Madden a Design with Special Effects.

There is more to a creative layout than just a simple effect added to text.  This is where a lot of artistic pieces found around the web falter.  There are about 1 million and 1 Photoshop tutorial sites teaching readers to add this drop shadow, and that outer glow to text… hoping to teach you all to be the next great graphic artist.  Well, with each tutorial we strive to take the teaching process a few steps further and show you how to create an entire composition.
In this tutorial we will be using overlay effects, bevels, embossing, vectors, textures, patterns, and more to create an attractive text modification.  Thistutorial is ranked from moderate to advanced Photoshoppers.
Here is the composition we will be creating (click the image for a larger more detailed view):


The first thing we’re going to do is create a new document with the following settings:

Then we are going to double click on the layer “Background” in the layers palette.  This layer is created by default in Photoshop when opening a new document.  After double clicking name the layer “Background” again and press “ok.”

Now we’re going to create the gradient background. In the menu click Layer > Layer Styles > Blending Options.  Check the box next to “gradient overlay” and enter the following settings:


Now, create a new layer above the “Background” layer add a new layer and name it “clouds.”  Push D on the keyboard to reset foreground and background settings and in the menu bar at the top of Photoshop select Filter > Render > Clouds.  Set the blending mode of the “Clouds” layer to Overlay:

We still need to add dew droplets and florals to the background but we’ll do that later.  Instead, we’re now going to start creating the text. We are using the font “ZARAUTZ” found here.  As we did before when adding effect to the background, open the blending options and enter the following settings:

Now duplicate the text layer by pushing Command + J and delete all the previous blending modes we set.  Now apply the following blending modes to this duplicated layer: (Note, we use a pattern overlay that comes with the advanced hoody design template by gomedia.com go here to get it.)

Now we’re going to add one of my favorite textures of dew that can be downloaded here.  Open it in Photoshop and drag it into the composition and name it “dew”.  Set the Blending mode to Overlay. Make sure the dew layer is right above the cloud layer in the layers palette.

Now we’re going to add a floral to the back of the text that will give it even more pop.  The adobe illustrator file can be downloaded here.  Open it in Adobe Illustrator.  Select the entire floral push Command + C to copy the selection, then switch to the Adobe Photoshop application and push Command + V to paste it.  Make sure you paste it as “pixels.”  And then be sure to push Enter to accept the paste.

Make sure the floral you just pasted is positioned below the “dew” layer in the layer palette.  Add the following settings to the floral layer:

Set the floral layer’s blending mode to Overlay and copy and resize this floral layer as desired:

The finishing touch is to add one more texture layer on top of our entire composition.  The paper texture can be downloaded here.  Once downloaded, open in Photoshop, drag into our composition and make sure the layer is on the top of all the other layers.  Set it’s blending mode to Pin Light

Voila! We’re done! There are infinite possibilities with this composition.  You can change text patterns, change background textures.  Turn them on and off, etc. as desired.  Thanks for stopping by.

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