Easy Plastic Text With Layer Styles in Photoshop Tutorial

7/24/2019 Easy Plastic Text With Layer Styles in Photoshop Tutorial

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Easy Plastic Text with Layer Styles InPhotoshopIn this Photoshop text effects tutorial, we're going to learn how to use Photoshop's Layer Styles to easily make text

look as if it's made out of plastic. To create the effect, we're going to be using some contours that we'll be loading

in, since they're not readily a!ailable to us by default, but don't worry, loading them is easy, and so is e!erything elsewe'll be doing.

"ere's the effect we're going for#

Step 1:Open A New Photoshop Document

The first thing we need to do is open a new document, so let's do that $uickly using the keyboard

shortcut, Ctrl+N%&in ( Command+N%)ac. This brings up Photoshop's *ew +ocument dialog box. hoose

whiche!er si-e you like. I'm going to use the preset si-e of /0x/10, as circled below#

reate a new Photoshop document.

Step 2:Fill The Document With Black

Press the letter Don your keyboard to reset your 2oreground and 3ackground colors, so blackbecomes your

2oreground color and whitebecomes your 3ackground color. Then use the keyboard

shortcut Alt+Backspace%&in ( Option+Delete%)ac to fill your new document with the 2oreground color,

which in this case is black#


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Press 4lt53ackspace %&in ( 6ption5+elete %)ac to fill the new document with black.

Step 3:Add Your Text To The Document

7rab your Type toolfrom the Tools palette, or press Tto $uickly access it with the keyboard shortcut#

Select the Type tool from Photoshop's Tools palette.

Then, with the Type tool selected, go up to the Options Barat the top of the screen and select your font. I'm

going to use "el!etica 8ounded 3lack for mine. 9ou can choose whiche!er font you like from the ones you ha!e

installed on your system. 4 larger, thicker font tends to work best for this effect#

hoose your font in the 6ptions 3ar.

Press the letter Xon your keyboard to swap your 2oreground and 3ackground colors, so whitebecomes your

2oreground color. &e're going to choose a better color for our text using Layer Styles, but for now, white will do :ust

fine. Then, with your font chosen and white as your 2oreground color, click inside your document and add your text.

I'm going to type the word plastic#


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lick inside your Photoshop document and add your text.

8esi-e your text as needed using Photoshop's Free Transformcommand by

pressing Ctrl+T%&in ( Comand+T%)ac, which brings up the 2ree Transform box and handles around your

text. "old down Shiftto constrain your text's proportions and drag any of the corner handles to resi-e the text. "old

down Alt%&in ( Option%)ac as well as you drag to force the text to resi-e from its center point.

Press nter%&in ( !et"rn%)ac when you're happy with the si-e of your text to accept the change.

Step 4:Choose A Color For Your Text Usin The !Color O"erla#! $a#er %t#le

*ow that we ha!e our text added to the document, we're going to start creating our plastic effect, and the first thing

we're going to do is choose a better color for it. &ith the text layer selected, click on the #ayer Stylesicon at the

bottom of the Layers palette#

lick on the Layer Styles icon at the bottom of the Layers palette.

hoose Color O$erlayfrom the list of Layer Styles that appears#

hoose the olor 6!erlay Layer Style.

This brings up the Layer Style dialog box set to the olor 6!erlay options in the middle column. lick on the color

swatchto the right of the 3lend )ode options to choose a new color for your text#


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lick on the color swatch to choose a new color for the text.

This brings up Photoshop's Color %icker. I'm going to choose a light blue for my text color. 2eel free to choose

whiche!er color you prefer, but try to pick a lighter shade of the color#

hoose a color for your text using Photoshop's olor Picker.

lick 6; when you'!e chosen your color to exit out of the olor Picker. 9our text will now appear in your chosen

color in the document#

The text now appears in the color you chose.

I should note that we ha!en't reallychanged the color of the text here, e!en though it's now appearing in a different

color. Technically, the text is still white. &e'!e simply overlayeda new color onto it using the olor 6!erlay layer

style. If we were to turn off the layer styles, which we won't but if we did, the text would appear white once again.

