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Creating
the title text |
The image we
are going to work with this time looks like this:
Open a
new work space and make it approximately 450x250 pixels
Choose
the text tool and
click in the work space (preferably in the top half)
In the
text box type in MY TITLE (or whatever you'd like)
Select
the text and choose a big font (I've used Columbo here). Set the font
size to 50 pts.
Click OK
Then it is
time to use those layer effects again. In the image above they're
already applied and I
have used the
same as with the first title image. With one exception: No shadow! If
you don't
remember how
to apply the layer effects or if you have forgotten the settings
click here! |
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Creating
another text layer |
The next step
is to do the first one all over again (i.e. to create an identical
text layer except for
the layer effects). |
Option |
Another way of
doing this is to duplicate the first text layer, but this
must be done before
applying the layer effects! |
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The only real
difference is that on this text we will use the colour gray instead
of green (or
whatever
colour you chose to use). When done you will see this:
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Creating
the shadow effect |
This step is
to make the second text look more like a shadow. Imagine the light
coming from
above and
slightly behind and from the left of the title. Needless to say some
changes has to be
done.
The first
thing to do is to make the text reversed (as seen in a mirror). Make
sure the second text
layer (the one
with gray text) is active (i.e. selected)
On the Edit
menu choose Reshape
and then choose Flip vertically
When
the text is reversed choose the Move
tool and move text as close to the other (green)
text as you can
If you
succeeded the result will look like this
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Adjusting
the shadow |
Remember I
said the light was coming from above, slightly behind and from the
left of the text?
Well, then we
will have to slant the text. Make sure the right layer is active and
do as follows:
On the Edit
menu choose Reshape
and then choose Warp
from the submenu.
You will now
see a rectangular box, with eight anchor points, around the text.
Like this:
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As you can see
the box also has a center point. This can be moved around to enable
other ways
of slanting
the object. Now do like this:
Place
you mouse cursor over the mid anchor point (handle) in the bottom
line of the box. The
cursor change
shape to a smaller arrow with two small arrows.
Hold
down the left mouse button and pull the mid anchor point gently to
the right. The text gets
slanted to the right.
Pull
until the mid anchor point is slightly passed the I in the text.
Measure from the green text.
When done
release the mouse button. The image should now look like this:
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Making the
shadow look better |
To make look
even more like a real shadow we have to blur the gray text. This is
done by using
one of the
many filters that came with Photoshop. However, if you go to the
Filter menu you will
find that all
filters are inaccessible (grayed out). This is because you can't
apply filters on text
layers. We
will have to render the layer.
Make
sure the right layer is active and go to the Layer menu
Choose Text
and then choose Render layer
from the submenu
Now the text
layer becomes an ordinary layer, and all the filters are accessible.
Here is what to
do next:
On the Filter
menu choose Blur
and then choose Gaussian blur
from the submenu
A small dialog
box pops up. Here you can specify how much blur you want. If the Preview
checkbox is
checked you can see how the text get more and more blur as you pull
the slider.
Settle
for 1 pixel of blur (or more if you want) and click OK
Now the image
will look like this:
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The final adjustment |
The final
step. The shadow is falling the right way but it is still a bit too
long. So we have to adjust
it. This is
how to do that:
On the Edit
menu choose Reshape
and then choose Distort
from the submenu
The same box
as when you slanted the text appears
Place
your cursor on the bottom mid handle, hold down the left mouse button
and push gently
towards the
green text
When the
shadow is adjusted to your liking release the mouse button. Now the
image will look like this:
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That's it! Of
course, if you want a darker shadow just choose black colour, or a
darker shade of
gray, for the text. |
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