Welcome to the fifth tutorial in our series of Photoshop Text Effects articles. There are so many things that we can do in Photoshop, and the number of cool effects which we can apply to text is practically endless! If you’d like to check out the first four Photoshop Text Effects articles, please click below.
Text Effects #1 – an overview of Photoshop’s text tools and settings
Text Effects #2 – an overview of Photoshop’s layer styles and how we can apply these to text
Text Effects #3 – creating multiple outlines
Text Effects #4 – creating plastic style text
In this article, we’re going to create text which looks 3D – the sort of 3D you get when you watch a film through 3D glasses, where one eye is red and the other is a magenta tone. This is a really cool effect that looks a little retro but also has a modern and techno vibe.
This tutorial is suitable for Photoshop beginners and is really more simple than it may look! Let’s get started.
Our first step is to create a new, blank canvas. Then, add text of your choice. For this effect, you’ll want a bold font that is not too intricate. I’m going to use one from the Darkest Saturday Duo which you can download from Creative Fabrica.
Once you have your text positioned and sized as you prefer, right-click on the text layer and duplicate it.
To avoid any confusion, rename the new layer with “copy 1” at the end of the title.
Repeat this step so that you have two copies of the original layer, and rename the second duplicate “copy 2“. Your layers should then look as it appears below:
With the uppermost layer (copy 2) highlighted, tap on the layer styles icon – the button along the bottom menu bar which looks like an fx.
In the menu which appears, tap on blending options.
Then, you’ll see a few sections within the blending options menu. Under the header advanced blending, you’ll see three checkboxes – R, G, and B. Each represents a colour – red, green and blue.
So, first off, we’re going to add our red element of the 3D text. It seems a little counterproductive, but to add red, we actually need to uncheck the red (R) box. Uncheck this but leave G and B checked.
Once you’ve done this, tap OK to save the settings.
Next, navigate over to the main menu of Photoshop; the one down the left-hand side of the page. Click on the move tool which looks like four arrows in a cross shape.
Now, tap on view, which is in the main menu along the top of your computer screen. Tap on 100%, this will make your canvas zoom to its true size.
This step is very important as we can use the arrows on our keyboard to move the elements. If our canvas is set to view at its true size – which is 100% – each tap of our arrow keys will move the element by one pixel, therefore, it’s easier to keep count.
With your red text layer still selected, use your left and right arrows on your computer keyboard to move the red text to the left. Count how many taps of your left arrow you take, as we’ll need to repeat this for the other colour. I’m going to move my red text 15 pixels to the left so 15 taps of my left arrow key.
The number of pixels you move your text will depend on your text size and the type of font which you have used. If you used a bolder and more basic font, the number of pixels you need to nudge could be as much as thirty. Take some time to experiment and find your preferred look.
Go back to the layers panel, and select the one named copy 1.
Open up the layer styles menu again, and go into the blending options, as we did with the previous layer.
In the advanced blending section, leave the R for red checked, and uncheck the G and B.
You should now see a cyan coloured element of your text if you move this layer to the right. Use your keyboard’s arrow keys to nudge this layer to the right of your main black text, by the same amount of pixels (and key taps!) as you did for the red one; for me, this is 15 pixels.
You’re all done! This is a really straightforward, yet effective tutorial, which definitely looks more complex than it is. Below is the end result, however, there are a couple of further adjustments you can make if you like.
The first alternate look is to hide more of the black text. You can do this by simply tapping on the icon which looks like an eye, next to the original text layer. This button toggles the visibility of a layer. It’s also a handy function if you want to see how your artwork looks with or without an added element.
By toggling the visibility of your original text layer, black text only appears in areas where the red and cyan colors have overlapped.
The next alternate look is to change the colours altogether. Tap on your layer named copy 1 and open the blending options menu.
Under advanced blending, leave the R and B checked only.
Now, you’ll have a red and green effect, like the below.
To change the red to purple, open the blending options menu again on the layer named copy 2 and leave only the G checked.
And now, we have a completely alternate colour scheme like below.
We hope that you enjoyed this Photoshop text effects tutorial as much as we did! It is a really cool style that can be used to add a retro and edgy spin to your work!
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