Grunge Text Tutorial

[d_palapuz]

TITLE: GRUNGE TEXT TUTORIAL
DESCRIPTION: A VERY FUN EFFECT TO CREATE JUST BY MORPHING A PHOTO INTO A GRUNGY TEXTURE THROUGH THRESHOLD WHICH WILL BE PLACED ON TOP OF ANY TEXT. LIKE THEY DO IT IN THE MOVIES POSTERS!
DIFFICULTY: EASY BUT CAN BE TRICKY
REQUIRED PROGRAMS: ADOBE PHOTOSHOP 7 OR HIGHER (CS, CS2, CS3, CS4)


INSTRUCTIONS:


STEP ONE
OPEN A NEW DOCUMENT. YOU CAN PICK ANY SIZE YOU WANT, I USED 500px by 300px AND LEAVE THE BACKGROUND CONTENT AS TRANSPARENT .
IN THE TOOLBOX, SET THE FOREGROUND COLOR TO ANY COLOR OF YOUR CHOICE. FOR THIS TUTORIAL I WILL USE BLUE (#1062f8).




STEP TWO
PRESS "T" TO SELECT THE TYPE TOOL AND START TYPING IN A LARGE, THICK FONT.
I USED IMPACT AS THE FONT. I WILL TYPE "FNETS! ROCKS", BUT YOU CAN TYPE WHATEVER YOU WANT HERE.
I'M JUST USING THAT AS AN EXAMPLE TO THIS TUTORIAL.




STEP THREE
OPEN THE SOON TO BE A GRUNGY TEXTURE PHOTO. I USED THIS PICTURE OR LOGS
BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT WOULD GIVE A GREAT EFFECT AFTER PUTTING IT ON THRESHOLD.




STEP FOUR
GO TO THE IMAGE MENU >>> ADJUSTMENTS >>> THRESHOLD. YOUR IMAGE SHOULD NOW BE BLACK AND WHITE.
DRAG THE SLIDER ALMOST ALL THE WAY TO THE LEFT AND CLICK OK. THE BLACK BITS REMAINING ON THE SCREEN WILL BECOME THE GRUNGY TEXTURE.
NOTE: EXPERIMENT WITH THE THRESHOLD SLIDER, THOUGH BEAR IN MIND THAT CREATING TOO MUCH GRUNGE WILL RENDER THE TEXT UNREADABLE.




STEP FIVE
TO CREATE A SELECTION AROUND THE NEW BLACK TEXTURE BITS, WE WILL USE THE MAGIC WAND TOOL
WHICH IS MADE FOR SELECTING COLOR. PRESS "W" TO SELECT THE MAGIC WAND TOOL AND CLICK INSIDE ONE OF THE
BLACK AREAS OF THE PHOTO. YOU SHOULD NOW SEE THAT ONE PARTICULAR BLACK SPOT IS SELECTED
(YOU'LL KNOW THIS WHEN YOU SEE THE TINY MARCHING ANTS AROUND THE OBJECT). NOW, WE ARE GOING TO SELECT THE
REST OF THE TEXTURE BITS. RIGHT-CLICK INSIDE THE SELECTION AREA AND CHOOSE SIMILAR FROM THE CONTEXTUAL MENU.




STEP SIX
USE THE MOVE TOOL (V) AND DRAG THE TEXTURE SELECTION INTO THE TYPE DOCUMENT.
YOU'LL NOTICE THAT IT WILL DUTIFULLY CREATE A NEW LAYER UPON WHICH THE TEXTURE SHALL LIVE.
TO DESELECT THE TEXTURE, PRESS CTRL + D ON THE KEYBOARD.


STEP SEVEN
WHILE THE MOVE TOOL IS STILL SELECTED, USE IT TO POSITION THE TEXTURE WHEREVER YOU'D LIKE.
THIS IS HOW MINE LOOKS LIKE:




STEP EIGHT
AT THIS POINT, YOU CAN RESIZE THE TEXTURE BY PRESSING CTRL + T TO BRING UP THE FREE TRANSFORM TOOL.
THIS WILL COME IN HANDY IF YOU WANT TO RESIZE THE TEXTURE. BUT WE'RE NOT GOING TO DO THAT HERE BECAUSE OUR
DOCUMENT'S SIZE IS ALMOST THE SAME AS THE TEXTURE PHOTO.


STEP NINE
FILL THE TEXTURE WITH ANOTHER COLOR TO MATCH THE DESIRED BACKGROUND COLOR.
JUST CTRL + CLICK THE TEXTURE LAYER TO SELECT IT, THEN GO TO THE EDIT MENU >>> FILL
AND CHOOSE A COLOR FROM THE POP-UP MENU. BUT I IGNORED THIS BECAUSE I WANTED THE GRUNGE TO STAY BLACK FOR THE NEXT STEP.


STEP TEN
FOR DRAMATIC EFFECT, I CREATED A NEW LAYER AND FILLED IT WITH BLACK
BECAUSE I WANTED THIS AND THE GRUNGE TEXTURE TO HAVE THE SAME COLOR.




STEP ELEVEN
AS YOU CAN SEE, THE BLACK SPOTS TEXTURE ARE VISIBLE. TO GET RID OF THOSE VISIBLE EDGES,
CTRL + CLICK ON THE TEXTURE LAYER ON THE LAYERS PALETTE, NOW PRESS CTRL + SHIFT + I OR SELECT INVERSE,
AND PRESS DELETE. NOW DESELECT IT BY PRESSING CTRL + D.

HERE'S THE FINAL IMAGE. YOU SHOULD NOTICE THAT THE EDGES ARE NOT VISIBLE ANYMORE:




THAT'S ALL THERE IS TO IT, EVERYONE! THANKS FOR VIEWING!
I HOPE THAT THIS TUTORIAL WILL PROVIDE INSPIRATION TO YOU FOR CREATING SOME GRUNGY TEXT
OF YOUR OWN IN THE FUTURE! MAY THE FORCE OF CREATIVITY BE WITH YOU!