Photoshop Tutorials Blog » 3D Effects

Create Realistic 3D Text

Michael — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 03:03:00 +0000

Author: Alvaro Guzman

Learn how to create a realistic 3D text scene using Photoshop with a little help from Illustrator for the 3D text.

Create Retro Style Text with Cinema4d and Photoshop

Michael — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:24:51 +0000

In this tutorial Sebastiano explains how to easily create 3D text and merge it into a retro-style scene. He uses Illustrator for the text, Cinema4D to make the text 3D and then Photoshop for all of the remaining steps.

View the Tutorial

3D Text Blocks

psdlover — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:24:07 +0000

Author: Eren Goksel

“In this CS4 Extended tutorial, we learn how to create a 3D Blocks text effect. This will be fun and Erin is sure you will be able to do lots of cool things using this technique. Let’s get started!”

View the tutorial

Create Planet Earth in 3D

psdlover — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 23:00:14 +0000

Author: Eren Goksel

“In this tutorial Eren shows us how to create a shiny planet icon using the 3D features of Photoshop CS3 Extended or CS4 Extended. This will cover basic information about 3D layers and texture maps. Let’s get started!”

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Colorful 3D text

psdlover — Tue, 12 May 2009 09:59:53 +0000

In this tutorial you will learn how to create this colorful 3D text effect:

3D text Tutorial

Step 1

Create a blank document, size depends on the size of your text.

Type your text with every new letter on a new layer.

This is what your layer paletter should look like:

Step 2

Give your text some color and align it to your liking.

The colors that are used here are:

#bd64fa

#a8ed76

and

#fc9713

Step 3

Hit CTRL+T at every layer and rotate the letters a bit so it looks something like this:

Step 4

Right click your first text layer and choose Rasterize.

Select your 2d text layer and hit CTRL-E to merge it into the first layer.

Repeat until you only have one text layer (+background) left.

Now add a gradient for the background.

Step 5

With your text layer selected hold down ALT and press down and then left about 4 or 5 times.

It’ll look like this now:

Step 6

This is your layers palette right now:

Again, merge down until you are left with only two text layers:

Move your original text layer to the top:

Step 7

Select your copy text layer, hit CTRL-U and set it to something like this:

Merge the two text layers.

Apply this Drop Shadow to your text layer:

That’s it, there’s your colorful 3D text:

NOTE : ALL CREDITS FOR THE ORIGINAL TUTORIAL MAKER

Create a 3D Flowery Text Effect.

psdlover — Tue, 12 May 2009 09:34:59 +0000

In this tutorial we are going to make a 3D text with flowers.

We need Adobe Illustrator and Brushes for making this text effect.

		Preparations: In this tutorial, we will need the beautiful Suddenly Spring brushes designed by GValkyrie. Download the Suddenly Spring brushes here. All rights of these resources belong to their respective owners.

		Step 1 – Setting Up Background: Create a document of size 750×550 pixels. Set the foreground color to #004B64 and background to #000000. Using the Radial Gradient tool, drag a circular gradient from the top downwards.

		Step 2a – Create a 3D Text: Open up Adobe Illustrator. Set the Fill to be #FFFFFF and type in your first letter with a bold font. I am using Helvetica 75 Bold. Draw a black layer below the white letter so it is visible.

		Step 2b – Create a 3D Text: Select the letter and go to Effect > 3D > Extrude & Bevel. Fill in the settings shown on the left. Check on Preview so you are able to see the end results from the settings. Adjust the values if necessary.

		Step 2c – Create a 3D Text: Fill in the remaining of settings as shown on the left. Click OK once you are done.

		Step 2d – Create a 3D Text: Repeat Step 2a to 2c for the rest of your letters. Adjust the values in Step 2b to get the letters facing in different directions. Select the first letter and press on Ctrl+C to copy it.

		Step 2e – Create a 3D Text: Go back to Photoshop and press Ctrl+V to paste the first letter. Paste As prompt will appear. Choose Smart Object. Do the copying and pasting for rest of the letters.

		Step 3a – Apply Surface Gradient: Select Magic Wand and enter the settings shown on the left. Click on top surface of the first letter.

		Step 3b – Apply Surface Gradient: Click on Refine Edge. Fill in the settings as shown on the left.