Step 5:Add An &nner %hadow To The Text Usin The !&nner 'low! $a#er %t#le

*ext, we're going to gi!e our text more of a three


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To do that, click on the words &nner 'lowin the list of Layer Styles on the left of the Layer Style dialog box. )ake

sure you click directly on the words. +on't simply click inside the checkbox because all that will do is turn on the

effect. &e want access to the effect's options, and for that, you need to click on the name itself#

lick on the words Inner 7low on the left of the Layer Style dialog box.

The middle column of the Layer Style dialog box will change to show the Inner 7low options#

The Inner 7low options in the Layer Style dialog box.

In order to change the inner glow to an inner shadow, all we need to do is change the Blend (odeat the top.

lick on the down


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Step 6:Appl# The !Be"el and (m)oss! $a#er %t#le

*ext, we're going to add a 3e!el and =mboss effect to our text, so click directly on the words Be$el and

mbossin the list of Layer Styles on the left of the Layer Style dialog box. 4gain, make sure you click directly on

the words and don't :ust click inside the checkbox#

lick on the words 3e!el and =mboss on the left of the Layer Style dialog box.

The middle column of the Layer Style dialog box will change to the 3e!el and =mboss options. The first thing we

want to do here is load a new 7loss ontour, so go down to where it says 7loss ontour in the Shading

options and click on the down


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Select ontours to load a new set of contours.

Photoshop will ask you if you want to replace the original contours with these new ones or simply add the new ones

to the bottom of the list. lick on Append#

lick 4ppend to add the new contours to the bottom of the original ones.

9ou'll see the new contours added to the bottom of the originals. To make things simpler for us, rather than me trying

to describe the shape of the contour to click on, click once again on that right


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hange the 3e!el and =mboss options circled in red.

These are the settings I used for my text. 9ou may need to change them slightly depending on the font you're using

and the si-e of your text. Starting from the top and working our way down, increase the Depthto

around./.and the Si-eto around .2 pi0els. In the Shading options, set the An,leto .3*4if it isn't

already, and set the Altit"deto 5*4. )ake sure Anti1aliasedis checkedbeside the contour pre!iew

thumbnail. Increase the6i,hli,ht (ode Opacityall the way to .**, and finally, lower the Shadow (odeOpacitydown to *.

9our text should now look something like this#

The text after applying the 3e!el and =mboss layer style.

Step 7:Appl# The !Contour! $a#er %t#le

lick on the word Conto"ron the left of the Layer Style dialog box. It's directly below the words 3e!el and

=mboss#

lick on the word ontour on the left of the Layer Style dialog box.


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The middle column of the Layer Style dialog box will change to the ontour options. &e're going to use another

contour from the ones we loaded in a moment ago. lick on the down


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+uplicate the text layer.

Then click on the original text layer in the Layers palette to select it, so we're working once again on the original, not

the duplicate text layer abo!e it#

lick on the original text layer to select it once again.

Step 9:Add A %troke To The Text

&ith the original text layer re


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+rag the slider bar to increase the stroke si-e.

Then click on the stroke's color swatchto choose a new color for the stroke#

lick on the color swatch in the Stroke options.

Photoshop's olor Picker pops back up. 8ather than choosing a color directly in the olor Picker, mo!e your mouse

o!er the text. 9ou'll see your mouse cursor change into the yedropper icon. lick near the edge of one of the

letters to sample a shade of the color that's about midway between the lightest and darkest colors in the text#

Sample a color from the text that's about midway between the lightest and darkest text colors.

lick 6; to exit out of the olor Picker when you're done.

Step 10:Appl# The !Be"el and (m)oss! %t#le To The %troke

Switch back to the 3e!el and =mboss options by clicking on the words Be$el and mbosson the left of the

Layer Style dialog box#

lick on the words 3e!el and =mboss to access the 3e!el and =mboss options once again.

The Layer Style dialog box will change to show the 3e!el and =mboss options once again in the middle column. &e

want to apply the 3e!el and =mboss style to the stroke itself, so to do that, click on the down


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hange the 3e!el and =mboss Style to Stroke =mboss.

&e're almost done. 7o back down to the 7loss ontour option and once again click on the down


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The final result.

4nd there we ha!e itA

Easy Plastic Text With Layer Styles in Photoshop Tutorial

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