Create a Futuristic, Grungy Metal Text Effect in Photoshop

Step 1

Create a new document with any desired size, in this case I made the document 1920px wide and 1080px high at a resolution of 300ppi. Next, change the background color to #272727.

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Step 2

To get the scratched concrete look, I used a set of scratch brushes found here. First, create a new layer and call it "Scratches 1" or whatever you prefer, then pick a scratch brush of your choice with a black foreground color and click once on the stage, making sure it covers the whole stage. Next, duplicate that layer you just created by pressing Cmd/Ctrl + J and call it "Scratches 2". Invert this layer by pressing Cmd/Ctrl + I and change the opacity to 50%. Now nudge the "Scratches 2" layer 1px Down and 1px Right to create a bevel effect. Resize the layer if needed to cover the whole page.

Step 3

Let’s get started with the text. Write the text of your choice and center it on the screen. In this case I wrote "TUTSPLUS + " with the Acens font at a size of 65pt.

Step 4

Next, apply these layer styles. You can mess around with the colors to get the effect and tone you wish to achieve.

Step 5

Now we add the scratches on the metal. I’ve used the default Photoshop brushes in this case, mostly the Dune Grass and Grass brush.

Create a new layer and call it "Metal Scratches". Set the Opacity of that layer to 50%. Next, apply the following layer styles to the layer.

After you’ve done that, keep the layer selected and Cmd/Ctrl + Click the Text layer to place a marquee around it. This will make sure you only draw in the selected area. Now add the scratches by painting them in from the edges of the text. Don’t worry about messing up, as that will be fixed later on.

Step 6

After you’ve created the metal scratches and are satisfied with the overall look, let’s start with the removal of the excess scratches. As you can see there are scratches in the dark and bright areas in the image above, which will make the scratches look fairly unrealistic. With the layer still selected, get out the Eraser tool (E) and change the size to 10px with a hardness of 0%. Then erase the scratches in areas such as highlighted in the image below.

Tip: Make sure you only Touch the highlights, as we still want a little of the scratches to show in those areas.

Step 7

Once you’re satisfied with the results, it’s time to add the neon lights. Select the Shape Tool (U) and pick the Rounded Rectangle. Set the corner radius to 2px and draw this shape somewhere inside the long parts letters, making sure it is half the width of the area you’re placing it. And make sure not to cover the ends of the letters, as we still need to add screws there.

Add the following layer styles to one of the shapes. Then just copy the layer style from the shape and paste it on the rest of your shapes to save time. If you wish to reduce the scratches behind the lights, just select the "Metal Scratches" layer and run the Eraser (E) along the lights.

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Step 8

Next, let’s add the grunge. Create a new layer above the Lights, call it "Grunge", and set it to Overlay. Pick a brush that you think will be great for adding some grunge. In this case, I used the default Photoshop brushes, primarily the watercolor brushes near the bottom of the Default Brushes. Select a brush, then Cmd/Ctrl + Click the Text layer to place a marquee around it. Then just paint in the grunge.

After You’ve painted in the grunge, make sure Your foreground color is set to Black and Your Background color is set to a shade of Grey, then go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise and add 10%, Gaussian, Monochromatic Noise.

Step 9

Now to add the Screws. Since there is no brush for screw heads, we need to make our own brush for this. Create a new layer and draw a black sphere shape. Duplicate that shape and squeeze it sideways, change its color to grey, duplicate it again and rotate it 90 degrees.

Now merge the 3 shapes and Cmd/Ctrl + Click the layer it created to place a marquee around the screw head. With that selected, go to Edit > Define Brush Preset. Name the new brush "Screw Head". After that, You may remove the layer with the Screw Head.

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Step 10

Create a new layer and call it "Screws". Next, apply these layer styles to the "Screws" layer.

Now pick the brush You’ve just created, change the size to 10px, and with the "Screws" Layer selected, click on the ends of each letter, or where ever You want to place a screw.

Conclusion

Lastly, let’s create the Letterbox Effect. This is made by placing 2 black rectangles on the image, one on the top, and one on the bottom. I made mine 100px tall, but it doesn’t really matter how large you make them, as long as they don’t overpower the image itself.

Once you’ve added those, you’re done. Take your time, as you will get a much better result. And you don’t have to stick to the default Photoshop brushes for the scratches and the grunge. If you have better ones, use them.

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3D Text On Fire

Step 1

Open up Illustrator and type out a word of your choice, in my case I used the word FIRE in ITC Franklin Gothic Heavy. Make sure that each letter is in a different text box. Now using Effect>3D>Extrude & Bevel set up your letters in an interesting way, keeping in mind that they are going to be on fire. It doesnot have to be exactly the same, but something like what I have below. If you are having trouble with the 3D text, you can look at the tutorial on creating 3D text.

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Step 2

Open up Photoshop, and create a new document (I’m using 1680×1050). Fill the background with black. Paste the text you created in Illustrator. Make sure you bring in one letter at a time so they are all on different layers. Resize the text and adjust the angle until you get something that you are happy with.

Step 3

We are going to work on the background first, so grab a yellow/orangish color (Something that kind of has a fire look to it) and create a circular gradient with our color fading to 0% opacity. Stretch the gradient out with your transform tool until you’ve created somewhat of a glow under your text.

Step 4

Grab the ground texture that we downloaded and bring it into our document. Decrease the size and adjust the angle so it looks like it is under the text. If you hold down the apple key and drag one of the corners it distorts it, so you can get a better perspective. Drag it so it is above the gradient layer and change the blend mode to multiply. You can adjust the size of the gradient so there is more ground showing.

