The Gradient Adjustment Layer can be a frustrating tool when used in combination with the Type Tool. Many times, the gradient doesn't fit the text, or vice-versa. When this happens, we need to employ a manual workaround to tweak the appearance of the gradient and have it colouring the text in the best way possible. This tutorial looks at those frustrations and finds a really nifty, straight-forward solution. *Please Note: This tutorial is exploring a solution to a problem discovered in the 'Bronze Text' tutorial.
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Today’s question was submitted by an anonymous user on the site.
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Elements has a countless number of text effects available for every occasion - so we figured another one wouldn't hurt. Watch this tutorial as we show you how to create a block of bevelled, hand-crafted bronze text. And unlike the real thing, there'll be no hand polishing required.
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Quite often it’s necessary to tone up or down the colours of a photograph, but sometimes it’s preferably to lose them altogether. If that’s what you’re after, I have three quick and dirty ways to take a full-colour photograph and turn it black and white.
Black and White, or Greyscale?
People generally use the terms ‘black and white’ and ‘greyscale’ interchangeably so I wanted to clear up the true meaning of what we’re doing.
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In the world of supermodels and international advertising, portrait retouching is as common as ever. One feature that is regularly amended is the colour of the person's teeth. Most times there's nothing wrong with them, but the pursuit of ultra white glistening teeth has made Photoshop Elements an ideal tool for photographers on a budget, and had given almost everyone the opportunity to have their teeth digitally cleaned and looking perfect. Even though sometimes they look a little too perfect.
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free, lightning, lightning text, Manipulation, merge layers, Photoshop Elements 10, screen blending mode, Special Effects, Text Effects, text tool, video tutorial
After setting the mood, crafting a bolt of lightning, and generating a block of burnt text, it's now time to add the lightning effect to the text itself. To do this we'll be duplicating the original lightning bolt and getting help from a neat little clipping trick in order to confine the electricity to the inside of the font. The result is a high-voltage, action packed Utah valley a million miles away from where the original photograph was taken.
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burnt, free, grunge, lightning, Manipulation, Photoshop Elements 10, Special Effects, Text Effects, text tool, wind filter, video tutorial
If we're going to be electrifying our image, what with a bolt of Lightning from the Utah sky, and pulses of electricity flowing through the text, then we'll need to make the text fit into our theme. Using the Wind filter and some multi-directional (you'll see) assistance, as well as some subtle layer styles and adjustment layers, we'll have the text smouldering in no time!
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Most tutorials out there that demonstrate how to create a realistic lightning strike use hand-drawn custom brushes. Although this method produces great results, the brushes have to be downloaded and installed, and they're seldom free. That's why I prefer the alternative method of creating a bolt of lightning the old fashioned way - using filters, tools and a little creativity. It's also much more fun and easier than you think - when you know how!
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The first video I ever created was a Lightning Effect for Photoshop CS2 users way back in 2007. 5 years later, to the day, I release an updated version for Photoshop Elements 10. Instead of just creating the lightning effect though, we start with the basics - setting the mood and tone of the image so it's ready to have a bolt of electricity zapping through the scene. Here we'll use a neat layer trick to add darkness to the cloudy sky, and levels to correct for an underexposed foreground.
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If you’ve got a suggestion as to what feature you’d like to see in future versions of Photoshop Elements, or a feature that is already part of the software doesn’t function as it should, did you know that you can tell Adobe about it?
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