This tutorial will show you how to create a text effect inspired by the unique and bold coloring and texturing of X-Men's fictional character Mystique.
It is similar to the text effects that can be purchased on Envato Market, but we'll be using a ton of textures, layer styles, and adjustment layers to create it. So let's get started!
Tutorial Assets
The following assets were used during the production of this tutorial:
- Poetsen One font
- cloud texture by NOS2002
- Blurred stripe backgrounds by honestpixels
- m-a32 by marshmellow-stock
- Orange City Sunset by DarkCrea
- Smoke Texture by speedofmyshutter
- Abstract Warped Dots Patterns by WebTreatsETC
- Type pattern by Atle Mo
- Broken Noise pattern by Vincent Klaiber
- Bright Squares pattern by Waseem Dahman
- Free Pack 6000 photoshop gradients by Supertuts007 (Load the CSP True Sky Gradients.grd file)
1. Create the Background Gradient
Step 1
Create a new 1250 x 800 px document and duplicate the Background layer.
Step 2
Double-click the Background copy layer to apply a Gradient Overlay effect with these settings:
- Check the Dither box
- Angle: 70
- Create the Gradient using the colors
#1a1a1bto the left and#162228to the right
This will create a simple gradient to add the textures on top of.
2. Add the Background Textures
Step 1
Add the cloud texture, resize it as needed, and change its layer's Blend Mode to Overlay.
Step 2
Add the Blurred stripe background image, resize it, and then change its layer's Blend Mode to Soft Light and its Opacity to 80%.
Step 3
Place the m-a32 image, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur, and change the Radius to 5.
Step 4
Resize the m-a32 image, and change its layer's Blend Mode to Overlay and its Opacity to 50%.
3. Add the Gradient Map Adjustment Layers
Step 1
Click the Create new fill or adjustment layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Gradient Map.
Step 2
Check the Dither box and choose the gradient fill below. Change the layer's Blend Mode to Color and its Opacity to 50%.
Step 3
Add another Gradient Map adjustment layer, check the Dither box, and choose the gradient fill below. Change the layer's Blend Mode to Color and its Opacity to 25%.
4. Create the Text Layers
Step 1
Create the text using the font PoetsenOne Regular. The Size is 235 pt and the Color is #1166c5.
Step 2
Duplicate the text layer twice to create two copies, and drag them below the original.
Name the copy in the middle Stroke, and the one at the bottom Stroke Blur. Then change the Stroke Blur layer's Fill value to 0.
5. Create the Stroke Blur
Step 1
Double-click the Stroke Blur layer to apply a Stroke effect with these settings:
- Size: 13
-
Color:
#4e5c69
Step 2
Right-click the Stroke Blur layer and choose Convert to Smart Object.
Step 3
Go to Blur > Gaussian Blur, and change the Radius to 13.
Step 4
Change the Stroke Blur layer's Blend Mode to Color Dodge.
6. Create the Stroke
Double-click the Stroke layer to apply the following layer style:
Step 1
Add a Bevel and Emboss with these settings:
- Style: Stroke Emboss
- Size: 9
- Gloss Contour: Ring
- Check the Anti-aliased box
- Highlight Mode: Vivid Light
- Opacity: 50%
- Shadow Mode: Linear Burn
-
Color:
#751b0f - Opacity: 50%
Step 2
Add a Contour with these settings:
- Check the Anti-aliased box.
Step 3
Add a Texture with these settings:
- Pattern: Type
- Depth: 1000%
Step 4
Add a Stroke with these settings:
- Size: 6
-
Color:
#8a4909
Step 5
Add an Inner Glow with these settings:
- Blend Mode: Hard Light
- Opacity: 100%
-
Color:
#edb01d - Size: 5
Step 6
Add a Gradient Overlay with these settings:
- Check the Dither box
- Opacity: 35%
- Angle: 31
- Choose the Gradient fill below
Step 7
Add an Outer Glow with these settings:
- Blend Mode: Linear Dodge (Add)
- Opacity: 100%
- Noise: 50%
-
Color:
#cf6701 - Size: 11
- Contour: Ring
Step 8
Add a Drop Shadow with these settings:
- Blend Mode: Color Burn
-
Color:
#cbcdd7 - Opacity: 35%
- Distance: 26
- Spread: 6
- Size: 35
This will create the bright outer stroke with a simple glow effect.
7. Style the Text
Double-click the text layer to apply the following layer style:
Step 1
Add a Bevel and Emboss with these settings:
- Size: 24
- Uncheck the Use Global Light box
- Angle: 45
- Altitude: 74
- Gloss Contour: Cone - Inverted
- Check the Anti-aliased box
- Highlight Mode - Opacity: 75%
- Shadow Mode:
-
Color:
#474747 - Opacity: 75%
Step 2
Add a Texture with these settings:
- Pattern: Broken Noise
- Depth: 256%
Step 3
Add an Inner Shadow with these settings:
- Blend Mode: Hard Light
-
Color:
#ff9630 - Opacity: 100%
- Distance: 1
- Size: 5
Step 4
Add an Inner Glow with these settings:
- Blend Mode: Linear Light
- Opacity: 35%
- Noise: 15%
-
Color:
#f8f5f5 - Technique: Precise
- Source: Center
- Size: 90
- Check the Anti-aliased box
Step 5
Add a Gradient Overlay with these settings:
- Check the Dither box
- Blend Mode: Overlay
- Opacity: 35%
- Angle: 115
- Use the Gradient fill below
Step 6
Add a Drop Shadow with these settings:
- Blend Mode: Color Burn
-
Color:
#050505 - Opacity: 50%
- Distance: 7
- Size: 9
This will style the text and add the navy texture base.
