Knock Out Text Effect In Photoshop

Knock Out Text Effect In Photoshop

In this Photoshop text effects tutorial, we're going to create some knock out text. Past that, I mean we're going to expect at how to utilize i of Photoshop'southward more interesting shape options to knock out sections of letters that overlap each other! Of course, you can't use shape options unless yous're working with shapes, so along the mode, nosotros'll encounter how to convert text to a shape, which opens up a lot more possibilities for u.s. when it comes to creating absurd text effects.

Here's an case of the result nosotros're going for:

The final knock out text effect in Photoshop. Image © 2009 Photoshop Essentials.com.

The terminal "knock out" text effect.

Let's become started!

Pace i: Create A New Blank Document

First, create a new Photoshop certificate, either by going up to the File menu at the summit of the screen and choosing New or past pressing the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+North (Win) / Command+North (Mac). Either way brings up Photoshop'southward New Certificate dialog box. Enter the dimensions y'all need for your document. For this tutorial, if y'all want to follow along, I'll enter 4 inches for my Width, two inches for my Height, and a Resolution value of 300 pixels/inch. I'll also set up my Background Contents to White which will fill the background of my new document with white. When you're done, click OK in the top right corner of the dialog box to exit out of it. Your new certificate volition appear on your screen:

The New Document dialog box in Photoshop. Image © 2009 Photoshop Essentials.com.

Create a new Photoshop document using the New Document dialog box.

Step 2: Select The Blazon Tool

With our new document created, we can brainstorm working on our effect. Since this is a text effect, we'll need some text, and for that, nosotros'll need Photoshop Type Tool. Grab it from the Tools palette, or only press the letter T on your keyboard to select information technology with the shortcut:

The Type Tool in Photoshop. Image © 2009 Photoshop Essentials.com.

Select the Type Tool.

Step 3: Select A Font

With the Type Tool selected, the Options Bar at the meridian of the screen changes to bear witness options specifically for the Type Tool. Over on the left of the Options Bar is where we tin can choose a font. Select the font you want to use for your result. Your choice of fonts will depend on which fonts you currently have installed on your computer. This effect works all-time with fonts that have big, thick letters, so I'thou going to choose Cooper Std. Don't worry about the size of the font for now:

Selecting a font from the Options Bar in Photoshop. Image © 2009 Photoshop Essentials.com.

Select a font from the Options Bar.

Step 4: Select A Color For The Text

Next, nosotros need to select a colour for our text. If you move farther to the right in the Options Bar, y'all'll find a colour swatch. This color swatch shows you the currently selected text color. To change the colour of your text, but click straight on the color swatch:

The color swatch showing the current text color in Photoshop. Image © 2009 Photoshop Essentials.com.

The color swatch shows the current text colour. Click on the colour swatch to modify the color.

This brings up Photoshop'due south Color Picker. Choose a color for your text. I'm going to choose a medium shade of blue. When you're done, click OK to exit out of the Color Picker, and you'll see that the color swatch in the Options Bar has changed the prove the color you've chosen:

The Color Picker in Photoshop. Image © 2009 Photoshop Essentials.com.

Choose a color for your text from the Colour Picker.

Pace 5: Add Your Text

With the Blazon Tool, a font and a color for the text all selected, click within your document and add your text. I'one thousand going to type the give-and-take "PHOTOSHOP", all in capital letters:

The Color Picker in Photoshop. Image © 2009 Photoshop Essentials.com.

Add together your text to the document.

In one case you've added your text, click on the checkmark in the Options Bar to accept information technology and get out out of text editing mode.

Clicking the checkmark to accept the text in Photoshop. Image © 2009 Photoshop Essentials.com.

Click on the checkmark in the Options Bar to take the text.

