If you are looking for the restoration posts you can jump to the latest one here

Over the next few posts, I am going to show you a few creative Photoshop tips as a change from the photo restoration processes.

Starting with the first I call “bathed in light”.

Making text bathed in light

Start by creating a new file around 1000 pixels square.

Your colour palette should be set to the white foreground, black background

Fill the layer with black
Create a new layer, with this layer

Choose filter/render/clouds

Text in light starting texture

Next filter/texture/stained glass enter cell size 10, border 2, light intensity 3, click ok
Next Filter/blur/motion blur. Set angle to 90 blur amount 400
Set blending mode of this layer to “Hard light”

Text in light starting texture advanced

Next, select all “ctrl A” and edit/transform/perspective tweak until you are happy with the angle of light. We are trying to go for a “coming down from above” look.

Take a big soft eraser brush and erase the hard edges of the perspective transformation.

Creating beams of light

If you like you can now crop the canvas to encompass the best shafts of light to an image of landscape proportions.

Add new layer
Select text tool and white text
Type your word or slogan

Creating beams of light and adding text

Enlarge so that the text is two-thirds of the canvas size.
Duplicate this layer
Set the top layer of text to blending mode “exclusion”
Set the bottom layer of text to blending mode “difference”
Now using the selection tool to make the bottom layer active, use the arrow keys to nudge the layer to offset slightly by around two nudges or two pixels to give the text a 3D effect.

Finally, position the text in a good shaft of light

Play with the fonts and bevel and emboss or other filters to make your text stand out even more.

Creating beams of light and adding text final image