Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Posted on December 21st, 2009 in Text Effects.

Tags: abstract, brush, effect, filter, photoshop, shape, text

Using testking practice products learn how to use different design techniques in Photoshop. Become an expert web designer with help of 1Y0-A17 tutorials and 000-152 videos.

In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to create this really great-looking, abstract style text effect by using custom brushset (which we will be making one of our own) with dynamics, plus adding artistic effect with Photoshop filters. Have a try!

This is an intermediate level tutorial so some steps can be a bit tricky :)

Here is a preview of the final effect: (click to enlarge)

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Ok let’s get started!

Step 1

Create a new document sized 1400px * 650px, fill the background layer with the following gradients:

1 grad 500x227 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Step 2

Create a new layer on top of the background called “light top”, grab a big soft round brush with a white color, do a single click on the top centre region of the canvas:

2 top 500x230 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Create another create called “light bottom” and use a similar brush as mentioned above, do a single click on the centre of the canvas, resize and perspective it with free transform tool (Ctrl + T) to produce more depth for it:

2 persp 500x241 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Here is the effect so far:

2 effect1 500x229 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Step 3

Type some texts on top of all previous layers we created. You can use any font you like but I preferred a big, bold font (download it here):

3 type 500x221 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

On the text layer, apply the following layer blending options:

Drop Shadow

3 drop sha 500x350 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Bevel and Emboss

3 bevel 500x350 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Gradient Overlay

3 grad 500x350 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Stroke

3 stroke 500x350 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Here is the effect so far:

3 effect2 500x218 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Optional: to add a bit more depth to the text, make a duplicate this text layer, drop the opacity of the duplicated layer to around 20% and move it to the left of the original text layer a bit:

3 effect 2 499x221 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Step 4

Now let’s start make a simple brushset. Create a new document with a size of 200px * 200px, leave the background layer as white, and grab the polygon tool and draw a shape as shown below (use the distort option from the free-transform tool to adjust the shape):

The Polygon Tool:

4 poly Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Polygon Tool Settings:

Draw the shape:

4 draw Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Tip: use the trim tool to get rid of the extra height and width of the canvas.

Important: after drawing the shape, make sure you rastersize this shape layer. and make the background layer tranparent.

Once you finish the aboves, go to Edit > DefineBrush Preset:

4 define 500x696 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

In the box popped up, type a name for this brushset and hit “OK”, you will see the newly created brush appearing in the brush list:

4 brushset 500x350 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Step 5

Select this newly created brush, apply the following brush dynamics to it:

Shape dynamics

5 shape dyn Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Scattering

5 sca Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

And tick the “Airbrushing” and “Smoothing” options.

Create a new layer underneath the orginal text layer, draw some random patterns as shown below with this dynamic brush, as shown below: (try adjusting the brush size)

5 paint 500x218 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Step 6

Now let’s spice up the effect a bit by adding some cloud over the text. So create a new layer called “cloud”, render some cloud inside it with the cloud filter (set foreground color to a dark grey, and black background colour).

Before you render the cloud, you have to make a selection with the Lasso Tool around the text (with around 20px feather settting), then render the cloud inside the seletion.

You will have the following effect:

6 cloud 500x205 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Change the blending mode of this cloud layer to “Screen”, you will have the following effect:

6 screen cloud 500x207 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

You can also duplicate, resize this cloud layer and move those duplicated layer around for more effects, as show below:

Resize

6 resize cloud 500x225 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Duplicate

6 duplicate cloud 500x213 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Step 7

To produce even more depth for the text, here is a quick way to do it: create a new layer just above the original text layer, set the blending mode of this layer to “Vivid Light”, grab a soft brush to paint some color onto it:

7 paint 500x223 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Add a black and white adjustment layer on top of all layers, adjust the settings accordingly, until you see there is a shadow appearing on the bottom of the text:

7 bw Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Here is the effect you’re aiming to achieve: (you can see now because we have a shadow under the text, the overall effect looks deeper and more attractive)

7 effect1 500x170 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Add another color layer on top of the black and white adjustment layer, set the blending mode to “color” and paint some color on it, you will have the following effect:

7 effect 21 500x226 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Step 8

Now we’re on the best part of this tut – apply the filter effects! Firstly we flatten the image, then duplicate the background layer once and apply the following Reduce Noise filter to the duplicated layer:

8 reduce noise Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

and you will see the text look much clearer and the overall image looks sharper:

8 after redu 500x231 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Duplicate this sharpened layer once, and apply the following motion blur settings to it:

8 mo blur setting Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

You will have the following effect:

8 mo blur 500x225 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Change the blending mode of this motion blur layer to “Hard Light” and erase the portion shown blow with a big soft brush (we don’t want the whole text to be blurred)

8 erase 499x221 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Step 9

Go back to the sharpened text layer and make another duplication of it, drag it to the top and apply the reticulation filter to it (Filter > Sketch > Reticulation):

reticulation 500x403 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

You will see the following effect:

8 ret 500x229 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Change the blending mode to “color dodge” and erase the edge of the layer off, you will have the following effect:

8 ret change blending mode 500x231 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Optional: go to site5 such as qbrushes.net and find some grungy brushsets, and create a new layer with the blending mode set to “overlay”, paint on it with your choice of grungy brush.

