Close Menu
PSD VaultPSD Vault
  • VIP Area
  • Photoshop Basics
  • Photo Effect
  • Text Effect
  • Premium Tuts
  • Resources
  • Drawing
  • Inspiration
  • Web Graphics
  • Abstract
  • Freebies
  • Advertise
  • Get in Touch
  • About PSD Vault
Facebook Instagram Pinterest YouTube TikTok
Facebook Instagram Pinterest YouTube TikTok RSS
PSD VaultPSD Vault
  • VIP Area
    • Sign Up
    • Log In
  • Photoshop Basics
  • AI
  • Photoshop Error Fixes
  • Video Tutorial
  • Photo Effect
  • Text Effect
  • Premium Tuts
  • Drawing
  • Opinion
PSD VaultPSD Vault
Home»Text Effect»Create a Unique Break-Apart Text Effect with Urban Background in Photoshop
Text Effect

Create a Unique Break-Apart Text Effect with Urban Background in Photoshop

By James QuOctober 9, 20115 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to create this Create a Unique Break-Apart Text Effect with Urban Background in Photoshop. This is an intermediate level tutorial so some steps can be tricky, but why not have a try :)

The text itself is made up from wooden texture, along with some particle brush effect. You will be using techniques such as layer blending options, warp tool, image adjustments, and some paintings with custom brushes.

Here is a preview of the final effect I have for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

PSD File Download

You can download the PSD File for this tutorial via the VIP Members Area for only $6.95/Month (or less)! You will not only get this PSD File, but also 70+ other PSD Files + Extra Goodies + Exclusive Photoshop tutorials there. Signup now and get exclusive :) Find out more about the VIP Members Areas

OK Let’s get started!

To complete this tutorial, you will need the following stocks:

Smoke Brushes

Wood Texture

City

Crack

Debris Brush

Step 1

Create a new document sized 700px *960px (size doesn’t really matter in this tutorial, you can choose a size suits you) with black background. Create a new layer and use the smoke brush you download, paint some smoke patterns onto the canvas:

Load the crack texture into Photoshop, and use the rectangular marquee tool to select a portion as shown below:

Copy and paste the selection onto our document, compress the texture down and apply the following perspectives with the free transform tool:

Use a soft eraser to fade the edges around this crack layer,

Then, add the following 3 image adjustment layer as clipping mask to this crack layer:

Black and White (set this adjustment layer’s opacity to 70%)

Levels

Curves

and you will have the following effect so far:

Step 2

Now let’s work on adding some urban city buildings to the image. Load the city image into Photoshop, select the city portion with quick selection tool, copy and paste the selection onto our document, then resize and apply some warping to it as shown below:

Use the Chalk Brush as an eraser (set its flow and opacity to around 50%), erase the edges of the building to create some damaging effect:

and here is the effect after the erase:

Add the following 3 image adjustment layers as clipping mask to this city layer:

Black and White

Levels

Colour Balance (Highlights)

Create a new layer and use the smoke brush to paint some smoke around the building, you will have the following effect so far:

Step 3

Now let’s add the text onto the image. Create a new layer and use the type tool to type a letter onto the canvas using a bold font:

Load the wood texture into Photoshop, select a portion of it as shown below:

Copy and paste the selection onto our canvas, rotate and warp it as shown below:

Repeat the above the process, copy and paste another 2 pieces of wood onto our letter:

Turn off the original text letter and merge those 3 wood texture layer, use a soft eraser to remove the edges of the merged layer to create some depth:

Then, apply the following 3 adjustment layer to the text layer as clipping mask:

Black and White

Levels

Curves

and you will have the following effect:

Step 4

Now we can add some particle with the debris brush we download around the text:

Hint: Use Sharpen and Blur Tool on the debris to create extra depth.

Duplicate this debris layer once and apply the following Radial Blur settings:

Reduce the layer opacity of this radial blur layer to around 60%, you will have the following effect:

You can duplicate this radial blue layer once and resize it to a smaller scale, then move it to the top of the text as shown below:

Step 5

OK we’re almost done! For some final touches, I added some shadow on the crack texture with soft black brush painting: (set brush flow and opacity to around 20%)

Also added some light coming from behind the text with a soft white brush:

I added some buildings on top of the text from the city image (applied the same image adjustments as in step 2):

Further added some more cloud/smoke texture around the text, to the positions shown below:

Plus some Lens Flare Filter effect (set blending mode to “Color Dodge”) on the text to spice up the effect a bit more:

Hint: If you have some difficulty with this lighting and colour effect, check out this tutorial here.

Add some more colour and you will have the following final effect: (click to enlarge)

That’s it for this tutorial! Hope you enjoy it and find it useful :) Till next time, have a great day!

break apart text effect text effect photoshop urban text effect
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
James Qu
  • Website

James is a seasoned Photoshop expert with over 25 years of experience, mastering the software since its 5.0 version. As the driving force behind PSD Vault, he authors the majority of its in-depth tutorials and insightful articles.

Related Posts

Making 80’s Style Chrome Text Effect In Photoshop

April 9, 2025

How to Create a Stunning Liquify Filter Typography Effect in Photoshop

February 15, 2025

How to Create Realistic Frozen Text with Cracks in Photoshop

January 29, 2025

2 Comments

  1. psddude on November 1, 2011 12:39 AM

    the final result looks great, really creative idea!

  2. Jing Sun on March 22, 2016 3:05 PM

    thanks,it’s very cool

Don't Miss

How to Resize Images Without Losing Quality in Photoshop 2025

May 17, 2025

The Beginner’s Guide to Photoshop AI Masking Tool

May 10, 2025

Curves or Levels: Choosing the Right Tool for Stunning Edits

May 9, 2025

For Beginners

Basics

How to Resize Images Without Losing Quality in Photoshop 2025

By James QuMay 17, 20255 Mins Read

Curves or Levels: Choosing the Right Tool for Stunning Edits

May 9, 2025

Photoshop Clipping Masks – Everything You Need to Know

May 8, 2025

10 Photoshop Blur Gallery Tricks That Will Make Your Photos Look Professional

April 26, 2025

You May Also Like

Text Effect

Making 80’s Style Chrome Text Effect In Photoshop

By Mohammad JeprieApril 9, 202511 Mins Read
Text Effect

How to Create a Stunning Liquify Filter Typography Effect in Photoshop

By James QuFebruary 15, 20254 Mins Read
Text Effect

How to Create Realistic Frozen Text with Cracks in Photoshop

By James QuJanuary 29, 20254 Mins Read
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
  • About Us
  • Get in Touch
  • Advertise
  • VIP Area
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
© 2025 PSD Vault. All Right Reserved.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}