Raghunath Kesherwani : August 2011

Most of you probably know those awesome letters that were generated with 3D programs. But what about when you don’t have any particular program and you need to make 3D typography? This tutorial will show you how to create the 3D text shape and give it a high quality metal look using pure Photoshop. Check it out!

Step 1

Let’s start with a new document of 1500 pixel by 1500 pixel, and 300px/inch resolution. Create a new layer, name it "3D TEXT_first." Then grab the Type Tool (T) and type big letters of your desired text, in my case it’s written as 3D TEXT. Also don’t worry if your text goes out of canvas, it has to be very big. Because we’re going to rasterize this layer and distort it in the next step.

<p>Let’s start with a new document of 1500 pixel by 1500 pixel, and 300px/inch resolution. Create a new layer, name it "3D TEXT_first." Then grab the Type Tool (T) and type  big letters of your desired text, in my case it’s written as <em>3D TEXT</em>. Also don’t worry if your text goes out of canvas, it has to be very big. Because we’re going to rasterize this layer and distort it in the next step.</p>
<div class="tutorial_image"><img style="display: inline;" original="http://d2f8dzk2mhcqts.cloudfront.net/224_Metal_3D/1.jpg" src="http://d2f8dzk2mhcqts.cloudfront.net/224_Metal_3D/1.jpg" width="600" height="500"></div>

Step 2

So now, right-click on the "3D TEXT_first" layer and select Rasterize Type. Then use Edit > Transform > Distort and create a nice perspective to our text by dragging the corners. Make sure your text is way smaller. This way you won’t lose its quality and the text won’t get blurry.
Tip: If you fail by distorting, and some text edges look fuzzy, use Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask, and increase the Amount.

<h2>Step 2</h2>
<p>So now, right-click on the "3D TEXT_first" layer and select Rasterize Type. Then  use Edit &gt; Transform &gt; Distort and create a nice perspective to our text by dragging the corners. Make sure your text is way smaller. This way you won’t lose its quality and the text won’t get blurry. </p>

<p>Tip: If you fail by distorting, and some text edges look fuzzy, use Filter &gt; Sharpen &gt; Unsharp Mask, and increase the Amount.</p>
<div class="tutorial_image"><img style="display: inline;" original="http://d2f8dzk2mhcqts.cloudfront.net/224_Metal_3D/2.jpg" src="http://d2f8dzk2mhcqts.cloudfront.net/224_Metal_3D/2.jpg"></div>

Step 3

Now that the text is way smaller and has a nice perspective, create a duplicate (Command + J) of this text layer and name it "3D TEXT_last." Switch to Move Tool (V) and use keyboard arrows to position the "3D TEXT_last" layer a bit above the "3D TEXT_first" layer. In my case this was 16 pixels up and 2 pixels right.

<h2>Step 3</h2>
<p>Now that the text is way smaller and has a nice perspective, create a duplicate (Command + J) of this text layer and name it "3D TEXT_last." Switch to Move Tool (V) and use keyboard arrows to position the "3D TEXT_last" layer a bit above the "3D TEXT_first" layer. In my case this was 16 pixels up and 2 pixels right.</p>
<div class="tutorial_image"><img style="display: inline;" original="http://d2f8dzk2mhcqts.cloudfront.net/224_Metal_3D/3.jpg" src="http://d2f8dzk2mhcqts.cloudfront.net/224_Metal_3D/3.jpg" width="600" height="500"></div>

Step 4

Create duplicates (Command + J) of both text layers and position them as you see in the image below. Make sure you have exactly the same order as shown, as it’s important!

<h2>Step 4</h2>

<p>Create duplicates (Command + J) of both text layers and position them as you see in the image below. Make sure you have exactly the same order as shown, as it’s important!</p>
<div class="tutorial_image"><img style="display: inline;" original="http://d2f8dzk2mhcqts.cloudfront.net/224_Metal_3D/4.jpg" src="http://d2f8dzk2mhcqts.cloudfront.net/224_Metal_3D/4.jpg" width="600" height="500"></div>

Step 5

Now turn off "3D TEXT_first" and "3D TEXT_last" layers. Select the "3D TEXT_first copy" layer and make around 60 copies (Command + J). Now, select "3D TEXT_last copy", go all the way down to the bottom of Layers Palette, hold Shift and left-click on the first "3D TEXT_first copy" layer – this should select all 60 layers. Next right-click on those layers and select Link Layers.

