More font work, how exciting! Today's is going to be a little more advanced than the first font tutorial. We're going to cover Type Masking. I am by no means a master, but this will explain it's basic function and usage.
TYPE MASKING
This is something not many people use. I feel like it's similar to Warp Text in that it can look completely tacky, but if you use it right you can add a really neat effect to your graphic. Don't be afraid to use this and then set it to a blending mode, or erase part of it, or whatever your graphic needs. Artists will tell you don't be afraid to be bold, but my advice is don't be afraid to be subtle. Add something and then take away 90% of it if you need to. That's the key to using tools like this.
Type masking puts an image inside your text. Or over it. I'm not sure the best way to explain it. Looks like this.
Step 1: Pick an image you want to show up on your text. I picked clouds. Open this in a new document.
Step 2: Decide what message you're trying to send. My picture is clouds, so I'm going to say "CLOUDS". Brilliant, I know. Generally you wouldn't want to say something random, like "polka" or "steak," but it depends on what you're doing. Maybe you're Super Ironic, like a Photoshop hipster. But this tool is mostly used to impart a theme or a tone, so usually you'll want your text to reflect the image itself.
Step 3: Create a new layer on your image (Ctrl-Shft-N). The Type Mask tool does not create a new layer automatically, unlike the regular Type tool.
Step 4: While in your new layer, select the Horizontal Type Masking tool in your side toolbar:
Step 5: Type your word. Make sure to choose a thick, heavy font--you want plenty of your image to be captured.
I altered my font in my tool box to make it wider and taller and more compressed. If you don't want to do that, you can hit Ctrl-T after typing your word to transform it instead. Once you've hit Ctrl-T, just drag the font by the corner boxes to fit the shape you want it to. Hit return to complete your transformation.
Step 6: Now it's time to change the background. Because this is a basic tutorial, we're just going to create a solid fill layer for the cloud-text to sit on.
Hit Ctrl-Shft-I to inverse your selection. Then select a color (I chose one from the image itself for simplicity), and fill the background with it. To do this, select your background layer and select the paint bucket from your side toolbar and fill. Or you can just hit Alt-Delete to fill with your foreground color, or hit Ctrl-Delete to fill with your background color.
And that's it for basic Type Masking. Too bad it's super lame. Luckily, you aren't limited to just filling your background with a solid color. I decided to keep my cloud background and just contrast the coloring with a gradient map. In that case, this is your new
Step 6: With your background layer selected, go to Layer--New Adjustment Layer--Gradient Map. (Make sure your background is still selected in your window, not your text.) When the box pops up, make sure you've selected "Create Clipping Mask". From there, choose a gradient to overlay on the background. I picked a blue/pink, because it happened to be close to the top.
Voila! Play around with your effects and adjustment layers to get an image you like. Before we leave, though, I have one
SUPER IMPORTANT TIP, I AM SERIOUS, MAKE SURE YOU READ THIS PART: You CANNOT CHANGE your text once you've altered it and clicked out of it. Make sure you're happy with your font before you move on to the background. Also, it is VERY IMPORTANT that you save your selection before you move on.
While you still have your dotted lines running around your text and image, go to Select--Save Selection. Name it something like Cloud Outline so you can find it easily. That way, once you've moved on to adding brushes or textures or whatever that you want to effect the background or the text but not both, you can go to Select--Load Selection and choose Cloud Outline. Use Ctrl-Shft-I to move back and forth between selecting your text and your background. That will allow you to use brushes like this:
And that's it for Type Masking from me. Just play around and see what you can come up with!
I would continue, but I feel like my brain is oozing out of my ears. I'll wrap up the font tutorials with a third segment, featuring Effects and general tips.
TYPE MASKING
This is something not many people use. I feel like it's similar to Warp Text in that it can look completely tacky, but if you use it right you can add a really neat effect to your graphic. Don't be afraid to use this and then set it to a blending mode, or erase part of it, or whatever your graphic needs. Artists will tell you don't be afraid to be bold, but my advice is don't be afraid to be subtle. Add something and then take away 90% of it if you need to. That's the key to using tools like this.
Type masking puts an image inside your text. Or over it. I'm not sure the best way to explain it. Looks like this.
Step 1: Pick an image you want to show up on your text. I picked clouds. Open this in a new document.
Step 2: Decide what message you're trying to send. My picture is clouds, so I'm going to say "CLOUDS". Brilliant, I know. Generally you wouldn't want to say something random, like "polka" or "steak," but it depends on what you're doing. Maybe you're Super Ironic, like a Photoshop hipster. But this tool is mostly used to impart a theme or a tone, so usually you'll want your text to reflect the image itself.
Step 3: Create a new layer on your image (Ctrl-Shft-N). The Type Mask tool does not create a new layer automatically, unlike the regular Type tool.
Step 4: While in your new layer, select the Horizontal Type Masking tool in your side toolbar:
Step 5: Type your word. Make sure to choose a thick, heavy font--you want plenty of your image to be captured.
I altered my font in my tool box to make it wider and taller and more compressed. If you don't want to do that, you can hit Ctrl-T after typing your word to transform it instead. Once you've hit Ctrl-T, just drag the font by the corner boxes to fit the shape you want it to. Hit return to complete your transformation.
Step 6: Now it's time to change the background. Because this is a basic tutorial, we're just going to create a solid fill layer for the cloud-text to sit on.
Hit Ctrl-Shft-I to inverse your selection. Then select a color (I chose one from the image itself for simplicity), and fill the background with it. To do this, select your background layer and select the paint bucket from your side toolbar and fill. Or you can just hit Alt-Delete to fill with your foreground color, or hit Ctrl-Delete to fill with your background color.
And that's it for basic Type Masking. Too bad it's super lame. Luckily, you aren't limited to just filling your background with a solid color. I decided to keep my cloud background and just contrast the coloring with a gradient map. In that case, this is your new
Step 6: With your background layer selected, go to Layer--New Adjustment Layer--Gradient Map. (Make sure your background is still selected in your window, not your text.) When the box pops up, make sure you've selected "Create Clipping Mask". From there, choose a gradient to overlay on the background. I picked a blue/pink, because it happened to be close to the top.
Voila! Play around with your effects and adjustment layers to get an image you like. Before we leave, though, I have one
SUPER IMPORTANT TIP, I AM SERIOUS, MAKE SURE YOU READ THIS PART: You CANNOT CHANGE your text once you've altered it and clicked out of it. Make sure you're happy with your font before you move on to the background. Also, it is VERY IMPORTANT that you save your selection before you move on.
While you still have your dotted lines running around your text and image, go to Select--Save Selection. Name it something like Cloud Outline so you can find it easily. That way, once you've moved on to adding brushes or textures or whatever that you want to effect the background or the text but not both, you can go to Select--Load Selection and choose Cloud Outline. Use Ctrl-Shft-I to move back and forth between selecting your text and your background. That will allow you to use brushes like this:
And that's it for Type Masking from me. Just play around and see what you can come up with!
I would continue, but I feel like my brain is oozing out of my ears. I'll wrap up the font tutorials with a third segment, featuring Effects and general tips.
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