Polished Ceramics / Colored Glass Text Effect

[csm725]

This tutorial is available as a PDF. Click here to view or download it

Astounded by the lack of cool text effect tutorials, I set out to make one myself.

Today I shall instruct you on how to make some text that looks like this:

Pretty cool, right?

Plug-ins necessary to complete this tutorial:

AA's Assistant (dpy) - dpy's pack

Bevel Selection (BoltBait) - BB's pack

Trail (pyrochild) - pyro's pack

Alpha Mask Import (illnab1024) - [link]

Align Object (moc426) - [link]

Additional resources:

fontsquirrel, dafont (font sites - all free-of-charge and virus-free - tested)

Step one: Open a 500x150 canvas (no need to worry about anti-aliasing).

Step two: Add a new layer, name it TextMask.

Step three: Choose a font (preferably serif) and type up some text. By the way, I used Garamond Bold for this. If you are wondering, in the 'csm725' image, I put the numbers at a smaller size so that they would be as tall as the letters. Just letting you know.

Step four: Align to the Middle Center using Align Object.

Step five: Make a new layer between Background and TextMask, call it TextColor.

Step six: Select an area that covers up one letter, like so:

Step seven: Fill each letter-selection with a different color, make sure that the colors don't clash:

Step eight: Invert the colors of the TextMask layer so it is white. Make a new layer under it and fill it with black. Merge TextMask onto the black layer, select all, and copy. You can then delete the layer:

Step nine: Load Alpha Mask with the following settings (onto the TextColor layer):

Step ten: Duplicate the TextColor layer and name the bottom one text shine.

Step eleven: Open up trail at the following settings:

Step twelve: Apply AA's Assistant at default settings to both the TextColor and TextShine layers.

Step thirteen: Magic Wand at 31% tolerance, shift-select any transparent area on the TextShine layer, invert selection. You should have all the text selected.

Step fourteen: Bevel Selection at the following settings:

Step fifteen: Adjustments > Curves (Ctrl-Shift-M) at the following approx. settings:

Step sixteen: Repeat AA's Assistant on the TextShine layer.

Step seventeen: Set TextColor's opacity to 63:

Step eighteen: Merge TextColor onto TextShine. You should now have two layers.

Step nineteen: Duplicate TextShine and Layers > Flip Vertical.

Step twenty: Drag the flipped duplicate and drag it until the 'top' of the flipped letters meet with the bottom of the actual layers.

Step twenty-one: Do a transparent gradient (linear) like so:

Step twenty-two: Make a new layer above everything, call it Glints.

Step twenty-three: Go to the brush tool with white and draw some dots on the letters, this is where your glint-spots are going to be.

Step twenty-four: Gaussian Blur these spots at 3-10, depending on your taste. It should look something like this:

Step twenty-five: Delete the background layer, flatten, and save.

Enjoy!

#tut725

 

 

 

[Rubrica]

Very impressive; I like it. The end result is very god, and the steps used to achieve it are quite unique.

[Frontcannon]

Yay, another good text tutorial!

It looks like polished ceramics, though I doubt it would work on a thinner font.

[csm725]

Rubrica: "The end result is very god" - Typo? Thanks.

Frontcannon: Yes, something like polished ceramics. I would try any medium-thick serif font. Any serif font which is originally quite thin should work if you put it in BOLD (Times New Roman, Cambria, Georgia, etc.)

By the way, I used Garamond Bold for this. If you are wondering, I put the numbers at a smaller size so that they would be as tall as the letters. Just letting you know.

Edited June 13, 2010 by csm725

[csm725]

Here is my result (Cambria Regular on a 500x150 canvas):

[csm725]

No problem l3ron.

[Goonfella]

Great tutorial csm. Nice and colourful that`s for sure.

Just one thing that might make things a bit easier - on step 13 instead of adjusting the tolerance of the magic wand just switch the the Flood Mode from Contiguous to Global and all the text will be picked out in one click of the mouse.

Here is mine. I used Georgia with the bold setting.

[chrisco97]

Nice tutorial, very simple, with a great result. I will post an outcome later.

[csm725]

Goonie, did you

a.) lower the opacity of the top layer?

b.) maybe you should bevel at higher settings.

[Sarkut]

Definitely cool text. Thanks for the tutorial.

[csm725]

Interesting result Sarkut.

[Goonfella]

To answer your questions csm -

a - I lowered the opacity using the layer properties

b - looking again at the results of yours and other peoples text I thought the same thing, bevel at slightly higher setting. Never kept the file though so I`d have to start from scratch again.

[csm725]

Oh man, thank you! Means a lot!

Edited June 14, 2010 by csm725

[csm725]

Thank you for the pin!!!

[pdnnoob]

Definitely deserved the pin!

[chrisco97]

It did deserve the pin!

[chichimama]

Thank you so much! I messed around with the various settings and got this.

[csm725]

Nice result.

[chrisco97]

I haven't gotten around to this yet, but trust me...I will!

[chichimama]

Nice result.

Thanks. I make designs for digital scrapbooking and am always looking for new techniques.

[Lance McKnight]

Hey CSM, I used a totally different method to make my text in my sig different. One trick I find very useful is to use alpha-displacement on a transparent bevel layer.

[csm725]

Interesting...

[Lance McKnight]

Interesting as in...

I find that using alpha-displacement gives a more glassy appearance. Thanks to xmario's glass orb tutorial, I had been using Gaussian blur to make the transparent not completely uniform, yet giving it the appearance of transparency. Median was used once, and the white highlight were elliptical then deleted with the text selected, and blurred around 50 pixels, much better than using the transparent gradients.

Edited July 15, 2010 by Lance McKnight

[warfighter67]

Lance, that is some jaw dropping text you have there. Maybe a full tutorial would be more in the interest of the community (or at least, me)?

[Lance McKnight]

Let's not hijack CSM's tutorial. It's a very good one, and I would use his tutorial as a spring board, and with some of my tips thrown in. See what you come up with.