stuff Max
Credit where credit is due, this is truly a great tut. Really good stuff.
a pretty simple tut…. but gr8 effect…
ur type tuts are really good…
thanx a lot…..
Great effect. Love the colours!
Thanks folks. Be sure to pay drasik a visit as well if you get a chance, as he definitely deserves most of the credit for this effect. He’s got a blog, though his primary language is not English.
OMG - this is incredible.
great!!!simple yet effective:)thanks for sharing your knowledge
Uau! Thaks for all David!
i like the way you understand design!
u are helping a lot of people showing ur way!
Design like style of life!
if u need some just sendme mail or writme!!
sorry all for my bad english
I was actually planning on posting a similar tutorial to this, but won’t bother now as everything has been captured so well here! Great tutorial, keep up the awesome posts
hmmm…..now where should I use it?
Quite gorgeous. Brevity is always good in tutorials, and its good to see you captured such a complex effect in only 10 steps.
Wonderful tutorial. Thank you very much for this little gem.
Just got photoshop so I am a total newbie. This effect is awesome, but once I get to the gradient part of the tutorial I am having trouble b/c I have never used the gradient tool before and when I try to use it; it covers the letters I made. What am I doing wrong? Thanks. Sweet site.
Oops never mind. I guess I am not that big of an idiot after all lol
Very Great & Simple
step4:paste—-ctrl+v?? But the layer is copied ,not the effect…
superb tuts………
simple & creative….
I love this text effect.
It is my friend’s birthday in about a week, so I made her a picture using this and another one of the tutorials on Tutorial9.
http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/8066/kattysbirthdaykw4.png
Thanks for uploading all these tuts, dude. I’ve learnt heaps.
yes!! i know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!disable!!!!!!!!!!!
very nice tutorial
Thanx a bunch!
hats off work ………………….
Wow! I love this effect! Will definately use this. Ooohh and im finally back Hahaha was on vacation for a few weeks
Glad to be back.
Hope to see more soon.
Late response but just wanted to say I love this tut. Keep them coming^^
thanks for this..took me 2 days to do..haha..
found step 5 hard to do..
im new to photoshop you see..do most of my work on FW
thanks
Very good effect !! I love Tutorial9’s tutorial =)
Greate.
Amazing tutorial…THX!
Inspired by @Ember mix with the “Energize” tutorial i’ve decided to create a image using both tutorials too… and it turned out really good i think and in a “unique” way…
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/5078/brennofinalom2.png
This one’s for you guys: BLUEnergy Hope y’all like it!
I don’t get step 4. Can someone please help me? My e-mail is ell-aa@hotmail.com. I really want to do this tutorial!
I got stuck with step 4. When I copied and pasted I only got the letter, not the gradient mask. Help me please, what am I doing wrong?
wesummmmmmmmm…trying it now…
@David Leggett:
Hi David, can u pls help me?
I really like ur tutorial, and was trying to make it… but at one point, something is not working. Im ready until step4, but when i put the cut letters next to each other…they dont look like urs - at the meeting of ur letters, they became brighter, but at the meeting of my letters, they r totally opaque.
Thankssss!!!!!!!!!
@maubilli: Try lowering the opacity of your gradient before cutting from it if you’re still having trouble. It just means that you’re gradient is too opaque to begin with
@Nicky: You need to select the Gradient layer before copying. Otherwise, you will copy the contents of the text layer.
I am getting stuck at #4 as well . . . anyone have any ideas?
@David Leggett:
Thanks for the quick reply:) I think i found my mistake…I added a White to black gradient…While i should have added White to transparent…
Excellent as always, David!
Awesome tutorial..great job man!
Thanks for the great tutorial! it’s really nice.
I just had 1 question on step 5. When i add the color and change the blending option to screen on the new layer, it keeps a similar solid color and looks no way near as transparent as yours. Any idea what i’ve done wrong?
Thanks!
hey david!
nice tutorial but difficult to handle for me :/
i’m from germany and my ap is also in german…so there are some steps I don’t understand..perhaps you can help me. it would be very nice! the 4th step is my problem.
maybe you could write me?
thanks a lot. jaykind
Great effect, the way you break things down make these seem simple to create. Thanks again.
Striking !!!! 2 thumbs up !!!!!
HELP!!! I can’t get the color to look right. I’ve followed the directions but I’m missing something in this part of the tutorial. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong! I’d really appreciate some help with this amazing effect!!