Step 6

Switch to Move Tool (V), select "3D TEXT_last copy" layer. Go to the upper toolbar of the move tool. Click on Distribute Vertical Centers and Distribute Horizontal Centers. Then notice that our letters were perfectly distributed creating a nice 3D shape. Next, select all linked layers and merge (Command + E). Name this layer "3D TEXT_merged."

Step 7

Go to Layers Palette, turn on "3D TEXT_last" and open this layer’s Blending Options. Apply a Gradient Overlay from #1a3236 to #cffffb. As for setting the Angle, try to make this gradient look darker on the top of letters, and lighter on the bottom of them.

<h2>Step 7</h2>

<p>Go to Layers Palette, turn on "3D TEXT_last" and open this layer’s Blending Options. Apply a Gradient Overlay from #1a3236 to #cffffb. As for setting the Angle, try to make this gradient look darker on the top of letters, and lighter on the bottom of them.</p>
<div class="tutorial_image"><img style="display: inline;" original="http://d2f8dzk2mhcqts.cloudfront.net/224_Metal_3D/7.jpg" src="http://d2f8dzk2mhcqts.cloudfront.net/224_Metal_3D/7.jpg" width="600" height="786"></div>

Step 8

In the Layers Palette select "3D TEXT_merged," turn it off, then hold Alt and left-click on this layer’s thumbnail to load the selection. Make a new layer, name it "3D TEXT_colored" and fill it with #a6e6fe. Deselect (Command + D).

<h2>Step 8</h2>
<p>In the Layers Palette select "3D TEXT_merged," turn it off, then hold Alt and left-click on this layer’s thumbnail to load the selection. Make a new layer, name it "3D TEXT_colored" and fill it with #a6e6fe. Deselect (Command + D).</p>
<div class="tutorial_image"><img style="display: inline;" original="http://d2f8dzk2mhcqts.cloudfront.net/224_Metal_3D/8.jpg" src="http://d2f8dzk2mhcqts.cloudfront.net/224_Metal_3D/8.jpg" width="600" height="500"></div>

Step 9

Now go to "3D TEXT_colored" layer’s Blending Options. Select Gradient Overlay. Make sure you select the second preset in the Gradient Editor, that is Foreground to Transparent, and then set the color values starting as: #000000, #4a4747, #ffffff, #262626, #ffffff, and #000000. Next, depending on which direction your text is going, the Angle will be different. So in my case I set the Angle to 123, and as you can see the gradient goes through the center of the whole text. So that will be our lighting.

Step 10

Some spots and the top of the letters look too bright, so we need to create just a touch of shadow in places indicated below. So hold Alt, left-click on the "3D TEXT_colored" layer to load its selection, then create a new layer above the "3D TEXT_colored" layer, and name it "Shadows." Set your Foreground Color to #1a3236 or darker, then grab the Brush Tool (B), set Flow around 30%, Hardness to 0% and paint. Then Deselect (Command + D) once you’re done.

Step 11

Now let’s start giving this text a quality look. Go to the Layers Palette, hold Alt and left-click on "3D TEXT last" layer thumbnail to load its selection. Then create a new layer above all layers, name it "Shining lines." Grab the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M), right-click on your image and select "Stroke." Set Width to 1 pixel, Color to white, and Location to Center. Grab a nice big brush with Hardness 0% and Flow around 30%. Then erase everything except places indicated with arrows. These arrows point to lights, and those pointed edges need some shine. So make sure you leave them untouched.

Step 12

When you’re done erasing, create a duplicate of the "Shining lines" layer, lower its Opacity just a touch, and merge (Command + E) those two layers. You may switch for a moment to a black background to see if you did a good job with erasing, if not, make some further corrections. You should get something that looks similar to the image below.

Step 13

Now go to the bottom of the Layers Palette, select and turn on "3D TEXT first" layer, rename it to "Bottom shadow 1." Make a duplicate of it (Command + J), name this copy "Bottom shadow 2." Now apply Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur to the "Bottom shadow 2" layer, with Radius of 3 pixels.

Step 14

Switch to the Move Tool (V), and by hitting keyboard arrows move this blurred shadow 5 pixels to the left. You need to create an illusion that the curvy text lines drop more shadows inside. So we do not need some outside parts of this shadow. Grab the Brush Tool (B) and softly brush parts of the shadow shown below. Don’t be to picky, there is no need to make an accurate erase. It’s OK if you leave some gray shadow edges, like in the second image below.

Raghunath Kesherwani

Friday, August 12, 2011

How to Create High Quality Metal 3D Text in Photoshop