Originally published in: PSDTUTS Author: Collis Translation: Gao Xiaobai
This tutorial by Collis will show you how to use a photo of fire combined with text. What we are now looking at is a nice dark background combined with a gorgeous text effect throughout the image.
Final Effect: As always we will be the first to see the final effect so you will know what we are going to end up with. This beautiful image is serving as my laptop's desktop background at the moment.
Click on the image above to view the full image
Part One – Background
Create a new document in photoshop with a size of 1920×1200px. Select the Gradient Tool and draw a brown radial gradient (color values from #5c3d09 to #1f1409), so you get an effect like the one below.
Note that the gradient is drawn not from the middle, but from the top of the picture. We want the effect of fire on top of the text, so the top of the image should be slightly lighter.
Step 2
We will once again use a background texture from the Grass Text Effect tutorial. But this time, instead of starting from scratch, I directly copied the background that was already made in the grass special effect text tutorial, blended all the layers and reduced the saturation to get the effect you see below.
If you need to start from scratch, first you need to go to Bittbox to get the original texture image, and then follow the previous steps.
Step 3
Now we blend the texture into the background and set the blending mode to Overlay.
Step 4
Let's use the Texture filter to add some texture. I started by creating a new layer and filling it with brown (#66500f). Then go to Filter > Texture > Texture, set the scale value under the texture canvas to 80%, and highlight to 4.
Step 5
Set the blending mode of this layer to Overlay because we are working on a large canvas so adding some nice extra detail will make it look even better.
Step 6
Next, we'll apply a layer to slightly desaturate the lower half of this image. The purpose of this is to make the top fire look like a hot glow, while the bottom looks a little cold. So I created a new layer and filled it with color (#4b4f3b), then added a layer mask and used the gradient to hide the top half of the image. (You should now get something like the image below). Now set the layer's Blending Mode to Color and Opacity to 45%.
Part Two – Text + Light = Awesome
Okay, now we have a nice background! Now let’s add some text. The font I used is Trajan because it looks great here. I added a color to the font (#cb9328), then set the layer's Blending Mode to Linear Dodge (Add) and lowered the Opacity to 8%. We're going to use red flames to add some effect to the upper part of the text, making it pop out of the background. This means that we are going to add some effects and layer masks to the text, in order to only show the upper part of the text, while the lower part of the text remains the same as the current hidden effect.
Step 8
First create a new layer group and put all the text layers into it – there will be a lot of text here. Then duplicate the text layer and set the color value of the copied text to #5e3f1c.
Step 9
Now set the latest text layer to Overlay and its Opacity to 70%. It looks like a great reddish color. (As shown in the picture below)
Step 10
Now duplicate the text layer again and set the latest duplicated layer to a light yellow color (#cb9328). Then set it to Linear Dodge (Add) and lower the Opacity to 30%. Then we add a layer mask and draw a gradient, so the latest text layer has a faint feeling as shown in the picture below. Combined with the two text layers below, you can see the slightly reddish color at the bottom of the text.
Step 11
Next we duplicate the text layer again. This step is to add a nice feel to the bottom of the text. Set the text color to black (#000000), then run Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and set the Radius to 4 px. To rasterize text, select > Modify > Expand. Then Ctrl+hold on any other text layer, and go back to the black layer and click Delete, so only a very soft shadow remains. Then duplicate this layer and merge it to create a very heavy effect. What you make should look like the screenshot below.
Step 12
As shown in the picture below, once again use the layer mask to quickly create the shadow fade effect. This will make the text look like it's floating off the screen.
Step 13
Now duplicate the black layer again and using the Smudge Tool, use a fairly large soft brush to paint around the shadow to make it look like burn marks.
Step 14
Now our text effect looks like the following picture. I actually created two "burn" marks, each of these four shadow layers being a little blurrier than the last.
Step 15
Now it's time to add some light to the top of the text. first. Duplicate the text layer again. Set it to yellow – #dc9a08, then go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur, set the Radius to 8px, then use a large soft eraser to erase the bottom part of the text, so as to create a nice A sense of imbalance.
Step 16
Set the first light layer to Soft Light. You should repeat this process again to make the top of the text more shiny.
Step 17
Now duplicate the text layer again and place it on top. Change its color again to yellow (#dc9a08) and go to Layer > Rasterize > Text to make the text a single layer. Then Ctrl+hold this layer to get the selection, select > Modify > Shrink, and set the shrink amount to 1px. Then delete the rest except shrink it by 1px.
Step 18
Now set the 1px layer to Overlay and you should now have the effect as shown below.
Step 19
Now add a layer mask to the 1px layer to make the bottom of the text fade out, just like I did on the other layers. Then duplicate this layer, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur, and set the Radius to 1px. Then duplicate this layer again and blur it by 2px. Then duplicate this layer again and blur it 4px. Then Ctrl+click any text layer, press Ctrl+Shift+I to invert the selection, and delete the part of each light-sensitive layer that exceeds the font boundary due to blur. The purpose of this step is to give the fiery text an effect where the fiery feeling gradually increases toward the edges of the text.
Step 20
Now we duplicate these four light layers and blend them together. The final effect of this is that the top of the text is initially bright yellow. Using the Smudge Tool, smear upwards across the text to create a heatwave-like effect. As shown below.
Step 21