My prob seems to be unique. When selecting the letters (ctrl-click the layer) copying from the gradient layer and pasting, thats fine. But for some reason, the copied layers, the new letters, you can only select a small portion. The top half. I also notice, when using the move tool on the gradient layer, the box doesnt go around the whole window. I know this is the cause, but dont know how to get around it. This creates the prob of not being able to copy the letters again for the colouring. Using the magic wnd is a work around, but it leaves the letters very aliased.
Ideas?
@Pickerd: The only reason you need to select the letters again is to color them in with the Paint Bucket Tool. To make additional copies, you right click the layer, then click Duplicate Layer
When you make selections, areas that are less than 50% opaque will not be shown as part of the selection. However, THERE IS A SELECTION THERE. It’s just not shown. Filling in the selection with color should be no problem.
Thanks!! I’ve got it now!
How do you? Create a selection of your first gradient-letter
I can created a duplicate layer of it, but how do I color it?
thankyou, I’ve got it.
Heya David,
your tuts are a great way to improve skillz…
Thanx for sharing your knowledge!
Keep it up!
i love this tutorial but im having trouble aligning the bottom edges in step 2. i cant understand what i am doing wrong.. email me please piinksnowdz@live.com
Loved again…
Nice color and amazing and simple effect.
That’s why I like this blog.
my result:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30010412@N06/2829147395/sizes/o/
Thanks
I stucked at step 4. Could you upload video tutorial and post link here? Thanks.
i wanted this to work, but it didn’t :’(
i am using Photoshop 7, and i couldn’t do half of things.. such as, i couldn’t select all layers to align them like in the beginning…
and, i couldn’t for the life of me figure out step 5 when you color them.. i tried everything, and nothing worked right. i eventually THOUGHT i had it ok when i went to blending options and used a color overlay, and that still didn’t work once i tried to merge everything…
help please?! nickjk@ymail.com
nice blog man! yesterday read your interview, decided to watch tutorials - cool.
can give you a hand in flash/AS3.0 to make something interactive.
I am also having trouble with step 4, I’m using CS3 Extended, and I select both layers (gradient and the 1st layer) but when I press ctrl+c it doesn’t do anything. Help Please!
-Thanks
@Fuel: Be sure you are:
1. Creating a selection of the type first.
2. In the layer palette, click on the gradient layer (do not hold Ctrl)
— You know have a dashed selection of the type, but you have the gradient layer selected in the layers palette —
3. Ctrl + C (Copy Current Layer)
4. Paste (Ctrl + V)
@David Leggett:
Thanks for the quick reply, and I finally got it working a-ok. Love the site- and the tutorials; I hope you have some more on the way!
@Fuel: Anytime mate — took me a while to come up with a easier way to explain that.
We just posted another tutorial
We’ve always got new ones on the backburner. Be sure to subscribe if you want all the latest updates!
Hi, thanks in advance to post this!
I’m a Photoshop CS 3 for mac user….The step 4 is just impossible to apply…could U explain this for mac users too?……Hugs!
@CARLYS: Click on the the “Gradient” first and hold Ctrl (or what ever it is on MAC), then click the actual “box” to the left of where your layers are and should make the “lins” around where the letters are. Then just press Ctrl+C then Ctrl+V and you should have it!
The technique seemed a bit too difficult for me. I guess my gradient was wrong as the colours were too faded when I was colouring them in. At that point I quit as starting from scratch would take me a long time.
It looks nice … I’m just dissapointed about the gradient. I feel you need to explain it a bit better than “till it fades in nice” as I everyone’s opinions vary. I tried to use yours as a reference but it didn’t seem to work.
Hmm… I’m stuck on ‘’stage.4 - cutting out the letters” Could you perhaps go into more detail and explain the method of forming the gradient into the shape of the letter please. I cant get my head around it, I’d really appreciate the help. Thanks
EPGFX this is how I think it goes, or at least it worked for me:
1. Ctrl + left click the Layer Thumbnail of your first letter in the Layers Palette. (The letter will now be highlighted with a dotted line around it’s edge.)
2. Left click the Gradient Layer.
3. Hit Ctrl + C.
4. Now Paste the letter (Ctrl + V) and a new gradient version of the letter will appear in the same place as the original letter however it will be in a new layer.
If you’re doing this and struggling to see them hide other layers by clicking on the little eye icon in the Layer’s Paletter (it is by the Layer’s thumbnail to it’s left.)
I hope that helps. If not the author will surely reply soon and explain it better than myself.
Thanks for the tip! My work turned out great because of this tip!