Pace 6: Resize The Text If Needed With Complimentary Transform

If y'all need to resize or move your text, or both, go upward to the Edit card at the top of the screen and choose Gratis Transform, or for a faster fashion to admission the Free Transform control, press Ctrl+T (Win) / Control+T (Mac):

Selecting the Free Transform command in Photoshop. Image © 2009 Photoshop Essentials.com.

Go to Edit > Free Transform.

You'll see the Free Transform box and handles appear around your text in the document. To resize the text, hold down your Shift primal, which volition constrain the aspect ratio of the text every bit you resize it, then click on any of the corner handles (the little squares) and elevate the handle inward or outward depending on whether you need to make the text larger or smaller. To move the text, click anywhere inside the Costless Transform box and drag the text to a new location. I'm going to make my text a little bigger past dragging the handle in the bottom right corner outward:

Resizing text with Free Transform in Photoshop. Image © 2009 Photoshop Essentials.com.

Resize and motion the text if needed with Gratuitous Transform.

Printing Enter (Win) / Return (Mac) when you lot're done to have the transformation and exit out of the Free Transform command.

Step vii: Catechumen The Text To A Shape

Make sure you have everything spelled correctly because at this point, we demand to catechumen our text into a shape. Once it'southward converted to a shape, the text will no longer be editable, so double bank check to make sure you haven't fabricated any mistakes. To catechumen the text to a shape, get up to the Layer carte at the meridian of the screen, choose Blazon, and and so choose Convert to Shape:

Converting the text to a shape in Photoshop. Image © 2009 Photoshop Essentials.com.

Go to Layer > Blazon > Catechumen to Shape.

If we wait in the Layers palette now, we can see that our text layer has become a shape layer. Even though the text still looks like, well, text in the document, the letters are at present individual shapes, which ways we can at present piece of work with them the same mode we could work with any other shape in Photoshop:

The Layers palette showing the new Shape layer. Image © 2009 Photoshop Essentials.com.

The text now appears equally a Shape layer in the Layers palette.

Stride 8: Select The Path Choice Tool

Nosotros demand to select all of our letters (shapes) at once. Yous may recollect we could use the Rectangular Marquee Tool, merely since we're working with shapes, nosotros'll actually need a different selection tool - the Path Choice Tool. Grab it from the Tools palette or printing the letter of the alphabet A on your keyboard to select information technology with the shortcut:

The Path Selection Tool in Photoshop. Image © 2009 Photoshop Essentials.com.

Select the Path Selection Tool.

Step ix: Drag A Selection Around The Entire Word

To select all the letters at once, simply click and drag out a pick box around the entire word, simply like y'all would if y'all were using the Rectangular Marquee Tool. You'll see a thin dotted outline appearing as you lot drag:

Dragging a selection around the word with the Path Selection Tool. Image © 2009 Photoshop Essentials.com.

Drag a choice around the entire give-and-take with the Path Pick Tool.

In one case yous have the entire word surrounded by the selection, release your mouse button. The rectangular selection outline will disappear, and you'll see that each private letter of the alphabet at present has an outline around it, with petty squares (chosen anchor points) sitting at different spots effectually the messages:

The letter shapes are now selected. Image © 2009 Photoshop Essentials.com.

All of the letters (shapes) are at present selected.

If yous want to learn more than about working with paths and anchor points in Photoshop, I encompass them in item in our pop Making Selections With The Pen Tool tutorial which y'all'll find in the Photoshop Basics section of the website.

Step 10: Select The "Exclude Overlapping Shape Areas" Option

With all of our letter shapes now selected, go upwardly to the Options Bar at the elevation of the screen. On the left, you'll encounter a serial of four icons, each one showing a unlike combination of squares. These icons correspond different options for how our shapes tin collaborate with each other. The one we want for this effect is the one on the far right - the Exclude overlapping shape areas option. Click on the icon to select it. If yous have Tool Tips enabled in Photoshop'south Preferences, you'll encounter the name of the option appear when y'all hover over the icon:

Selecting the 'Exclude overlapping shape areas' option in Photoshop. Image © 2009 Photoshop Essentials.com.