		Step 3c – Apply Surface Gradient: Create a new layer above the first letter and name it as Surface. Fill the selection with #000000. Select the new layer and choose Blending Option. Activate Gradient Overlay set the colors to be #003146 and #B8EBFE. Set the Blend Mode to Normal, Opacity to 100%, Style to Linear, Angle to 90 and Scale to 100%.

		Step 3d – Apply Surface Gradient: Repeat Step 3a to 3c for the rest of letters. Try to use different colors of same theme in the gradient overlay, such as shades of green and cyan.

		Step 4a – Adding Flowery Swirls: Load Suddenly Spring brushes. Create another layer above Surface layer and name it as Floral. Set the foreground to #FFFFFF. Select one of the Suddenly Spring brushes and paint over the gradient. Set the Blend Mode of Floral layer to Overlay and opacity to 50%. Ctrl+left click on this layer to load its selection. Click on Layer Mask button.

		Step 4b – Adding Flowery Swirls: Repeat Step 4a for rest of the letters. Create new layers in between each letter to paint some black (#000000) shadows with Soft Brush tool. Mask these shadows the same way done for the Floral layers.

		Step 4c – Adding Flowery Swirls: Create a new layer below all the letters. Set the foreground color to #BEF7A8 and paint some flowers around the letters. Right-click on the layer and choose Blending Options. Activate Outer Glow and set the color to #FFFFFF. Leave the rest of settings as default.

		Step 4d – Adding Flowery Swirls: Repeat Step 4c to plant more flowers around the letters.

		Step 4e – Adding Flowery Swirls: Create a new layer below everything. Set the foreground color to #FFFFFF and paint a large flower. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and set the radius to 6px. Set the Blend Mode of this layer to Overlay.

		Step 5a – Glowing Stars: Create a new layer above everything and name it as Stars. Use Soft Brush tool with size 1px and color #FFFFFF, draw a big cross as shown in the diagram. Erase slightly on the 4 corners with big Soft Eraser. Select Soft Brush tool, set its opacity 20% and size to 30px. Paint a fade dot in the center of the cross.

		Step 5b – Glowing Stars: Right-click on the Stars layer and choose Blending Options. Choose Outer Glower and set the color to #FFFFFF. Leave the rest of the settings as default.

		Optional: You may repeat Step 5a and 5b for as many stars as you like with different sizes. I hope you have enjoyed the tutorial as much as I do. Thanks!

NOTE : ALL CREDITS FOR THE ORIGINAL TUTORIAL MAKER

Create A 3D Glossy Box Logo In Photoshop

psdlover — Tue, 12 May 2009 07:21:07 +0000

Step 1 – Creating the Background
Choosing colors for a background is important because it will influence how your image stands out. Since we are going to be creating a vibrant glossy box, let’s use a dark background. Create a new document, mine is 256×256px for the purpose of this tutorial. Set a dark gray, #363636, as your foreground color and black, #000000, as your background color.

Once you have your colors selected, grab your

http://www.tutorial9.net/photoshop/painting-tools/

and create a radial gradient near the center of your document as shown in the image below.

Since we want the box to appear as though it is on a surface and not floating in the air, we are going to add another gradient. On a new layer, make a selection about 90px tall from the bottom of your document (depends on the size of your document). Create a radial gradient closer to the left side and towards the top of the selection so that it looks like the one in the image below.

Step 2 – Creating the Box

Now that we have our background, we need to create our actual box. To begin, simply create a selection about 100×100px and fill it with a nice blue color, such as #0062b3.

Since we want our box to have some perspective, we are going to need to transform it by going to Edit > Transform > Perspective. Bring the top right and bottom right corners of the box towards the center of the side a small amount and complete your transformation.

Then go to Edit > Free Transform and drag the right side to the left a small amount, to compensate for the perspective that you applied. You want your box to look like a square, keeping in mind how perspective affects the way your eyes see an object.

Now that we have the right shape, let’s change the color. Grab your linear gradient tool and create a light blue (#0080c3) to dark blue (#004893) gradient from the bottom left to the top right of the box.

With the right side of the box complete, lets move on to the left side. Create a duplicate (Right click layer > Duplicate) of the right side of your box and flip it horizontally (Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal).

Then simply apply another perspective transformation (Edit > Transform > Perspective) of greater value, and drag the left side in even more. This will give the illusion that the left side of the box is viewable, but it is not the main side of the box. Depending on your tastes, you may want to create a new linear gradient for the left side to make it look a little more unique.