Okay. So is the thumbnail the ‘eye’ to hide the layer? Explain in more detail on that, if possible.
Never mind, I done it. Thanks for the help!
These tutorials would go a long way if the author would explain the steps in more detail. Not everyone is on the same level as one another.
One more thing. Do you make a gradient layer before or after you form it into the shape of the letters? If so, could you please explain the method.
Reasons for asking is because I’ve done what you said however Im looking for the exact look as shown in the screenshot in Step 4, or does that matter?
Can someone please explain step 5 in detail please asap. Thanks.
@EPGFX: EPGFX, if you’re having trouble with Photoshop Basics, I highly suggest you go and take a look at our School of Photoshop.
I’ve went back and added links to tutorials from our School of Photoshop to areas that might require extra knowledge. There were some before, but I tend to only link to them once, and then stop linking to them after that step (assuming it’s then known how to be used).
If you’re still having trouble, I’ve answered many of these questions already in the comments. Just look for the black comment box.
hi
great tut, but i want to ask one question, the purple colour behind the text, how can you do that
this is mine, i hope it’s good
http://img229.imageshack.us/my.php?image=abdelhakpm1.jpg
good one, will try that, keep on posting such nice ones
So freaken weird… my colors don’t overlap the gradient over the pic
yeah im having exactly the same problem and its quite frustratin!:(
im doing exactly what u said, but none of the gradients overlap. is the blending mode set to normal on the copied gradient fonts (whats the opacity and fill at?).
after i filled in the colour to the letters too and set the mode to screen, the letters just go white. any suggestions?
Nice tutorial and nice designer
wow
this tutorial is great
thank you!!!!!!
I used this to create a new blog header for myself as well as a visual for our church’s last series - they loved it!
Hey can someone teach me how to add the colors? The way its taught is not clear enough to me. I’ve also read thru the guide posted by david. Because each time i add the colour, its more of like always white, or almost no difference…Help pls? stuck at step 5
hay mayn !
im stuck at 5 , 6 and 7 ….
plz help , thankx (:
I got stuck at the part where you blur the parts, help!
Hi David! I just discovered your blog and I’m loving it! Tricks and tutorials like these are just great to polish style!
I have do have one nitpick about this tutorial, though: I don’t quite agree with the way you’re using ‘align bottom edges’ to get your type straight. It’s no problem as long as you’re using ALLCAPS, but any lowercase just doesn’t sit right. Actually, in your examples you can see that both the ‘O’ and the ‘9′ stick out just that little bit. In a good font, round chars like these are just a little higher than the average capital in order to look as large as the rest.
A better way would be to draw a guide: the characters will snap to this guide at the right height, including those nightmares like C’s, Q’s and, worst of all, lowercase G’s…
“Ctrl + Click the Layer Thumbnail in the Layers Palette”
What kind of PS are you using? When I click on layer thumbnail, it shows me short menu. How can I select more than one layer? I got stucked at step 4 (I made letters in line manually).
Great!
Simple and beaultiful!
Hey great tut. but i am stuck on part 4 :/…please can someone explain it again..
I recently hit Tutorial9.net via google searching for vista-tutorials & was amazed to see the standard of tuorials . . .And I bookmarked it on first sight . .
Theres nothing i can request to you because it has tutorials on every happening modern teqhniques !!
I have never seen such glamorous tutorials anywhere on net & may this one … my second tutorial on tutorial9 … i think was amazing . . .
thanx tutorial9. . .rock on
thats a lovely little effect indeed. Thanks. Peace Out
I have trouble with step 5, it doesn’t give me the same result. The white part of the gradient stays white and the transparent one turn red… I don’t know what to do to resolve this.
Thanks
The PSD doesn’t work.. And I am having troubles… HELP please!!!
I love your tutorials, there simple yet so useful!
Selection step -
1. make sure the move tool arrow thingy button in the left hand tools is on.
2. click on the layer with the letter you want in the layers pallet on the right.
3. control + click on the letter T in the same layer / same pallet
4. click on the top / gradient layer
5. edit > copy, edit > paste
This tutorial was really easy to follow unlike some others. I made a sweet Birthday card! Thank you.
Beautiful
I am working on the colorful glowing text tutorial 9 and im stuck on step four…i cant seem to do it…not sure what i am missing…can anyone help
Help! i got stuck at step 3!
how do i create a white to transparent gradient?
do i need to use layer masks?
help!!
wow! that’s very clever! thanks
thanks very much. it’s cool,and i will try it!