Creating Reflective Gold Text with Photoshop

This tutorial shows the steps required to create reflective gold text.

Open a new file at 400x200 pixels with the dpi set at 72 and the mode set to RGB. I'll
show the images at 200x100 to save loading time.

Set the foreground color to R: 242, G: 248, B: 60 and the background color to R: 160,
G: 107, B: 10.

Use the linear gradient tool with the "foreground to background" option set and fill
the image from top to bottom

Switch to the default colors. This can be done by

clicking on the small black and white squares in the
lower left-hand corner of the color swatch:
figure 6.1

Swap the foreground and background colors by clicking on the small curved arrow in
the upper right-hand corner of the color swatch. The foreground choice
should be white and the background choice should be black.

Create a new layer by clicking on the rectangle icon with the bent up corner
in the layers palette.
figure
6.2
Enter some text using the text tool. I used the Modern font at 150 points
with bold and anti-aliased checked. Center the text by pressing Ctrl-X and then Ctrl-V.
(Cut and Paste).

Make the background layer current by clicking on its

entry in the layer palette.

Use SELECT, INVERSE to invert the selection and press

the delete key.
figure 6.3
Delete layer1 by dragging its icon (in the layers
palette) down to the small trash can icon. This will leave the selected gold text on a
black background.

figure 6.4
Make a copy of the background layer by clicking on the layer in the layer palette and
dragging it down to the new layer icon (the rectangle with the bent up corner).

Make the background layer current again by clicking on its icon in the layer palette.
Choose SELECT, ALL and press the delete key. Choose SELECT, NONE.

At this point you should have a solid black rectangle for the background layer and the
gold gradient text in the layer above.

Click on the channel tab in the layer palette to bring up the channel palette and
create a new channel. (This is done by clicking on the rectangle icon with the bent
corner, the same as creating a new layer in the layer palette.)

On the new channel enter the same text and center it. Change the foreground color
to a mid-gray by clicking on the white foreground color square in the color swatch
and choosing a gray color from the left side of the color picker area in the dialog box
that pops up. (I used RGB = 121, 121, 121.)

Use EDIT, STROKE with "4 pixels" and &quote;inside" as the options. This will outline
the white text with gray.

Choose FILTER, BLUR, GAUSSIAN BLUR set at 3.0.

Choose SELECT, NONE and run the gaussian blur
again, this time with the setting at 1.0. This will help
kill some of the jaggies that might be created.
figure 6.5

Click the layers tab to go back to the layers palette.

Make the text (background copy) layer the current
layer. Use the magic wand tool to select all of the
black background. Any areas inside of the letters can
be added to the selection by clicking the mouse in
those areas while holding down the shift key. figure 6.6

Once all of the background is selected choose SELECT, INVERSE to select the text.

Choose FILTERS, RENDER, LIGHTING EFFECTS and use the following settings:

• Style: 2AMSPOT
• Light Type: SPOTLIGHT
• Intensity: 17
• Focus: 34
• Gloss: 50
• Material: 50
• Exposure: 0
• Ambience: 4
 • Texture Channel: #4
• White is High: Checked
• Height: 50

Manipulate the light so that it comes in from the

top-left, and be sure that all of the selected
letters are bright. This can be done by drawing
the light closer to the letters and widening the
oval to a circular shape.

figure 6.7
De-select the selection by choosing
SELECTIONS, NONE.

figure 6.8

Photoshop Tutorial: Turning Portrait Into Stone Statue

This is a simple tutorial on how you can make a statue from a portrait with
Photoshop. It is highly recommended if you’re using a close up portrait of a
woman/man.

Have fun!
Step1. Open your portrait (file>open or ctrl+o)

Step 2. Desaturate your photo; image>adjustments>desaturate or shift+control+u

Step 3. Open your stone texture file, and drag it into your face photo. Change the
layer blend mode to multiply.

Step 4. Now you’ll need to eliminate the eyes. using your pen tool draw a path
around her left eye and make a selection (go to your Paths Pallete, click on the work
path, and click the ‘Load Path as a Selection’ in the bottom of your pallete).
Step 5. Use the clone tool and select an area of the stone texture as your source and
clone it around the eye. Go to curve adjustment and play around with the curve to
adjust her new eye brightness/contrast. Choose your blur tool, and smooth the edges
of the new eye. Here’s what I come up with:

Step 6. Now repeat step 4 and 5 to do the right eye.

Step 7. To make the eye more three dimensional: create new layer, change the
blend mode to ‘linear burn’ and change the opacity to around 20-30%. Choose the
brush tool and choose black foreground color. Start to burn the area around the eyes
with your brush tool. Play around with your opacity to get the perfect result. Here’s
mine:
Step 8. To add three dimensional effect to your statue: Create new layer, choose
gradient tool, set radial gradient, white to black and apply it to your new layer.

Step 9. Change the blend mode to linear burn, and play around with the opacity for
your desired result.

So here she is with her new look..