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Smoother Fades in Photoshop by Denise Bayers
Ever airbrush a fade inside text only to discover that some of the definition of the edge has been lost due to the unwanted addition of pixels? Try this Photoshop trick for maintaining crisp, sharp edges. |
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1.
Type your text
Choose a font and kern it properly. If you wish to arc the
text it's best to do that now along with any other alterations
you wish to make (ie. stretching, condensing etc.). Choose
a color. Create a great color by going to Image > Adjustments
> Hue/Saturation.
Keep in mind you're going to be adding a contrasting color
later so it's best to choose a light or dark shade - no middletones.
Rasterize the text by right clicking on the text layer and
choose rasterize layer.
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2.
Duplicate the layer
Right click on the rasterized layer and choose Duplicate
Layer. Now you have an exact duplicate copy of the rasterized
layer which has been placed directly on top of the first layer.
The new layer has the word copy after the name so that
you can distinguish between the two.
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3.
Add another color
Go to Image
> Adjustments
> Hue/Saturation. Play around with the hue slider until
you find a color that contrasts well with the first color
you chose. If your first color was light, it's best to choose
a dark color now and vice versa.
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4.
Erase
Make sure you are on the layer that has copy on it.
With the eraser tool and a medium, soft edged brush, begin
at the right and erase about a fourth of the layer (the last
letters in the word) to reveal the color underneath. Bring
down the opacity of the eraser to about 24% and continue to
"lightly" erase the layer in the middle of the word
using horizontal strokes. Remember you're going for a smooth
fade look so erase less as you move to the left stopping when
you get about a fourth of the way from the beginning of the
word. Now you should have a nice gradient between the two colors.
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5.
Giving
some depth to the word
Let's add a black outline so the word really stands out. Select
the letters by holding the Ctrl key and selecting the
original layer (not the copy). When you've got all the the
text selected (you'll see a flashing line around each letter)
go to Select > Modify > Expand and Expand By:3,
and click ok.
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6.
Adding
black around the letters
With your selection still visible, create a new layer (From
the flyout menu -- new layer) and position this layer
below the colored layers. On the newly created layer, fill
in the selected area with black. To do this go to: Edit
> Fill > Black. Now the word stands out making
it much easier to read.
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7.
Adding a drop shadow
Now
let's add some depth so the word isn't just a bunch of letters
stuck on the page.
Right click on your black layer and duplicate it. Place
it below the outline and change the opacity of the layer
to about 27%. Now give the right arrow on your keyboard
a few taps and do the same to the down arrow. Look! There's
a shadow behind the word! The shadow adds depth causing
the letters to look as though the're hovering over the page.
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