188. Create Text That Glows Before You Begin  84 Save a Selection for Reuse
183 Add a Text Caption or Label
See Also  187 Create Metallic Text
189 Emboss Text 190 Fill Text with an Image
When I think of the term glowing, I infer from it the concept of emitting light. The best way I know to suggest that something gives off light is to show something that the light is reflecting off. Surprisingly, the Editor's Outer Glows layer styles are not too convincing. It's Wow Neon layer styles are better, but what I prefer is an effect that looks like one of those shadow-box neon signs, where light is emitted from the back of the letter blocks and bounces off the back plate, illuminating the area around the letters. This task shows a homemade version of a far more convincing glowing text style.  1. | Add Text
Open an image in the Editor in Standard Edit mode and save it in Photoshop (*.psd) format. On the Layers palette, select the layer below which you want the text layer to appear. The text layer will be inserted above the layer you choose.
Select the Type tool from the Toolbox and add text to your image. See 183 Add a Text Caption or Label for more information on adding text. For your foreground color, choose either a rich, bright, well-saturated color or a light pastel, but try to keep the total intensity (the B component in HSB) at about 150. This method compounds brights on top of brights, so the final product will actually be brighter than the foreground color you choose.
NOTE  | Fonts on your computer are managed by Microsoft Windows, not by Adobe Photoshop Elements. If you installed Photoshop Elements with the standard options, you should have more fonts on your computer than you did before. But if you have other fonts on your system, installed with any other application (for instance, Microsoft Office), those fonts are also available to you in the Editor. |
You will want to use a large font size with a wide body to make the glowing text effects more apparent. Try adding the Bold attribute to give the glow effect enough surface to work on.
When the text passage appears exactly where you want it to and is the size you want it to be, and you've checked its spelling and contents for accuracy, from the Editor's menu bar, select Layer, Simplify Layer. This command converts the text layer to a raster layer, enabling you to apply artistic effects to that layer. Name this new layer Base.
| 2. | Build Text Body Selection
In the Layers palette, choose the Base layer. From the Toolbox, click the Magic Wand tool. Click any area of the image that is not text. This action selects only the background. Then choose Select, Inverse from the menu bar. Now the text is selected. To omit the holes in characters (for instance, in an O, p, and 8), with the Alt key held down, click all the holes in the text passage's characters.
TIP  | The range of text sizes available with the Type tool might not be large enough for many purposes, such as adding a big banner to an image. If 72 pt isn't large enough, just type the point size you want to use in the Size box. |
You'll be using this selection pattern more than once in this task, so choose Select, Save Selection from the menu bar to save the selection. In the Save Selection dialog box, enter Text as the selection's name and click OK. See 84 Save a Selection for Reuse for more about saving and reusing selected regions.
| 3. | Create Glow Layers
Choose Select, Deselect to remove the selection marquee from the text. With the Base layer still chosen, select Layer, Duplicate Layer from the menu bar. Name the new layer Glow and click OK.
With the Glow layer chosen, select Filter, Blur, Gaussian Blur. For the blur effect to be effective in creating a glow, set Radius to 10.0 or higher. Click OK.
In the Layers palette, set the blend mode for the Glow layer to Screen. To compound the effect, duplicate the Glow layer (select Layer, Duplicate Layer). The Glow copy layer will dramatically brighten the glow effect.
If you like what you see, you can stop here and save your results. The next steps make your text look like it's produced by a box sign.
| 4. | Create Shimmer Layer
In the Layers palette, turn off visibility (click the eye icon) for the Glow and Glow copy layers. You'll want to be able to see the new effect you're about to create.
Choose Select, Load Selection from the menu bar. In the Load Selection dialog box, under Selection, choose Text and then click OK. Now choose Select, Feather from the menu bar. For large, bold text above 72 points in size, you'll want to enter a large Feather Radius amount, such as 20; for 72 points and smaller, enter a smaller feather value. Click OK. The effect you're going for is to reduce the selection to a series of blobs, as if you'd left the selection out in the hot sun too long and it melted.
In the Layers palette, choose the Base layer. Then select Layer, New, Layer via Copy from the menu bar. Rename the layer Shimmer. Change its blend mode to Pin Light. To see what you've made, turn off visibility for the Base layer for a moment. Each letter should look like it's been lit by individual, soft light bulbs.
| 5. | Create Block Layer
In the Layers palette, turn on visibility for the Base layer (click its eye icon), and turn off visibility for Shimmer. With the Base layer chosen, load the Text selection again. Then choose Select, Modify, Contract from the menu bar. In the Contract Selection dialog box, enter a value about one-fourth the amount you entered in step 4 for the Feather Radius. Click OK.
Choose Select, Modify, Smooth. In the Sample Radius dialog box, enter a value about one-half the amount you entered in step 4 for Feather Radius. Click OK.
With the Base layer still chosen, select Layer, New, Layer via Copy. Name the new layer Block. Then set its blend mode to Difference. Now your letters have a glowing rim and a second tier of glow on the inside.
| 6. | View the Result
When you're satisfied with the image, save the PSD file. Then merge the layers together and resave the result in JPEG or TIFF format, leaving your PSD image unflattened so that you can return at a later time and make different adjustments if you want.
Although it's nice to have a handful of one-touch layer styles you can apply with ease to get a job done quickly, after you become familiar with the tools and techniques of the Editor, you'll find yourself wanting to experiment with methods that let you apply adaptations, nuances, and your own personal touch. I discovered the technique used here one day after experimenting with the effects of blend modes on blurs, and realizing that you can create blurs that compound or reduce the effect of other blurs. One of my favorite twists on this technique is to pick one letter and eliminate the selection for that letter before creating the Shimmer layer, thus making it look like the lights have burned out on one of the letters.
|
|
