How to create 3d effect text in photoshop

Final Preview:

We have seen so many tutorials on the web which uses the 3D text for creating awesome typographic images. Well, those 3D text are usually created using a 3D program like 3DSMax, Xara 3D, Cinema 4D and so on.

But, what if you don’t have such high profile 3D tools. Especially, if you are not a hard core CG Artist, you wouldn’t be needing these stuff. If your aim is to create simple 3dText, you can easily achieve it in Photoshop itself.

In this tutorial, we will learn exactly how to achieve such a 3D effect. We will also be experimenting with the reflection which is very important and gives the 3D text an added realism. You can actually use this simple technique to create trendy realistic logos and icons. Lets get started!

Step 1:
Open Photoshop and create a new file with dimensions 1280 x 800px and type in your text. I used the Font AVENGER, pretty awesome font actually. It can be downloaded for free here at DAFONT. I used the color #14b2d9.

Step 2:
Rasterize the Text and Using the Transform Tool(CTRL + T), change the perspective of the text to something similar to as shown below.

Quick Tip: Press CTRL + T, and Hold CTRL + ALT + SHIFT and resize the text to change perspective.

Step 3:
Now comes the important part, Click on the Text Layer and by pressing CTRL + ALT, press UP key 8-10 times to create the 3D layer. This duplicates the subsequent layers and moves them up at every pressing of the UP key.

Step 4:
Now, we need to name the Top most layer as ‘TOP’ and merge all the other layers and place it below the TOP layer. Rename this as ‘BOTTOM’ Now, double click on the ‘BOTTOM’ layer and apply Gradient overlay with settings as shown below:

Apply a REFLECTED Gradient with the darker blue appearing at the extreme ends of the ‘BOTTOM’ Layer. This will give it the shadow effect, already Use the image below for reference.

Step 5:
Now, we need to make the ‘TOP’ layer look more prominent. So, Press CTRL + ALT + Down key 3 times to duplicate the ‘TOP’ Layer and merge these layers and rename it ‘MIDDLE’. Place the layer below the ‘TOP’ layer but above the ‘BOTTOM’ layer and apply the following Layer Style —

COLOR OVERLAY – White with opacity around 20 – 30%

Step 6:
Now, the edges seem quite unrealistic. So, we will add some vertical separators at the corners of every letter. Follow the guidelines below to achieve this effect :

1. Create a New layer above the ‘BOTTOM’ layer and name it ‘edges’
2. Choose a brush with 1px as radius and 100% hardness.
3. Draw straight lines at the corners as shown below.

Quick Tip : Click on the top edge and holding SHIFT, click on the bottom edge to create perfectly straight lines as shown below:

Now, Set the opacity of the layer to around 10%

Our image at this point of time, must look something similar to what is shown below:

Step 7:
Now we need to add some lighting effect to the Text. This can be achieved by darkening some of the places in the ‘BOTTOM’ Layer. So, Create a new layer and name it ‘Lighting’ and place it above the ‘BOTTOM’ Layer and using a soft brush of around 30 px, create some brush strokes as shown below:

Step 8:
Set the blending mode of this layer to OVERLAY and reduce the opacity to around 10%. At this point, it is suggested to experiment with the opacity values to bring the desired level of realism. The image should be looking like this :

Step 9:
From now on, it gets really interesting as we will be adding more depth and realism. Create a new layer above the ‘Background’ Layer and add a light blue to light gray gradient as shown below:

Step 10:
Using the Free Transform Tool(CTRL + T), change the perspective of the gradient layer to match the perspective of the Text. Use the image below for reference.

Step 11:
Now, Scale the gradient layer such that it covers the entire document. This will give us a nice background to work with and add a reflection.

Now, Duplicate both the ‘TOP’ layer and the ‘BOTTOM’ layer and merge them and place this new layer below the ‘BOTTOM’ Layer and rename it ‘REFLECTION’.

Step 12:
Now comes the most important step. Reduce the opacity of this ‘REFLECTION’ layer to around 20% and follow the steps described in the image below:

This is to make sure the reflection looks realistic. As this is in the perspective view, its tough add a Gradient mask.

Step 13:
Now, Duplicate just the ‘TOP’ layer and apply a COLOR OVERLAY of Black and place it above the ‘REFLECTION’ Layer and rename this as ‘SHADOW’

Step 14:
Apply a Gaussian blur of 2.3 pixels.

Step 15:
Whoa! Looks stunning… doesn’t it. That’s all Folks. We have successfully created a Super Cool 3D text in Photoshop. Click on the image below for a larger view.

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