Photoshop’s great automated Warp feature can twist your type in predictable ways that are not only repeatable but, thanks to the controls in their dialog boxes, customizable as well. The cool part is that even though type has been warped, it remains fully editable until you rasterize it. All you need to do to warp your text is click the Warp icon in the Options bar. This opens the multifaceted Warp Text dialog box. Web developers take note: You cannot warp text that has Faux styles applied (found in the Character palette).
You’ll find a whole list of special effects, such as Arc, Arch, Bulge, Flag, Wave, Fish, Fisheye, and Twist. Each of these effects provides a special look to your type. Each effect has a dialog box of its own that allows you to set the parameters for the amount, direction, degree of distortion, amount of bend, and so forth. You can watch your type warp right on-screen and tailor the distortion as you like. You can apply most asymmetrical warp effects to type in either horizontal or vertical directions. Fisheye, Inflate, and Twist are among those that can’t be rotated, because their effects are already oriented in horizontal and vertical directions that you can control with sliders.
Carving Your Type in Stone
You can use the Type tool to create selections shaped like text and then use images themselves as textures for the type. For example, if you were creating a floralthemed Web page, you could use pictures of flowers as the fill for your text. A type selection can cut out any part of a picture for use any way you want. Follow these steps to carve letters into a
stone texture image:
1. Open the stone texture image you’d like to use.
I’m using a photo of a weathered brick wall in this example, but you can use other kinds of stone, wood, or any texture that interests you. Best of all, the embossed look that results is only one of many different looks you can achieve simply by making small changes in the Layer style that you apply to the text.
2. Choose the Horizontal Type Mask tool from the Tools palette and then click in the area where you want to enter your text.
3. Choose the font, font style, font size, and other text parameters from the drop-down lists in the Options bar.
4. Enter the text you want to use into the texture you’ve chosen (the center of the brick wall, in my example). Then click the Commit button in the Options bar to set your text (the button has a check mark icon).
The selection in the shape of the text appears where you typed the text.
5. Press Ctrl+C (Ô+C on the Mac) to copy the selected area of your chosen texture (the brick in the shape of the text in my example), and then press Ctrl+V (Ô+V on the Mac) to paste a text-shaped section of that texture in a layer of its own.
The text blends in with what’s in the background layer (in my example, the brick) and is invisible (for now).
6. Choose Layer➪Layer Style➪Bevel and Emboss to open the Layer Style dialog box.
In the Layer Style dialog box, you’ll find dozens of different effects that you can create.
7. Experiment with the settings in the Layer Style dialog box to try out different looks and to achieve various effects.
- Choose the kind of beveling or embossing you want from the Style and Technique drop-down lists in the Structure area of the dialog box.
I chose Inner Bevel and Chisel Hard to produce a dramatic, hard-edged embossing effect.
- Move the Depth slider to the right to increase the depth of the bevel.
I set the value at 411% for a raised effect. A lower value produces a less 3-D effect, while a higher value produces a more drastic 3-D effect.
- Select the Contour check box on the left side of the dialog box for an even more pronounced 3-D look.
- In the Shading area of the dialog box, you can adjust controls that allow you to change the apparent angle of the illumination that produces the bevel’s shadow.
I moved the angle to 95 degrees (roughly straight overhead), but I left the other controls alone.
8. Click OK to apply the effects that you’ve chosen.
9. As a last touch, choose Image➪Adjustments➪Brightness/Contrast to darken the text layer to make it stand out even more distinctly from the background.
You’ll find a whole list of special effects, such as Arc, Arch, Bulge, Flag, Wave, Fish, Fisheye, and Twist. Each of these effects provides a special look to your type. Each effect has a dialog box of its own that allows you to set the parameters for the amount, direction, degree of distortion, amount of bend, and so forth. You can watch your type warp right on-screen and tailor the distortion as you like. You can apply most asymmetrical warp effects to type in either horizontal or vertical directions. Fisheye, Inflate, and Twist are among those that can’t be rotated, because their effects are already oriented in horizontal and vertical directions that you can control with sliders.
Carving Your Type in Stone
You can use the Type tool to create selections shaped like text and then use images themselves as textures for the type. For example, if you were creating a floralthemed Web page, you could use pictures of flowers as the fill for your text. A type selection can cut out any part of a picture for use any way you want. Follow these steps to carve letters into a
stone texture image:
1. Open the stone texture image you’d like to use.
I’m using a photo of a weathered brick wall in this example, but you can use other kinds of stone, wood, or any texture that interests you. Best of all, the embossed look that results is only one of many different looks you can achieve simply by making small changes in the Layer style that you apply to the text.
2. Choose the Horizontal Type Mask tool from the Tools palette and then click in the area where you want to enter your text.
3. Choose the font, font style, font size, and other text parameters from the drop-down lists in the Options bar.
4. Enter the text you want to use into the texture you’ve chosen (the center of the brick wall, in my example). Then click the Commit button in the Options bar to set your text (the button has a check mark icon).
The selection in the shape of the text appears where you typed the text.
5. Press Ctrl+C (Ô+C on the Mac) to copy the selected area of your chosen texture (the brick in the shape of the text in my example), and then press Ctrl+V (Ô+V on the Mac) to paste a text-shaped section of that texture in a layer of its own.
The text blends in with what’s in the background layer (in my example, the brick) and is invisible (for now).
6. Choose Layer➪Layer Style➪Bevel and Emboss to open the Layer Style dialog box.
In the Layer Style dialog box, you’ll find dozens of different effects that you can create.
7. Experiment with the settings in the Layer Style dialog box to try out different looks and to achieve various effects.
- Choose the kind of beveling or embossing you want from the Style and Technique drop-down lists in the Structure area of the dialog box.
I chose Inner Bevel and Chisel Hard to produce a dramatic, hard-edged embossing effect.
- Move the Depth slider to the right to increase the depth of the bevel.
I set the value at 411% for a raised effect. A lower value produces a less 3-D effect, while a higher value produces a more drastic 3-D effect.
- Select the Contour check box on the left side of the dialog box for an even more pronounced 3-D look.
- In the Shading area of the dialog box, you can adjust controls that allow you to change the apparent angle of the illumination that produces the bevel’s shadow.
I moved the angle to 95 degrees (roughly straight overhead), but I left the other controls alone.
8. Click OK to apply the effects that you’ve chosen.
9. As a last touch, choose Image➪Adjustments➪Brightness/Contrast to darken the text layer to make it stand out even more distinctly from the background.
Wreaking Havoc on Your Type in Photoshop
![Wreaking Havoc on Your Type in Photoshop]()
Reviewed by Pepen2710
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