Here is my effect so far:

9 effect 500x223 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

Step 10

We’re almost done! To add some final touches, we can create a new layer on top of all other layers, render some cloud inside it and set the blending mode to “soft light”, you will have the following effect:

10 cloud soft light 500x224 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

I also added a colour balance adjustment layer on top of all layer to finish the effect off:

10 col mid Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

10 col mid1 Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

10 col high Create Awesome Abstract Text Effect with Brush Dynamics and Filters in Photoshop

and here is my final effect for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

Ok that’s it for this tutorial! Just one last word: always try out different layer blending modes and see what effect that bring you! Sometimes you will be surprised to see some real cool effects :)

I hope you enjoy it and find it useful and inspirational!

Until next time, have a nice day!

Take a Break

http://www.thomas-guibert.com Thomas

Niiiice effect
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taryarL

awesome!!!!
love this one too
i like the way u adjust layer blending options
so cool :)
i will sent this pic to my friend and he will surely ask me
‘GOD ! how heck u done this’ ?
hee hee
thank admin !
u ROCK :)
http://www.webtint.net/ Johnny

I quite like this, it reminds me of the early days when I started designing, these are the kinds of effects I loved to try out.
http://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/ISMAILBUTT ISMBUTT

LOVE YOUR WORK .IT IS GREAT LIKE ALWAYS..THANKS AGAIN BUT CAN YOU JUST TELL ME HOW TO DO AFTER 8TH STEP..I MEAN HOW TO GET IN reticulation filter to it (Filter > Sketch > Reticulation):
BUT IN FILTER MY OPTION IS NOT HIGHLIGHT I MEAN I CANT USE THAT WHY IS THIS ?HOW CAN I DO THIS PLZ TELL ME ….I M GONA SAVE MY TEXT …THANKS AGIAN …
James Qu

@ISMBUTT: did you select the duplicated layer first BEFORE you go to the filter gallery? If not do so first.

Hope this helps :)
James Qu

@Johnny: yeah, it’s all about the experiments :)
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me

If i do that cloud thing, my whole screen is on cloud.

Any solution please?

Already thanks for the great tutorial!
http://www.bloggerden.com/ Blogger Den

You have a beautiful blog design here, I’ve never heard of the site before but you really do have some amazing posts! I’ll have to come back in the future to check out more of your content, and I look forward to it
http://www.teloscore.fi Hulis

Awesome tutorial! Nice effects.
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http://www.siouxfallsford.com Sioux falls cars

Really cool! Always love the tips here. The “how did they do that” factor is high
Fredde

really good effect and i really wanna make it, but i got a problem, when i did the cloud layer and render clouds, it cover the whole thing not just the text? :P
danica keighran

hey loving this tutorial thnks ^_^ !
but haha (this probably is vry silly, and its probably somewhere obvious on the screen or in the menu)
but where is the brush preset settings found (step 5)?
would love the help.
thank you!
Mariette

I got that same problem as Fredde, the cloud filter cover the whole thing not only the text

,sorry for bad englishi’m from holland
doesnt work

Followed this step for step. And mine does not come out a thing like that. the basics are there but it ends up looking stupid and nowhere near presentable
James Qu

@Fredde @Mariette: really sorry but I forgot to mention before you render the cloud, you have to make a selection with the Lasso Tool around the text (with around 20px feather settting), then render the cloud inside the seletion.

Hope this helps!
James Qu

@danica keighra, the settings are under Edit > Define Brush Preset

Make sure you make the background layer transparent first before you define the brush preset

Hope this helps!
http://www.trafficschoolonlineflorida.com/ Michel

wow it’s nice tut to learn good effect in photoshope .. really i love this tut.. thanks
http://ghawyy.com ghawyy

its really awesome man u r great
thanks in advance & happy new year
Dylan

I get all the way to the part where you reticulated, and i can’t click on sketch, it’s grayed out.
What am i doing wrong?
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phoenix

Amm this probably sounds really stupid but i can’t draw the brush shape when i use the polygon tool with the same setting you have it makes a star…… and i can’t transform it into the shape you have.. i’m not very familiar with ps anyway is have ps cs4
JD

soooooooooooooo……….niceeeeeeeeeee………..effectttttttttttttttt
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V

