This tutorial will show you how to create a simple bump texture and use Photoshop's 3D tools and settings, with a couple of textures and adjustment layers, to create a mirror-ball-inspired text effect.
This tutorial was inspired by the many Layer Styles available on Envato Market.
What You Will Learn in This Adobe Photoshop Text Effect Tutorial
- How to create a 3D disco text effect in Adobe Photoshop
- How to use different combinations of layer styles to achieve the 3D effect
- How to adjust lighting in Photoshop
- How to create a disco ball texture
Follow along over on our Envato Tuts+ YouTube channel:
Tutorial Assets
The following assets were used during the production of this tutorial:
- Doughnut Monster G font
- People inside a club by Edoardo Tommasini
- Abstract disco lights background Free Vector by freepik
- Free Pack 6000 photoshop gradients by Supertuts007 (Load the CSP True Sky Gradients.grd file)
1. How to Create a Pattern
Step 1
Create a new 35 x 35px document with a white background.
Pick the Rectangular Marquee Tool, and click the Add to selection icon in the Options bar.
What you need to do next is create a 1 px wide selection at the document's edges. You can zoom in to make things easier.
Step 2
Fill the selection with the color #020202, and press Command-D to deselect.
Step 3
Next, you'll need to repeat that process to create three more selections going inwards, and fill them with the colors #373737, #bababa, and #f7f7f7, to get the result below.
Step 4
Once you're done, go to Edit > Define Pattern, type in Bump, and click OK.
Step 5
Create a new 980 x 980px document, pick the Paint Bucket Tool, choose the Pattern fill in the Options bar, pick the Bump pattern, and fill the document with it.
Save the document under the name Bump Texture, and close it.
2. How to Create the Gradient Background
Step 1
Create a new 1000 x 1000 px document, and duplicate the Background layer.
Step 2
Double-click the Background copy layer to apply a Gradient Overlay effect with the default settings.
Use the colors #03010c to the left and #240333 to the right to create the gradient fill.
This will apply a simple linear gradient to the background.
3. How to Convert Text Into a Shape
Step 1
Make sure that you are using the Graphics Processor in your Photoshop Preferences. To do this, go to Edit > Preferences > Performance and then make sure the box is checked before moving on to the next step. This will enable the use of 3D (note: if you do not have a dedicated graphics processor, you may not be able to do the next steps).
Step 2
Create the text using the font Doughnut Monster G. The Color is #ececec, and the Size is 150 pt.
Step 3
Go to Type > Convert to Shape.
4. How to Create 3D Text in Photoshop
Step 1
Go to 3D > New 3D Extrusion from Selected Path. This will convert the layer into a 3D layer.
Step 2
To access the 3D mesh settings and properties, you’ll need to open two panels: the 3D panel and the Properties panel (both found under the Window menu).
The 3D panel has all the components of the 3D scene, and when you click the name of any of those, you’ll be able to access its settings in the Properties panel. So make sure to always select the tab of the element you want to modify in the 3D panel before you change its settings in the Properties panel.
Step 3
If you select the Move Tool, you’ll find a set of 3D Modes for it to the right of the Options bar.
When you choose one of those, you can then click and drag to perform changes (on the selected element in the 3D panel).
Use those modes to change the Current View into an angle you like.
5. How to Edit the Mesh and Cap Settings
Step 1
Select the 3D mesh tab in the 3D panel, and then, in the Properties panel, change the Texture Mapping to Tile and the Extrusion Depth to 100.
Step 2
Click the Cap icon at the top of the Properties panel, and then change the Bevel Width to 2%, the Contour to Half Round, and the Inflate Strength to 10%.
6. How to Modify the Material Settings
Step 1
Select all the material tabs in the 3D panel, and change their values in the Properties panel as follows:
- Specular: 128,128,128
- Shine: 100
- Reflection: 100
- Roughness: 10
- Bump: 20
- Refraction: 1.3
Step 2
Select the Front Inflation Material tab in the 3D panel, and then click the Bump folder icon and choose Load Texture, and load the Bump Texture you created in Step 1.
Step 3
Click the Bump texture icon and choose Edit UV Properties.
Step 4
Adjust the Tile values so that the texture looks perfectly scaled on the text.