Select the "Exclude overlapping shape areas" option in the Options Bar.

Pace xi: Deselect The Letters

In a moment, we're going to drag the individual letters over elevation of each other so that the shapes will overlap. The pick we simply selected in the Options Bar will cause the overlapping areas to disappear. Earlier we can do that though, nosotros first need to deselect the letters, otherwise if we try to drag whatever ane of them, we'll end up dragging all of them at the aforementioned time. To deselect the letters, but click on any bare area in the document. You'll see all the ballast points disappear from around the letters, telling u.s.a. that the shapes are no longer selected. You may still see an outline around the letters, but don't worry virtually information technology for now. We'll remove it when we're done:

The letter shapes are no longer selected. Image © 2009 Photoshop Essentials.com.

Click on any blank surface area of the document to deselect the letter shapes.

Footstep 12: Drag The Letters Together Then They're Overlapping

This is the fun office. With the Path Selection Tool yet selected, click on the second letter in the give-and-take and drag information technology towards the left until part of the alphabetic character is overlapping the first letter in the word. Like magic, the surface area that overlaps disappears from view:

Overlapping the letter shapes. Image © 2009 Photoshop Essentials.com.

The area that overlaps betwixt the 2 letter shapes disappears.

Continue dragging each alphabetic character towards the left until part of it overlaps the previous letter of the alphabet. For added diverseness, endeavor rotating some of the letters with the Complimentary Transform command. Simply click on the letter of the alphabet with the Path Pick Tool to select, and then press Ctrl+T (Win) / Command+T (Mac) to chop-chop bring up the Free Transform box and handles effectually the letter of the alphabet. Move your cursor anywhere outside of the Free Transform box, then click and drag to rotate the letter of the alphabet. Here, I'm rotating the letter T towards the left.

Overlapping the letter shapes. Image © 2009 Photoshop Essentials.com.

The surface area that overlaps between the two letter of the alphabet shapes disappears.

When you're done rotating the letter, press Enter (Win) / Return (Mac) to accept the transformation. Continue overlapping each letter until yous reach the end of the word. Your final result should look something similar this:

All the letter shapes now overlap each other. Image © 2009 Photoshop Essentials.com.

All of the messages in the word are now overlapping each other.

Step 13: Deselect The Vector Mask To Remove The Outline From Around The Text

The outline that's actualization around the text is making things look rather harsh, and then allow's go rid of it and make clean things up. The reason the outline is visible is considering nosotros currently have the vector mask selected on the shape layer. If we look at the shape layer in the Layers palette, nosotros can meet that it contains a couple of thumbnails. The thumbnail on the correct is the vector mask thumbnail, which, every bit you tin can come across by looking at it, contains the shapes of our letters. If you look closely, you'll come across a white highlight border effectually the thumbnail. This ways that we currently have the vector mask selected. Click direct on the thumbnail to deselect information technology:

The vector mask thumbnail on the shape layer in Photoshop. Image © 2009 Photoshop Essentials.com.

Click on the vector mask thumbnail to deselect the vector mask and remove the outline from around the text.

The highlight border will disappear from around the thumbnail in the Layers palette, and the outline volition disappear from effectually our text, assuasive us to see what our final effect really looks like:

The final knock out text effect in Photoshop. Image © 2009 Photoshop Essentials.com.

The last "knock out" text consequence.

To add fifty-fifty more involvement to the effect, experiment with layer styles. For example, here'southward the result I came upwardly with by applying the same layer styles that I used in the Fun, Easy Gel Text Event tutorial, which y'all'll discover listed with the residue of our Text Furnishings tutorials:

The final knock out text effect in Photoshop. Image © 2009 Photoshop Essentials.com.

The same effect subsequently experimenting with layer styles.

Where to get next...

And in that location we have it! Bank check out our Text Effects or Photo Effects sections for more Photoshop effects tutorials!