You know. it would have been a lot easier if you labeled specifically how to GET to the black and white adjustment layer, for those who are getting reacquainted with Photoshop.
Madras raj

nice article thanks
gagamo

Good, I like your dising, it’s awesome belive me bro your doing a great jod with photoshop, I’m going to do the same thing your did I hope it will be okay.. thank you
photoshoper

where is that shape dynamics thingy ? sorry im just new in using photoshop :D hehe!
photoshoper

and oh im using adobe photoshop cs4
rae

where to get the black and white adjustment? is it available in CS2??
Dwarf

from step 6 i was totaly fuck up. can you maby try to make a video where you do it all. Help I wanna make i nice but you say a lot of shit i never knew was i photoshop. plzz help me maby whit a better tutorial
http://dumb-ass.vd-wal.com Dumb Ass

TANKS!!!
my result:
http://dumb-ass.vd-wal.com/images/ICE SPIKES DUMB ASS final.jpg
http://dumb-ass.vd-wal.com Dumb Ass

sorry:

http://dumb-ass.vd-wal.com/images/ICE_SPIKES_DUMB_ASS_final.jpg
http://none Zambu

your tutorials are good, but you did not explain everything, some things were flying me, because, well I’m a rookie, but should explain a little more detail
Joey

This is one of the greatest photoshop tutorials I’ve seen to date!
I’m okay with photoshop but this is stuff that I’m looking to learn and improve on.
Thank you so much for putting this up!
evi

absolutely perfect!!! :)
http://www.websitedevelopment-india.com smith

you guys are amazing artist..I just use one of the trick and got appreciated by client.thank you very much for sharing your knowledge.smith
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http://eonon.wordpress.com/2010/04/21/eonon-finally-sucks-review/ eonon

Awesome tutorial! Nice effects.
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http://Website PSDnewbie

Thank you for your amazing tutorial. It really help me. Keep it up and may God bless you.

PSDnewbie
http://Website newbie

*dont mind my eng*
“resize and perspective it with free transform tool (Ctrl + T) to produce more depth for it:” i dont get what you mean by Persective it. Prefer you to explain more in depth.
thanks.
http://Website Luis Serres

hey i was makin’ it on cs4 but i dont now ow to make the 5 step some1 can help me plz oh and excellent tutorial ;)
http://www.traffic-ticket-dismissal.com/ traffic ticket dismissal

Good post indeed. Every informative and easy to learn few things as it explained diagrammatically. Nice tutorial with easy steps. Good post and good hard work. thanks for sharing.
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http://Website Hann

This tutorial is wicked! The final design looks awesome especially the color combo and the effects put together. I’ve been trying to design a logo somewhat like this for myself (more or less, in essence)… and it was a TOTAL disaster! I didn’t manage to get it looking right. It was a little bit off somehow. Kinda distorted. Finally, I decided to use the professional services of an online logo design site instead (http://www.logodesignstation.com) and got the logo I wanted at an affordable price and fast too, within 24 hours. I did provide this link for reference and inspiration to my designer as I liked how yours look. I’m not going to design a logo without any professional help anytime soon though it’s fun. And enjoyable. Thanks for posting this!
http://hotmail surender kabeer

like ur work niceeeeeeeeeee………………effecttttttttttttttttt
http://Website DuTcHsOldiErZ

this is very nice but i can’t makte it :(
can anyone please make it for me?
text: DuTcHsOldiErZ
http://Website astral

cool tutorial
thanks
http://Website jaymichael

kinda little hard for beginners.. hope 2 see step by step on a video type… so that i can catch up all the tutorials…
http://Website question

i am getting stuck on step 7 my colors when i paint aren’t coming to look like lights or aren’t vibrant like yours
http://Website david

i need help on step 7 plz help me out can u give me more information on it?
http://www.certxpert.com MCSE

nice tutorial

thanks MCSE
http://Website sPuN

Nice tut but i am getting stuck on the last step

Do you make 3 colour balance layers oder how do you get the blue outcome at the edges

i used 3 colour balances and my outcome was not that nice…

http://img266.imageshack.us/f/spunabstract2.png/
http://Website MDH

nice tut, it’s really awesome, but i’m stuck at step 8 i really don’t know what’s meant by flatten the image :S is it another way of saying merge som layers together, because i don’t know neither which one of the layers i should do the effects on after step 8
http://Website Steph

I cant get my colors to show up on the second black and white adjustment layer. What did I do wrong? :(
http://www.xcertvip.com MCSE

Very nice post and thank you for letting this information to us.
MCSE
http://grumpygit.org James

All I can say is thank you…
http://Website Tom Dean

Guide 1/10 you need to be more clear and understandable or the newbies won’t be able to do it. Final Image 9/10 it is a pretty cool picture.
http://facebook.com/antakanguyen Antaka