Step 7
Select both the Stroke and Stroke Blur layers, pick the Move Tool, and drag those layers slightly to nudge the stroke apart for the text.
8. Add the Scales
Step 1
Add the webtreatsetc-opart-3.jpg image from the Abstract Warped Dots Patterns pack, and rename its layer to Pattern.
Step 2
Pick the Magic Wand Tool, uncheck the Contiguous box in the Options bar, and click a white area of the pattern image.
Step 3
Go to Select > Inverse, and click the Add vector mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel to get rid of the white part of the texture.
Step 4
Duplicate the Pattern layer, change the copy's Fill value to 0, and duplicate it.
9. Style the Pattern Layer
Double-click the Pattern layer to apply the following layer style:
Step 1
Add a Bevel and Emboss with these settings:
- Size: 35
- Uncheck the Use Global Light box
- Angle: -145
- Altitude: 42
- Gloss Contour: Cove - Deep
- Check the Anti-aliased box
- Highlight Mode: Linear Light
-
Color:
#c5dffc - Opacity: 35%
- Shadow Mode - Opacity: 50%
Step 2
Add a Contour with these settings:
- Contour: Cone - Inverted
- Check the Anti-aliased box
- Range: 25%
Step 3
Add a Texture with these settings:
- Pattern: Bright Squares
- Depth: 752%
Step 4
Add an Inner Shadow with these settings:
-
Color:
#4d565a - Opacity: 30%
- Uncheck the Use Global Light box
- Angle: 12
- Distance: 13
- Size: 2
Step 5
Add a Color Overlay with these settings:
-
Color:
#2b2f59
Step 6
Add an Outer Glow with these settings:
- Blend Mode: Vivid Light
- Opacity: 35%
- Noise: 50%
-
Color:
#dff1fd - Size: 0
Step 7
Add a Drop Shadow with these settings:
-
Color:
#1b1635 - Opacity: 70%
- Distance: 2
- Size: 6
This will style the first layer of scales.
10. Style the Pattern copy Layer
Double-click the Pattern copy layer to apply the following layer style:
Step 1
Add a Bevel and Emboss with these settings:
- Size: 2
- Uncheck the Use Global Light box
- Angle: 22
- Altitude: 64
- Check the Anti-aliased box
-
Highlight Mode - Color:
#c5dffc
Step 2
Add a Contour with these settings:
- Contour: Gaussian
- Check the Anti-aliased box
- Range: 20%
This will add more shininess to the scales.
11. Style the Pattern copy 2 Layer
Double-click the Pattern copy 2 layer to apply the following layer style:
Step 1
Add a Bevel and Emboss with these settings:
- Size: 1
- Uncheck the Use Global Light box
- Angle: 90
- Altitude: 30
- Gloss Contour: Cove - Deep
- Check the Anti-aliased box
Step 2
Add a Contour with these settings:
- Contour: Sawtooth 1
- Check the Anti-aliased box
This will add some more dimension to the scales.
12. Mask the Scales' Layers
Step 1
Group all the scale (Pattern) layers in a group and call it Pattern.
Step 2
Command-click the text layer's thumbnail to create a selection.
Step 3
Click the Add vector mask icon to get rid of the extra parts.
13. Add the Smoke and the Top Texture
Step 1
Place the Smoke Texture image on top of all layers, resize it as you like, and then change its layer's Blend Mode to Lighten and its Opacity to 90%.
Step 2
Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur, and set the Radius to 3.
Step 3
Add a mask to the smoke texture's layer, make sure it is selected, and pick the Eraser Tool.
Set the Foreground Color to White, and choose a soft round brush tip to remove any unwanted parts.
You can play around with the brush Opacity value in the Options bar to get lighter effects.
Step 4
Add a Gradient Map adjustment layer, clip it to the smoke texture's layer, and then check the Dither box and choose the gradient fill below.
Change the adjustment layer's Blend Mode to Color and its Opacity to 25%.
Step 5
Finally, add the Orange City Sunset image on top of all layers, resize it as needed, and then change its layer's Blend Mode to Darken and its Opacity to 10%.
That will adjust the coloring a bit more, and finish off the effect.
Congratulations! You're Done
In this tutorial, we used a simple gradient fill and a couple of different textures to create the background for our text.
Then we created a couple of text layers and styled them to create the stroke and the main texture for the effect. After that, we added and styled some pattern layers to create the scales.
Finally, we added some smoke and a final texture to finish off the effect.
Please feel free to leave your comments, suggestions, and outcomes below.