You should get something similar to this.
Step 5
Select the rest of the material tabs, click the Bump folder icon, and choose the Bump Texture from the list.
Step 6
You might need to adjust the UV Properties for the Extrusion Material after applying the texture. If so, select the Extrusion Material from the 3D panel, and repeat the above steps to apply the texture to the sides of your text.
7. How to Modify the Lighting
Step 1
Select the Infinite Light 1 tab, and change the Intensity to 20% and the Shadow Softness to 30%.
Step 2
Select the Environment tab, click the IBL texture icon, and choose Replace Texture.
Step 3
Load the People inside a club image, and change the Intensity to 30%.
Step 4
You can use the Move Tool to move the Environment light's texture around until you get a result you like.
8. How to Create a Fast Background
Step 1
Place the 10637-NMQKXB.jpg image in the abstract disco lights background Free Vector folder on top of the Background copy layer, and resize it as you like to fit within the document.
Change the layer's Blend Mode to Linear Dodge (Add) and its Opacity to 50%.
Step 2
Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur, and change the Radius to 2.7.
9. How to Render a Scene in Photoshop
Step 1
Go to 3D > Render to render the scene. The rendering might take a while, but you can stop it any time by pressing the Esc key.
Step 2
Click the Create new fill or adjustment layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Levels.
Step 3
Click the Clip to layer icon, and change the Shadows value to 45 and the Highlights value to 225.
You can use any other values you think look best for your result.
10. How to Add Flares
Step 1
Pick the Brush Tool, choose one of the Stars and Flares Brush Set brush tips, change its Size to something around 100 px, and then open the Brush panel (Window > Brush).
Under the Shape Dynamics tab, change the Size Jitter to 50% and the Angle Jitter to 100%. This will help you get different sizes and angles for the flares each time you click to add one.
Step 2
Create a new layer on top of all layers, call it Flares, and change its Blend Mode to Vivid light.
Change the Foreground Color to #eaeaea, and start clicking on top of the bright areas of the text to add the flares.
11. How to Adjust Lighting and Crop an Image
Step 1
Click the Create new fill or adjustment layer icon and choose Gradient Map.
Step 2
Choose the gradient fill below, check the Dither box, and change the layer's Blend Mode to Color and its Opacity to 5%.
The difference this makes is very subtle, but you can change the gradient fill and/or the Opacity value to get different outcomes.
Step 3
Finally, save the final result as an image, and then open the image and use the Crop Tool to crop it to the size you like.
Congratulations! You're Done
In this tutorial, we created a simple squares pattern and used it in a texture. Then we created the text and converted it into a 3D layer.
After that, we modified the 3D mesh, material, and lighting settings, added the background, and rendered the scene. Finally, we added the flares and a couple of adjustment layers to finish off the final result.
Please feel free to leave your comments, suggestions, and outcomes below.
Top 5 Disco-Themed Fonts
Try this same effect with some of these disco party-ready fonts below!
Prabo Fat font (OTF, TTF)
The Prabo Fat font is a super bold font, making it ideal to apply text effects to! Combine that with its extra rounded edges, and it's the perfect font to use for a groovy disco ball text effect.
Funkies Bold Script Font (OTF, TTF)
Want something with a bit more flair? The Funkies Bold Script Font is a retro bold script font that will bring you right back to the '60s and '70s. Just thick enough to apply some serious text effects to, without worrying about it being unreadable!
Jump Force (OTF, TTF)
Try something a bit more futuristic with the Jump Force script font. It manages to be ultra sleek and bold at the same time. With just enough flair to remain completely readable and disco friendly! The perfect companion to any party flyer or invitation.
Magik (OTF, TTF)
Go modern with this geometric display font. Magik is an abstract, extra bold font that will play nicely with even the shiniest of disco ball text effects thanks to its extra-large surface area and minimalistic geometric design!
Cred Typeface (OTF, TTF)
If you need something with just as much impact, but a little bit more straightforward, then the Cred Typeface is the way to go! This mega fat font is incredibly bold yet still completely readable, making it a must-have for any graphic designer who's a fan of text effects!
Looking to Learn More?
Check out even more text effects below!
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Introduction to Photoshop Layer Styles