Notice that my box is near the center of the gradient for the surface we created. It also is low enough so that it appears that the entire bottom of the box is touching the surface. It is coming along great!

Step 3 – Creating the Gloss Effect
We have a great looking box already, but the style we are going for is glossy. We are going to accomplish this using a few different steps which can be difficult sometimes, so take your time here.

Lets start by applying a

CODE

http://www.tutorial9.net/photoshop/layer-styles-in-photoshop/

effect called Satin to both of our box layers. this is going to give the box a neat effect that looks great underneath the gloss. It will also make the edges a little brighter than the center of the box, which matches the effect that I wanted.

Reduced: 97% of original size [ 590 x 412 ] – Click to view full image

On a new layer, make a selection of your right box layer by Ctrl+Clicking on the thumbnail for the layer. Grab your linear gradient tool and change it to Foreground to Transparent, with white (#FFFFFF) as your foreground. Create a gradient from the bottom left to the top right of the selection. Once the gradient is created, lower the Opacity of the layer to around 20%.

Now grab your

CODE

http://www.tutorial9.net/photoshop/the-selection-tools/

and select part of the bottom of the gradient and delete it.

Repeat the process for the left box, making sure that the area of the gradient that you delete fits with the perspective of the box. I also lowered the opacity of the left gloss to around 10% or 15%.

Step 4 – Placing the Type
Choose a font type that you would like to use for your text, I chose Myriad Pro set to Bold and 60pt size.

Now, I want the text to fit along the same perspective of the box, but Photoshop doesn’t allow perspectives to be placed on text. To get around this, right click the text layer and go to Rasterize Type. This will change the text layer into a normal object layer. Now I can apply a perspective to it, and I will do the same things I did for the right box, bring the top right and bottom right sides in and move the right side to the left a little.

Then apply the following layer styles:

Gradient Overlay
#CCCCCC to #FFFFFF

Reduced: 97% of original size [ 590 x 412 ] – Click to view full image

Stroke

Reduced: 97% of original size [ 590 x 412 ] – Click to view full image

I’m going to place some extra text around my image and use Gradient Overlay effects to give them a unique look.

Step 5 – Creating the Reflection
Our image looks pretty good at this point and we could stop if we wanted to. However, this isn’t the effect I was going for. I really want my image to stand out with vibrant glows and colors, so let’s keep adding some effects.

Drag both of your box layers and both of the gloss layers into a new group (Layer > New > Group). Then duplicate that group (Right click layer > Duplicate). Go to Edit > Transform > Flip Vertical to flip the new layer group upside down.

Now we need to make the sides of the reflection touch the sides of the box, so shift+click the right box layer and the right gloss layer inside of your reflection group. Go to Edit > Transform > Skew and drag the right side of the layers up until they meet with the bottom of the box. Do the same for the left side of the box. Then lower the opacity of the group to around 50%.

Step 6 – Making the Box Glow
As of now, our box just looks like a blue colored box sitting on a reflective surface. I want to give the appearance that the box is glowing, so that it increases the dramatic look of the image.

Go back down to your table layer and make a new layer above it. Ctrl+click the thumbnail for your table layer to make a selection of it. Now grab a large soft brush, mine is around 300px, with a color to match your box, #196dad. Make a single brush mark that centers around your box.

Now create a layer underneath the table and make another brush mark to go over the background. Lower the opacity of the layer to around 50%.

Step 7 – Creating the Sky Lights
I’ve almost got the results I set out for. The box immediately grabs attention and has a nice glow to it, but it isn’t as vibrant as I want it to be. Adding some sky lights should help.

Create a new layer underneath your box group. Make a selection of the right box, and move the selection up about 30-50px. Make a white to transparent gradient in your selection and lower the opacity of the layer to 50%. Then apply a new gradient overlay:

Reduced: 97% of original size [ 590 x 412 ] – Click to view full image

Repeat the same process for the left box.

Finally, on a new layer, use a 5px brush with a nice light color, such as #54e0ff, and brush at the three viewable corners. Then use a larger soft brush, such as a 30px brush, and erase the tips to make them look more like sky lights.

Experiment and Expand
As always, try new things and different styles. You’d be amazed at what things you can come up with on accident. By adding a curves layer (Layer > New Adjustments Layer > Curves) I can make the box appear more vibrant.

Reduced: 96% of original size [ 600 x 260 ] – Click to view full image

NOTE : ALL CREDITS FOR THE ORIGINAL TUTORIAL MAKER