Step 5

Now we can start adding in the fire. You can use the lasso tool to roughly cut out the parts of the fire you want.

Step 6

Bring your cut out fire pieces into the document and place them in and around the text. Change the blend mode to lighten on your fire, this will get rid of most of the black areas around the fire. Play around with the flames until you get something you like.

Step 7

Now we want to get rid of the sharp edges we have from cutting out the fire from the other images. So what we want to do is click on each layer, apply a layer mask and then use a black brush with a soft edge to start painting out the edge of our fire.

Step 8

Lets give our text a shadow that is cast by the fire, so it will be a fairly high contrast one. Load each layer of our FIRE text and fill a new layer with black, with our selected area. Go into filter>blur>radial blur, put the amount up to 100 and set the blur method to zoom. Repeat that filter with apple + f, then duplicate that layer. Then merge the two layers.

Step 9

Now like we did with the fire, we are going to mask out the spots that isn’t supposed to have a shadow. Like all around the back we want to get rid of, as well as spots where light would come through the letters.

Step 10

Now comes the time consuming part. I usually make a folder for each letter, then at least two different layers for each letter’s shadow and usually one for the highlight. So lets start off with the E. Create a new folder for it in your layers. Then create a layer for our shadow. Use the tool of your choice to get the selections, I’m going to use the polygonal lasso tool (and the pen tool for the curved letters). Now Grab a big black brush and drop the opacity down to 20%. I usually use one that covers most of the shape I’m trying to paint to get an even shadow. Now start painting, one click at a time, making the bottom darker than the top.

Step 11

Grab another part of the E, one that doesn’t touch the area we already darkened and continue shadowing. You can hide the fire layers, it will make the letters easier to see. So just repeat this with all your shadow layers. Creating a new folder for each letter, and a new layer for the opposite dark areas. This is one of those things that the more you do it the more you get better, and it takes practice to get good at it.

Step 12

Now we are going to start working on the highlights. Using the lasso tool (and the pen tool for the curved areas), cut out one top at a time then putting them in the corresponding folders. Set your highlight layers to overlay and use a combination of yellow, orange and white colors to give the tops of the letters a highlight effect. Repeat this for each letter until you get something you like. If you want to add more intensity to the glow, duplicate the layer or create a new layer and start painting on that.

Step 13

Now we want to grab the texture that what got in the beginning. This is going to give our text a burnt look. So bring the texture into the document and size it until you find a good look for the E. Then load the E layer and select the inverse selection using apple + shift + i and delete. Since it is a lighter texture, I am gong to do an inverse, to make it darker (apple + I). Then Change the blend mode to multiply.

Final

This is my process when it comes to creating scenes with 3D lettering. This tutorial was created to give you an idea of how to create something like this with some basic steps and a little time.

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Create Digital Tintype Photos

Before We Begin

This is the original photo by Aaron Hoegenauer. It is a reference to the time period of tintypes, it just needs a makeover to put it squarely in the past. When you choose a photo, remember that most tintypes were semi-formal portraits, but you can apply these effects to just about anything whether you are attempting to create a true period piece or not.

Step 1

The first step after opening the photo is to add a hue/saturation adjustment
layer. By adding the layer instead of editing the photo directly, we are
using non-destructive editing.

Step 2

There are four things to do in hue and saturation. Check the colorize
box to change the photo to a one color image. Next, choose a hue. Although some
tintypes are sepia, the aging often brings in interesting color temperatures. I
chose a cool blue. Third, desaturate the image almost entirely, leave in a hint
of color to keep it away from true black and white. Lastly, use the lightness
slider to darken the image a bit. This is the least important step as there
are several ways to accomplish it.

Step 3

Next, we are going to add several blur effects to simulate bad focus and
subject movement due to long exposure time. Start by converting the base layer
for smart filters.

Step 4

The two effects we will use are a Motion Blur and a
Surface Blur.

This is a before blur image for comparison.

The goal of the Surface Blur is to eliminate skin texture and detail. These
are missing from most tintype photos and are key to reproducing the period effect.

Step 5

Keep the Motion Blur to a minimum. The angle should be mostly side-to-side. For a more complex edit, try using different levels of blur on different subjects.

Step 6

Next we are going to use the brightness/contrast adjustment layer to blow out
the highlights and darken the darks.

Adding some brightness will allow you to raise the contrast as high as you
want. The goal is to reduce the image almost entirely to two tones: bright and
shadow.

Step 7

Two more adjustments to go. The first one is a Vignette to darken the
corners, found in the Lens Correction dialogue.

Here, pull the slider all the way to darken the corners.

If you need to adjust the intensity, right click on the layer itself and
select Options.

I ended up using a medium opacity. Vignetting is very strong in tintypes, so
this is probably as light as you would want to go.

Step 8

Lastly, we add a texture over the photograph. Concrete textures work as they
are a flat surface and have scratches, stains, and pockmarks. I found a free
concrete texture pack that you can download from Lost and Taken. href="http://lostandtaken.com/blog/2009/3/6/14-free-concrete-textures-for-solid-design.html">

Place the textured image on top of your other layers. Experiment with blending
modes to find one that performs well. Overlay typically is a great place to start, but Soft,
Hard Light, or Multiply are alternates. Every image reacts differently, so it may take some trial-and-error.

Final Image

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