Hey, i know there are many text effect tutorials here in PsAwesome, but still i’m coming up with new TFX ideas. In this Awesome^★ Photoshop tutorial, i’m going to show you how to create a cool Stone Text Inside Water. But you can also use these techniques to create pretty cool textures. Have fun.

Here is the Final Image
Before we start lets see the final image we’ll create through out this tutorial. You can download the layered PSD document here.

Before You Start | Tutorial Details:

Software Used: Adobe Photoshop
Tutorial Time:
Difficulty Level: ★★★★★

Files to Download:

No files needed

Create a New Document
Lets start by creating a new document which is 1450 x 650 pixels at a resolution of 300 pixels/inch, make sure Color Mode is set to RGB.

Render The Clouds
Create a new layer and name it "Clouds". Hit "D" on the keyboard to set to Default colors of Black and White. Go to Filter > Render > Clouds. Then apply a Gradient Overlay Layer Style using these settings: Blend Mode => Screen, Opacity => 90%, Gradient => Black, White, Reverse => Checked, tyle => Reflected, Angle => 90 and Scale => 125%.

Create the Text
Now get the Type Tool and type some text. I set Font to Futura Md BT, set Style to Bold, set Font Size to 125pt, Tracking to -50 and Text Color to #646464. Then apply a Drop Shadow Later Style and use these settings: Blend Mode => Normal, Color => #646464, Opacity => 75%, Distance => 0, Spread => 30%, Size => 60px. Now apply an Inner Shadow Layer Style using these settings: Blend Mode => Multiply, Color => Black, Opacity => 100%, Distance => 0, Choke => 0, Size => 95px.

Organize Layers
Selecet both text layer and the "CLouds" layer and merge them by hitting Command + E (Ctrl + E for windows). Rename the layer "Stones". Duplicate it and name the duplicate "Water" and make "Water" layer invsible for now.

The Filter Gallery
Hit X on the keyboard to switch Foreground and Bacground colors. Foreground should be White and the Background should be Black. Now select the "Stones" layer in the Layers Panel. Go to Filter > Filter Gallery. The Filter Gallery provides a preview of many of the special effects filters. You can apply multiple filters, turn on or off the effect of a filter, reset options for a filter, and change the order in which filters are applied. When you are satisfied with the preview, you can then apply it to your image (learn more at Adobe’s Site). First select Stained Glass which is under Texture, use these settings: Cell Size => 11, Border Thickness => 4 and Light Intensity => 0. Then click the New Effect Layer button and select Photocopy filter under Sketch and use these settings: Detail => 14, Darkness => 2. Create another new Effect Layer and pick Craquelure which is under Texture and use these settings: Crack Spacing => 23, Crack Depth => 1 and Crack Brightness => 0 and hit OK.

The water
As you may have noticed, after aplying our filters, the lighter pixels in our image became deep, darker pixels became high. Now we want some water in the deep areas and this is how we’ll do it: Go back to the "Water" layer, make it visible. Go to Filter > Texture > Stained Glass and use these settings: Cell Size => 11, Border Thickness => 4 and Light Intensity => 0.

Select the Deep Areas
Hit Command+L to bring up the Levels Dialog, set Shadow Input Level to 145, Highlight Input Level to 215. Go to Fİlter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and apply with a Radius of 25 pixels. Hit Command+L once again, drag the Shadow Input Level Slider to the starting point of the histogram as in the below image.

Select the Deep Areas
Now hit Command+A to select all, hit Command+C to copy. Go to Channels Panel, create a new channel and hit Command+V to paste. Then Command-click the Channel Thumbnail to select the white pixels.

Create the Water
Go back to Layers Panel and create a new layer on top, name it "Water Mask". Fill the selection with any color and set Layer Opacity to 60%..

Create the Water
Create a new layer on top and name it "Water". Set Foreground Color toWhite and Background Color to Black. Fill the layer with Foreground Color and go to Filter > Render > Clouds. Then Go to Filter > Render > Difference Clouds. Now Go to Filter > Sketch > Chrome, set Detail to 8 and Smoothness to 10 and apply.

Create the Water
Hit Command+U to bring up the Hue/Saturation dialog. Check Colorize, Set Hue to 200, Saturation to 30 and Lightness to 40. Alt-click the line between "Water" and "Water Mask" layers to mask the water. Then apply an Inner Glow Layer Style to the "Water" layer and use these settings: Blend Mode => Multiply, Opacity => 90%, Color => #124477, Size => 250.

Congratulations
This is my final image, Hope you enjoyed this tutorial and had fun making it.

Another Example
As i said you can use this technique to create more cool stuff other then text. Also keep in mind that if you’re not gonna use the water part, you can always make your effect editable using Smart Objects. You can see the Create an Editable On Screen Text Effect using Smart Objects tutorial for details.

Go to PsAwesome home page and see other Awesome^★ Tutorials.