Tutorial: Make Airbrushed Text Effect

 

Ready to Learn? Good! Do you want to add a touch of retro vibes with an airbrush text? If so, follow along with this Adobe Photoshop airbrush text tutorial.

What You'll Learn in This Tutorial

• How to find and install fonts.
• How to set up a document for print media like shirts
• How to arrange text on a document 
• How to create an airbrush effect in Photoshop

Tutorial Assets

To get this project done, you'll need the following resources:

• KOEEYA
• Mister Dangerous

Document Setup

1

Open Photoshop, go to File > New, and create a new document. Change the Width to 6000px and Height to 6000px, resolution to 300ppi and CMYK color mode.

Add a new Solid Color layer and change the color to #c7c6c4.

Create the Background

Create a new layer above the Color Fill layer, and name it Airbrush Spray. Use a 1200px soft Brush, change the Foreground color to #744aa1, and make a curved path. Just something to fill it in a bit.

Change the Airbrush Spray layer to Dissolve and the Opacity to 45%.

Add a mask to the Airbrush Spray layer and mask away random areas of the path using the Brush Tool (B). Make sure the Foreground color is set to #000000.

Create and Arrange Text

Select the Type Tool (T) and type the letter "s". Use the Street Arts font and change the size to 600 pt. Select the Move Tool (V), and then go to Edit > Free Transform and rotate this text layer -10.5°.

Repeat this process for t, ', and r e e t. Rotate each character slightly. Change the font size of the letter "s" to 800 pt.

Create The Airbrush Effect

With each text layer and Right-Click > Convert to Smart Object. Let's add a blur: go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and change the Radius to 5 pixels.

Select the S layer and add some Layer Styles. Double-Click this layer from the Layers panel to bring up Layer Styles. Add a Bevel and Emboss effect, and use these settings:

• Style: Inner Bevel
• Technique: Smooth
• Depth: 270%
• Direction: Up
• Size: 42
• Soften: 14
• Angle: 90
• Altitude: 30
• Gloss Contour: Ring
• Highlight Mode: Screen, #8ac482, 33%
• Shadow Mode: Multiply, #000000, 0%

Check Contour in the left Layer Styles toolbar and use these settings:

• Contour: Rolling Slope - Descending
• Range: 25%

Add a Stroke effect using these settings:

• Size: 40px
• Position: Outside
• Blend Mode: Normal
• Opacity: 100%
• Fill Type: Color
• Color: #000000

Add these settings to Inner Shadow:

• Blend Mode: Multiply, #16a634
• Opacity: 100%
• Angle: 90
• Distance: 65%
• Choke: 0%
• Size: 199 px
• Contour: Cove Deep
• Noise: 60%

Add another Inner Shadow effect using these settings:

• Blend Mode: Screen, #64d4fe
• Opacity: 50%
• Angle: 40 
• Use Global Light: Unchecked
• Distance: 0%
• Choke: 23%
• Size: 16 px
• Contour: Cove Deep
• Noise: 64%

Add an Inner Glow effect using these settings:

• Blend Mode: Pin Light
• Opacity: 100%
• Noise: 0%
• Color: #c5e9fa
• Technique: Softer
• Source: Edge
• Choke: 0%
• Size: 45px
• Contour: Cone
• Range: 80%
• Jitter: 0%

Add a Satin Layer Style using these settings:

• Blend Mode: Multiply, #087d9a
• Opacity: 77%
• Angle: 90
• Distance: 121 px
• Size: 174 px
• Contour: Rolling Slope Descending

Add a Gradient Overlay using these settings:

• Blend Mode: Normal
• Opacity: 100%
• Gradient: #8bc9a8 - #059040
• Style: Linear
• Angle: -90
• Scale: 100%

Add an Outer Glow using these settings:

• Blend Mode: Normal
• Opacity: 100%
• Noise: 0%
• Color: #000000
• Technique: Softer
• Spread: 0%
• Size: 90px

Add a Drop Shadow Layer Style using these settings:

• Blend Mode: Normal, #000000
• Opacity: 100%
• Angle: 47
• Distance: 75 px
• Spread: 0%
• Size: 55px
• Contour: Linear
• Noise: 90%

Add another Drop Shadow Layer Style:

• Blend Mode: Normal, #000000
• Opacity: 100%
• Angle: -152
• Distance: 42 px
• Spread: 1%
• Size: 35 px
• Contour: Linear
• Noise: 61%

Add another Drop Shadow Layer Style:

• Blend Mode: Normal, #01236f
• Opacity: 100%
• Angle: 74
• Distance: 14 px
• Spread: 38%
• Size: 114 px
• Contour: Cone
• Noise: 13%

Add one more Drop Shadow Layer Style:

• Blend Mode: Normal, #01236f
• Opacity: 100%
• Angle: 46
• Distance: 46 px
• Spread: 38%
• Size: 84 px
• Contour: Cone
• Noise: 13%

Apply the effect to the rest and finish

Click OK. Copy this layer style: Right-Click > Copy Layer Style. Select the other text layers and Right-Click > Paste Layer Style.

Place the text layers in a group and apply a Satin Layer Style to the group.

• Blend Mode: Divide, #4850f7
• Opacity: 47%
• Angle: 90
• Distance: 151 px
• Size: 139 px
• Contour: Rolling Slope Descending
• Anti-aliased: Checked
• Invert: Checked

Add a Drop Shadow Layer Style:

• Blend Mode: Normal, #0666a9
• Opacity: 100%
• Angle: -135
• Distance: 55 px
• Spread: 0%
• Size: 8 px
• Contour: Rounded Steps
• Noise: 23%

Create a new layer above the background spray, below the letter group. Use the brush tool to draw some underlines. Copy Layer style from one of the letters and paste to the new line layer.

Congratulations! You've made an airbrushed text effect!

Create some more for practice.   Try it with RGB this time instead of CYMK to see the effect comparison.    

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