In this tutorial you will learn how to create a solid outline around text. For this effect you will need to use the stroke blending option, and the expand selection.


Solid outline around text

Step 1

Open a new Photoshop document with the size 640 x 480 dimension. Then select the text tool with any colour any type your message on the canvas. Make sure the font you choose does not have too much detail. I have used impact font with #0fe738 colour, but you can use whatever font and colour you wish.




Step 2

Rasterize the layer by selecting Layer > Rasterize > Type. Then choose Select > Load selection and you should see a dotted outline around each character like below.




Step 3

Choose Select > Modify > Expand and expand by 3 pixel and click ok. This expand the selection around the text character by 3 pixels.


Step 4

Select Edit > Stroke and add the following settings below. Make sure you choose a slightly darker colour from the text colour and choose ‘outside’ for the location. You can experiment with the various settings if you wish.



You should now have a solid outline around text.

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a Cubed text effect. This effect uses the Mosaic filter to create the cubed text.

Cubed text

Step 1

Create a new Photoshop document with the dimension 640 x 480 and fill the background colour in black.




Step 2

Choose the text tool with white text and type your message on the canvas. I have used impact font type, but you can use whatever font you wish.


Step 3

Select Filter > Pixelate > Mosaic. If you get a message about rasterizing the type then click ok, and give the cell size of 5 squares.




Step 4

Select Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen and repeat this step 3 – 4 times by pressing Ctrl + F. And merge the layers together by selecting the layers and pressing Ctrl + E.


Step 5

Now select Image > Adjustment > Hue/Saturation and adjust the three sliders to your liking. Make sure you have selected the ‘Colorize’ tab. I have selected 108 for the hue, 86 for saturation and -5 for the lightness.



You should now have a cubed text effect.

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a simple text effect using various blending options. I have created shiny text with a black outline for this tutorial.

Text effect example 1

Step 1

Open a new Photoshop document with the size 640 x 480 dimensions. Then select the horizontal text tool and type your message on the canvas. I have used Arial font for my text effect, but you can choose whatever kind of font you wish.



Step 2

Select Layer > Layer Style > Blending options and add the following settings for each style. The first option you need to check is the ‘Drop Shadow’. I have left this option with the default values.

Check the ‘Inner Shadow’ option and change the opacity to 30%, the distance to 10, and the size to 2 PX.



Check the ‘Bevel and Emboss’ option and change the depth to 110% and the size to 10 PX.



Check the ‘Color Overlay’ option and change the colour to #f00000.



Check the ‘Stroke’ option and change the size to 2px and the colour to #000000.



You should get the following text effect.

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a transparent text effect. This effect gives the illusion of see-through text and is very simple to create.


Transparent text effect

Step 1

Open an image in Photoshop and select the text tool and type your message on the image like below. I have used impact font type, but you can use whatever font you wish.




Step 2

Select Layer > Layer Styles > Blending Options. Check the bevel and emboss and add the follow settings.




Step 3

Finally, change the Fill of the text layer to 0%



You should now have a transparent text effect.

This Photoshop tutorial will teach you how to create a neon text effect. You’ve probably seen this effect on advertisement signs in bars, hotels, and casinos etc. Neon text has a distinct fluorescent colour.

Neon text effect

Step 1

Open a new Photoshop document with the 640 x 480 size.
Fill the background with black colour using the paint bucket tool.
Select the text tool with a white colour and type your message on the stage. I used Alba font type, but you can use whatever font type you wish. Note that the neon text in signs are normally in hand written font, so you may wish to choose a hand written style font.




Step 2

Select Layer > Layer Style > Blending Option then check the colour overlay and choose a colour you want for the neon effect. I have used #67e998 colour, but you can use whatever colour you wish.


Step 3

Check the Outer Glow and add the following settings. I have used #04ef1a colour, you should select a slightly darker colour from the colour overlay. Then click ok.




Step 4

Select Layer > Rasterize > Type. Then choose Select > Load Selection and the inside of your text should be selected. Choose Select > Modify > Contract. Depending on the size of your text choose 3 or 4 pixels then click ok. Now delete the selection.



You should now Neon text effect.

In this series I will provide a collection of different text effects created in Photoshop. All the text effects in this series are original and can provide an insight into the possibilities of Photoshop. There is practically an unlimited amount of text effects you can create using the tools in Photoshop.

Below are examples of the kind of text effects you can achieve.

Text effect example 1