This is a beginning Photoshop tutorial for a text effect. It is assumed you have all the necessary software installed on your machine and you will understand the basic terminology used within this tutorial.
Step 1) Creating the background layer
For this tutorial we will be using a radial gradient for the background. Set the focus of the gradient to the bottom right corner of the page. The colors I used were
Color 1 – #2e5b15
Color 2 – #103533
Color 3 – #090e13
Step 2) Adding the letter to the screen
Now we will be adding the layer to the screen. I will choose the letter Q but this will work with any letter. I gave the letter a color to match the look and feel of the background. # 41a933.
Step 3) Adding the layer styles.
For this step I just went through all the layer styles and created an item I thought looked very appealing and interesting to the eyes.
The main things I did here though were as follows:
1) Decrease Fill opacity to 20%.
2) I changed the angles around and used different blending modes
The source file will be available for download at the end of the tutorial if you want to copy all the exact same styles as I used.
Step 4) Result of the layer styles
Here you can see the result of all of my layer styles. I have also made the gradient come from the bottom so the light matches that of our background lighting.
Step 5) Adding another gradient to the letter
Hold down CTRL and click on the text layer to select the shape. Add a white transparent gradient coming from the bottom into a new layer
You can do color to transparent gradients by clicking on the gradient tool in the top left and holding it down to see the whole set of gradients. The second one along is color to transparency.
Now just fade this back by changing the blend mode to Overlay
Step 6) Adding more subtle gradients
Again, Hold down CTRL and select the text layer. In a new layer again, add a radial white to transparent gradient this time coming from the top down.
Fade this one out by setting its opacity to 40%
Step 7) Creating the shine
Now on the same layer as in the last step, draw an ellipse with the selection tool and hit CTRL + SHIFT + I to select the inverse. The hit delete to remove some of the gradient we just drew
This makes the white suddenly stop and it provides the glassy feel.
Step 8) Adding the glass shines
Now we are going to add some highlights to make it look really shiny. You can do this by choosing the Custom Shape Tool (U) and then in the top left click on the Polygon and then on the down arrow to get the options to show. Tick start and make sure your indent is set to 99% to make some nice little 5 point stars.
Now in a new layer with white as your foreground color, just add some highlighted stars. It’s best to place them on the most highlighted parts of the letter.
Step 9) The Finished Product.
Our finished product.
You have successfully completed this tutorial. As always the source files will be available for you to download and view.
The post Transparent Glass Lettering in Photoshop CS5 appeared first on Photoshop Atoms | Photoshop Tutorials and Resources.