In this post, we feature some of the best Photoshop text effect tutorials that will teach you step-by-step process to transform plain text into amazing digital artworks. There are a whole lot of different text and typography effects that we have covered in this article and we are sure there is something to learn for everyone, whether you’re a beginner or a pro user looking to improve your skills.
From some cool 3D text effects to making yummy chocolaty text, from metallic and chrome text effects to retro inspired typography – creating text effects in Photoshop can be a lot of fun. And hopefully these tutorials will help you pick up new tricks and techniques as well that you can use in your next design project. I followed the Vintage Text Effect Photoshop tutorial (listed below) to create the featured image for this post, as seen above.
All the tutorials below are completely free and we are thankful to all those who’ve put in so much effort in writing them. Go, dive in and explore the unlimited possibilities that Photoshop comes with. And while you are at it, you may also want to have a look at these background and texture tutorials in Photoshop.
1. Realistic 3D Casino Style Bulb Sign Photoshop Tutorial
This tutorial by Chris Spooner explains how to create an illuminated bulb sign similar to those used on Las Vegas casinos and Broadway theaters. Photoshop’s powerful 3D tools are used to create this realistic vintage style bulb sign text effect.
2. Create a One-Layer Retro Text Effect in Adobe Photoshop
A pretty complex, yet ‘wonderful’ retro text effect created using only one text layer and layer effects, along with the new layer style features – multiple layer style instances and stroke overprint in Photoshop.
3. How to Create a Shiny Summer Text Effect in Adobe Photoshop
Using layer styles in Photoshop, learn to produce this shiny metallic effect in cool summer colors. Perfect for your spring and summer themed design artworks.
4. Cream And Chocolate Cake Photoshop Text Effect
In this tutorial, you will learn in detail to create a delicious looking 3D cake typography in Photoshop using layer styles, 3D action generators and cake patterns.
5. Create an Easy Stitched Leather Type Effect in Photoshop
Play along with layer effects, shadows and leather textures to create this realistic stitched leather type effect in Photoshop.
6. Metal Text Effect In Photoshop
Learn to create the popular metal text in Photoshop, widely used in video games and movie posters! This tutorial uses Photoshop layer styles, some filters, layer blend modes, and a clipping mask to achieve this brushed metallic look.
7. 80’s Style Chrome Text Effect in Photoshop
An amazing video tutorial on creating a rad text effect based on 1980s style chrome logos seen in games, movies, TV shows and more. The whole text effect is done in Photoshop using a mix of layer styles and colour overlays to reproduce the shiny metal effects and vibrant colours.
8. Quick Sparkling Diamonds Text Effect in Adobe Photoshop
This tutorial uses a dotted font, with a couple of layer styles, to achieve this glittering diamonds text effect.
9. Create Leafy Text Effect In Photoshop
Explore different textures like tree bark texture, leaf texture, chalk brush, various selection tools, image adjustments and dodge/burn effect to produce this leafy text effect in Photoshop.
10. Realistic Rock Text Effect
In this tutorial, you’ll learn to create a realistic rock text effect using two images of real rocks, applying layer masks, layer styles, and a few adjustment layers.
11. Create an Easy Nebula Text Effect in Photoshop
You can apply the techniques learnt in this tut and modify the text, brushes and background to create cool looking posters with nebula text effect.
12. Crystal Text Effect
Learn to create a shiny, posh crystal text effect in Photoshop using its powerful layer styles and sparkles brush.
13. Create a Fire Text Effect in Photoshop
Vibrant flaming text effect, this video shows you to create this effect from scratch in Photoshop without using any photographs. The realistic flames are created with The Flame Generator filter, a feature found in Photoshop CC. While the chrome text is created by using a few layer styles.
14. How to Create a Luxurious Text Effect in Adobe Photoshop
From creating the text layer to adding a lot of different effects, this gorgeous text effect is worth all your time.
15. Create a Realistic Emboss/Deboss Effect in Photoshop
A pretty quick tutorial to create realistic embossed and debossed effects for when you want to show off your embossed print design on a computer screen.
16. Fancy Gold Text Effect
This tutorial will show you how to use Photoshop’s layer styles and some simple brush settings to create a fancy, golden text effect.
17. Candy Christmas Glass Ball Photoshop Text Tutorial
Learn the techniques to create glassy text filled with candies in Photoshop. Perfect for your Christmas themed design projects.
18. Create a Marvelously British Scone Text Effect in Photoshop
A yummy text effect inspired by British scones using different brushes, textures, and layer styles along with some other tools and settings.
19. Create a Vintage Press Text Effect in Photoshop
This tutorial shows you how to use smart objects, filters, textures and clipping masks in Photoshop to a create a retro letter press style text effect.
20. Fast & Easy Way of Creating Fur (or Hair) Text
In this nicely explained video tutorial, you’ll learn how to create a Fur Text Effect (or hair) using Photoshop using layers and masks.
21. Create Typography Using A Mixture Of Snow & Fire Elements In Photoshop
This tutorial shows you the process of creating this interesting typography using a mixture of snow and fire elements in Photoshop.
22. How to Create a Realistic Autumn Leaves Text Effect in Adobe Photoshop
Learn to create bright autumn leaves text effect using leaf images, textures and adjustment layers. The techniques used in this tutorial would find good use in your autumn inspired design projects.
23. Chrome 3D Text Using Image Based Lights
This video explains in detail the steps required to create an awesome chrome 3D text using Image Based Lights in Photoshop CS6 Extended.
24. Super Easy Neon Style in Photoshop
Inspired by the bright neon signs, this tutorial shows how to use layer styles and blend modes to simulate a neon text effect in Photoshop.
25. Create a Smooth Chocolate Text Effect in Photoshop
Learn to create this smooth chocolate-y text from scratch using different layer styles in Photoshop.
Where to Find great Free Fonts for your Text Effects?
For creating these awe-inspiring text effects in Photoshop, you need a good font to start with, that will look good with the effects you plan to apply on them. dafont.com and Font Squirrel are two popular sites where you can find completely free fonts (even for commercial use!). You can also refer to my post on Super Dev that lists down more such sites offering free fonts that you can use in your projects. Have fun!
In coming days, we will be rounding up more such amazing Photoshop tutorials, so stay tuned! You can also subscribe to our newsletter to receive these articles straight into your inbox.
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