Hi there James your tut is really awesome but I got stuck at the point when u use ”Filter > Sketch > Reticulation” . The Sketch option is disabled , I can’t choose it :( . Plz if you know something send reply to my email or inbox me on my Facebook , thank you so much!
http://Website Alex

Great tutorial, cool and easy.
http://bodybuildinguniversity.co Jamesde

thanks for the tutorial. Very accommodating for beginners. Some tips are little bit daunting yet worth doing. bodybuilding workouts
http://facebook.com/breezy9008 Breezy

I really need help on step 7. I did everything it said but my color isn’t showing up when I paint. PLEASE HELP! I really would like to finish this picture.
James Qu

@Breezy: make sure you create a new layer first, then paint on the new layer. You will need to set the blending mode of this new layer to Vivid Light, too.
Hope this helps
http://Website Breezy

It’s not helping. I did the steps exactly….when I try to paint it just paints white, even with the blend mode set to “vivid light”
http://Website Dine

Dude u applied gradient ovalay on d text but why is it not shown in pic? REPLY OR I WON’T B ABLE TO MAKE THIS LOL
this is rrly nice effect
James Qu

@Dine: figure it out yourself, that’s part of the fun :)
http://Website Nathan

To help people out. Flatten the image go to >layer >flatten image.
Also to get to the black and white adjustment layer, click on the adjustment layer section in your layer pallet.
Most of this stuff is simple to find out and a google search should help with problems, I doubt they want people to be asking the same question over and over. Think. Use Google. Or Learn Photoshop first ;)
n.
http://Website ali

very impressive tutorial, mine just looks a bit different. Thanks for the tut :)
http://n/a OzziDubstep

Thanks for the tut, but i have a problem with the reticulation. It is formed in the gradient (bottom to top) and not in the radial like you have it. Is there something i’m doing wrong?
http://www.sandeshaya.org/ Sandeshaya

Grate salute to this tutorial, i did it and awesome…
Thanks a lot…
http://Website Kruz

Im struggeling with the same thing as Dine with the gradient not showing in your pic. Have really tried to figure this one out without luck.

And then there is step 7. When appyling som colors like you did, and then putting the black n white adjustment on it with the same settings you use, and it looks reall ugly. Yes i have made the layer vivid so to speak.

Otherwise i love your tutorial. it´s awesome.
http://www.clippingdesign.com Clipping Path

WOW!!!
It’s really gorgeous…
I did it. Thanks…
http://Website need help

cant make the step 4… plz help.
http://www.webinventa.com/ Graphics and Web Design Firm

I thinks its very helpful tutorial. Design professional can get benefit from here. Thanks for share such a wonderful tutorial.
http://Website Carlo

I did it, here’s what I got.

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc220/dotZodiac/eRaLogo2.png
http://www.howtospyontextmessages.net how to spy on text messages

Hey! Thank you so much for this fantastic step-by-step explanation. Hats off to people like you. Thank you for taking the time to do all of that.
guest

Shitty step 6 my cloud is opaque. how to do it? maybe video tutorial?
http://www.psdvault.com PSD Vault

you need to change the layer blending mode to “Screen” for the cloud layer.
guest

how about video tutorials?
http://www.dota2hook.de phil

Best ever!
Samuel

It’s a nice effect but tutorial sucks. You skip bunch of things assuming we know how to do those. Some people may be new to this.. You could adjust it for newbies.
Kruzikmisa

I have locked Brushes (STEP 5) WHYYY? :((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((
http://webhosting.gen.nz/ Web Hosting

ah really nice and colorful effects!
http://taupoaccommodation.org.nz/ Taupo Accommodation

Nice tutorial with very easy steps :)
Shahbaz Ahmed Bhatti

very very very and nice tutorials
can u please also make video tutorials so we can easily udnerstand
http://buildinginspectionsauckland.org.nz/ Building Inspections Auckland

I just love the effect! Very nice!
Norelleuon

woow
sebas

Hay pasos que no entiendo muy bien soy principiante en photoshop ojala puedan hacer un video tutorial de este efecto que esta buenisimo
SONICTHEAK

Okay step 7?????????? fuckin seriously?!!!!?!?!? EASY WAY MY ASS WE ARE NOT PROS IN THA~!@#!$%234
Zrbahar

Ok so I am a newbie on photoshop… can anyone tell me the details of how to do step 2???
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001872321260 Gwennie Mzcreative Williams

This was a great tutorial, even though my final result came out totally different. More details would have made it that much easier to do.
http://www.facebook.com/dion.pangkey Dion Pangkey

i cant even do step 1. help.
yan

its amazing, but just one question.. how to have a “cloud effect?”
Ylee

Step 7 was not thorough. It was getting really easy too until Step 7
Spike

please go over step 7 again, it was way too rushed, this is the main step and since i’m struggling to make this look good, my final product is isn’t looking good either. I would massively appreciate it if you went over this step in a bit more detail?

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