Adobe Photoshop 4.0 tip #2HOW TO CREATE RAISED 3-D TEXT
I looked all over the web for a tip on how to create this effect, with no luck. This effect is becoming more popular now --now that the gaussian blur shadow is waaay over used in peoples art work. This trick should work in any graphics program as long as you have a layers option.
picture #1
(1) Start with a simple graphic. I chose the number "5" and created a new layer for the text (happens automatically in Photoshop 4.x). From now on you will always be working on a different layer (in other words try not to destroy this layer because everything will be positioned relative to it).
picture #2
(2) Create a new layer (called "Layer 2" here) by clicking on the new layer icon in the layer screen as shown at right. I clicked on the eyeball on Layer 1 to hide it for the moment. Then clicked on Layer 2 to work on it (highlights in yellow) and CTRL + clicked on Layer 1 so that I had a working selection ("dancing ants") on Layer 2.Stroke the selection with white. I chose 2 pixels width and "center" as the option. Through the menu go to "Select.. Modify.. Expand.." and expand your selection by about 3 pixels. Now stroke the inside with 2 pixel width black. Stroking the inside gives sharper corners. CTRL + click on Layer 1 again to select the original art work and "Select.. Modify.. Contract.." by about 3 pixels. Stroke the outside with 2 pixels width black. You should end up with something like picture #2
picture #3
(3) To build the inside shadow I duplicated the original art work, Layer 1, and filled it with dark green ("Layer 5" shown right). I duplicated Layer 1 again and placed it over the green text layer (called "Layer 4" here). To create the cutout shadow effect on Layer 4 I CTRL + clicked on Layer 1 to get my working selection again and then offset the working selection by about 6 pixels down and to the right. I hit the delete button and presto, my inside drop shadow.
picture #4
picture #5
(4) Finally I duplicated Layer 1 again (shown as "Layer 1 copy") and offset it by about 7 pixels down and to the right. This gives the outside shadow. Look for the corners and fill them in with an angled shadow as shown in picture #5. This is the added touch which will make it look more realistic.For added effect I selected the green text layer by clicking on Layer 3 and then CTRL + clicking on it to get my dancing ants/ working selection. The filter I applied was "Artistic.. Plastic Wrap". To conclude, I applied the "Render.. Lighting Effects" filter to make the whole number glow a little more.
©1997 Ernest von Rosen
AMG Advanced Media Group contact: ernest@amgmedia.com