This tutorial will show you how to use a couple of layer styles and brush settings to create a glamorous, sparkling text effect. Let's get started!
Tutorial Assets
The following assets were used during the production of this tutorial.
- SansBlack Regular font.
- Grey sparkle texture by stocks-for-you.
- 30 Simple Patterns by mslooten.
- Stars and Flares Brush Set by MysticEmma.
- Free Pack 6000 photoshop gradients by Supertuts007 (Load the CHROMES.grd file).
- You'll also need to load a default Photoshop brush set. So go to Edit > Presets > Preset Manager, and choose Brushes from the Preset Type drop down menu. Then click the little arrow to the right of the Preset Type drop-down menu, and click Square Brushes near the bottom of the pop-up menu. When the dialog box appears after that, just click Append, and you’ll get the Square Brushes set.
1. Creating the Background
Step 1
Create a new 1150 x 850px document. Set the Foreground color to #424952 and the Background color to #16181b, pick the Gradient Tool, click the Radial Gradient icon in the Options bar, and then click and drag from the center of the document to one of the corners.
Step 2
Place the Grey sparkle texture image on top of the Background layer, change its layer's Blend Mode to Soft Light, and resize it as you like.
2. Creating the Text
Step 1
Create the text in All Caps using the font SansBlack Regular and the color #9a9a9a. Under the Character panel (Window > Character), change the Kerning to Optical, and the Tracking value to 75.
If you are creating more than one line of text, place each line in a separate layer.
Step 2
Pick the Move Tool, select all the text layers you have, and click the Distribute vertical centers icon in the Options bar to distribute the text lines evenly.
Step 3
Place each text layer in a group that has its name (select the layer and then go to Layer > Group Layers). This will help keep things organized for the rest of the tutorial.
Step 4
Duplicate each text layer you have, change the copy's Fill value to 0, and duplicate the copy.
3. Creating the Outer Stroke
Step 1
Pick the Brush Tool and open the Brush panel (Window > Brush). Select a hard round tip, change its Size to 15, and set its Spacing value to 1.
Step 2
Right-click one of the first line's text layers and choose Create Work Path. Create a new layer on top of all the text layers in the first line's group and call it Stroke.
Step 3
Pick the Direct Selection Tool, set the Foreground color to Black, right-click the work path, and choose Stroke Path.
Choose Brush from the Tool drop-down menu and make sure that the Simulate Pressure box is unchecked, and then click OK.
Step 4
This will create the outer stroke. Tap the Return key to get rid of the work path.
Step 5
Follow the same steps to stroke the rest of the text lines you have.
4. Creating the Diamonds Stroke
Step 1
Pick the Brush Tool and choose the Hard Square 10 pixels tip, then modify its settings as shown below:
Brush Tip Shape
Shape Dynamics
Step 2
Create a work path for the first line of text again, create a new layer on top of the Stroke layer and call it Diamonds, and set the Foreground color to #a1a1a1.
Step 3
Stroke the path just as you did when you created the outer stroke previously. This will add the diamonds stroke around the text.
Step 4
Stroke the rest of the text lines you have.
5. Fixing the Overlapping Diamonds
Step 1
Pick the Eraser Tool, choose a hard round tip, and erase the overlapping parts of the diamonds stroke.
Step 2
Pick the Brush Tool, and with the modified diamond brush still selected, click and drag slightly to fill in the empty areas you've just erased.
Step 3
No overlapping parts should be left once you're done.
6. Adding a Drop Shadow to the Original Text Layer
Step 1
Double click the original text layer of the first line of text you have to apply a Drop Shadow effect using the following settings:
- Opacity: 25%
- Distance: 21
- Spread: 13
- Size: 21
Step 2
This will add a simple drop shadow. Right-click the styled layer and choose Copy Layer Style.
Step 3
Select the rest of the original text layers, right-click any of them, and choose Paste Layer Style. This will apply the same layer style to the selected layers.
7. Styling the First Copy Text Layers
Double-click the first copy text layer of the first line of text to apply the following layer style:
Step 1
Add a Bevel and Emboss with these settings:
- Technique: Chisel Hard
- Size: 30
- Uncheck the Use Global Light box
- Angle: 90
- Altitude: 53
- Gloss Contour: Ring
- Check the Anti-aliased box
- Highlight Mode: Linear Light
-
Shadow Mode - Color:
#3c3438
Step 2
Add a Contour with these settings:
- Check the Anti-aliased box.
Step 3
Add a Texture with these settings:
- Pattern: Squares
- Depth: 25%
Step 4
For the Gradient Overlay, click the Gradient box to create the gradient used.
Step 5
To create the gradient, you’ll need to click below the gradient bar to add Color Stops, and when you click each Color Stop, you can change its Color and Location values.
The colors used here are #e14e8f to the left and #7a1c46 to the right.
Step 6
This will style the main part of the text. Copy and paste the layer style to the rest of the first copy text layers you have.
8. Styling the Second Copy Text Layers
Double click the second copy text layer of the first line of text to apply the following layer style:
Step 1
Add a Bevel and Emboss with these settings:
- Size: 30
- Uncheck the Use Global Light box
- Angle: 90
- Altitude: 74
- Check the Anti-aliased box
- Highlight Mode: Linear Light
- Shadow Mode - Opacity: 0%
Step 2
Add a Contour with these settings:
- Contour: Half Round
- Check the Anti-aliased box
Step 3
Add a Texture with these settings:
- Pattern: 10 px block
- Depth: 20%
Step 4
This will add more definition and shininess to the text. Copy and paste the layer style to the rest of the second copy text layers.
9. Styling the Outer Stroke
Double click the Stroke layer in the first line's group to apply the following layer style:
Step 1
Add a Bevel and Emboss with these settings:
- Technique: Chisel Hard
- Gloss Contour: Ring
- Check the Anti-aliased box
- Highlight Mode: Linear Light
Step 2
Add a Contour with these settings:
- Contour: Ring
- Check the Anti-aliased box
Step 3
Add a Gradient Overlay with these settings:
- Style: Reflected
- Angle: 45
- Use the faucet 160 gradient fill.
Step 4
Add a Drop Shadow with these settings:
- Opacity: 65%
- Distance: 0
Step 5
This will style the outer stroke. The gradient fill along with the 45° angle will create a reflective, shiny effect, so you can try using different gradients as well. Make sure to copy and paste this layer style to the rest of the Stroke layers you have.
10. Styling the Diamonds
Double-click the Diamonds layer in the first line's group to apply the following layer style:
Step 1
Add a Bevel and Emboss with these settings:
- Technique: Chisel Hard
- Gloss Contour: Ring
- Check the Anti-aliased box
- Highlight Mode: Vivid Light
Step 2
Add a Contour with these settings:
- Contour: Cone - Inverted
- Check the Anti-aliased box
Step 3
Add a Gradient Overlay with these settings:
- Blend Mode: Soft Light
- Angle: 45
- Use the Chrome bar 185 gradient fill.
Step 4
Add a Drop Shadow with these settings:
- Distance: 1
- Size: 3
Step 5
This will style the diamonds. Copy and paste the layer style to the rest of the Diamond layers you have.
11. Adding the Sparkle Flares
Step 1
Open the Brush panel and pick one of the sparkle brushes from the Stars and Flares Brush Set. The one used here is S&F-6.
Under the Brush Tip Shape tab, decrease the tip Size depending on how big or small you want the flares to be.
Step 2
Under the Shape Dynamics tab, change the Size Jitter to 30% and the Angle Jitter to 100%. What this will do is give you a flare with a different size and rotation angle each time you click to add one.
Step 3
Set the Foreground color to #ebebeb, create a new layer on top of all the groups you have, call it Flares, and change its Blend Mode to Vivid Light.
Then start clicking over different parts and edges of the text to add the flares.
Congratulations! You're Done
In this tutorial, we created a simple gradient background, and added a bokeh texture on top of it. Then we created text layers on which to apply the effect.
After that, we modified two brush tips, created text-based work paths, and stroked those paths to create the outer stroke and the diamonds. We also fixed the overlapping diamonds by erasing and re-adding them.
Then we started applying a couple of layer styles to each of the layers we created, using mainly the Bevel and Emboss and Gradient effects to achieve a reflective, shiny final result.
Finally, we modified a flares brush tip to add flares with different sizes and rotation angles all over the text.
Please feel free to leave your comments, suggestions, and outcomes below.
