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Home»Text Effect»Create a Diablo III Inspired Grungy Text Effect
Text Effect

Create a Diablo III Inspired Grungy Text Effect

By James QuNovember 17, 20083 Mins Read
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This tutorial shows the path I took to create this Diablo III Inspired Grunge Text Effect.

I was looking for some design inspirations on the net and I bumped into the Diablo III website. I  was intrigued by the design of the title text and I thought: what happen if I add something extra to it? What will the end result like if I apply a cracked texture on top of the text? The story begins…

Just a sneak-peak of the final text effect:

Step 1

Firstly we need a nice font and a texture for overlay effect. You can use any font you like, I chose this font from dafont.com. After choosing your font, donwload a copy of this texture below (click to download)

Step 2

Create a new document of any size, I chose 800*600px because it provides more room later on if I want to add something extra on. Fill the background layer with black.

Use the type tool to type some text onto it using the white colour. Name this layer as “text”, right-click on the layer and go to Blending Options, use the follow settings:

Drop shadow

Bevel and Emboss

Hightlight Mode colour for Bevel and Emboss option

Gradient Overlay

Step 3

Open the texture image file you downloaded, use the selection tool to select a portion of the image and drag your selection on top of the “text” layer. Name it “texture”, right-click it and choose “create clipping mask”.

Use the curve tool to adjust the colour mixture of this layer a bit. See below for detailed curve tool setting:

Step 4

Change the layer blending option of this layer to “screen”, apply inner glow and some dark brown satin in the blending options. See below for details:

Step 5

On the “texture” layer, use a big circle brush with a low opacity and flow (30% each) and dark yellow colour to add some colour contrast on it. Below is the text effect so far:

Step 6

Duplicate the “texture” layer once, apply the “Glass” filter onto it. See below for detailed settings:

Then set the layer blending option to “Color Burn”.

Step 7

Optional: you can some extra effects on top of the duplicated texture layer. I added a dupilcated layer with a “Medium” filter on and set the layer blending option to “Color Dodge”. See below image for details:

Medium filter

Layer blending option

Ok, that’s it for this tutorial! You may want to add some more creativity onto this text effect, go ahead with it!

Below is my finished work, I added some brush effects and motion blur:

I hope you enjoy this tutorial. Any questions or feedback, just drop me a comment!

dark effect grunge intermediate text
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James Qu
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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.

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90 Comments

  1. ghawyy on November 19, 2008 1:56 AM

    wow great effect and nice too

    thats eclusive styles for me

    thank you so much

    i really love it and i will use that one for alot of works

    i will back for more thanks

  2. James on November 19, 2008 11:14 AM

    Hi, ghawyy!
    Thanks for your comment and support!
    Glad that you enjoy this work and find it useful~

  3. sreekanth on November 21, 2008 12:43 AM

    hai im sreekanth very fine effict iam studying digital media in icat college ok then fine bye

  4. James on November 21, 2008 8:11 AM

    hi sreekanth~ thanks for your comment,! glad to see you enjoy the tutorial

  5. jay on November 21, 2008 11:38 AM

    i have photoshop 6.0
    1st problem… i can’t seem to find the curve tool.
    2nd i seem to not have the transparancy shapes layer on the last blending options.. lmk if u could help me out on this.

  6. James on November 21, 2008 10:44 PM

    Hi Jay! Thanks for your question~
    I don’t have much experience with the older versions but I guess the curve tool will be under image > adjustments > curve.
    And i think with the transparancy shapes layer, you might not have to use it, try use a brush tool with overlay mode (if there is one) to brush over the text, see what result it comes up.
    Hope this helps!

  7. John the Pirate - arrrrr! on November 25, 2008 1:41 PM

    Good post, I like your writing style! I’ve added http://psdvault.com/ to my feed reader, and will be reading your posts from now on. Just a quick question – did you design your header image yourself, or have it done professionally? If you had it done by a professional, who was it?

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  9. Briefe Schreiben on November 30, 2008 3:42 AM

    Hi! Your Post “Create a Diablo III Inspired Grungy Text Effect” is very interesting for me. Unfortunately my written English is not so good so I write in German: Dir, meinem liebsten, geh

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  11. Shaiju on December 3, 2008 10:55 PM

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  14. James on December 4, 2008 10:18 PM

    thanks shaiju! I will do my best that’s for sure!

  15. James on December 6, 2008 10:29 PM

    To John the Pirate:
    Hi mate I missed your comment cos my system sent it into the spam queue by accident…
    Yeah, I design the header image myself, with lots of brushes and filters :)

  16. www.goldpreise.biz on December 18, 2008 2:37 PM

    Hello, thanks for the good “Create a Diablo III Inspired Grungy Text Effect” post. Would it be possible, that i can write a story about this post in our local newspaper? I would be really happy if i can do this and i will give you a link from a german blog too. Please answer. Greetings Goldpreise

  17. Jane on December 25, 2008 5:15 PM

    Very good site! I like it! Thanks!

  18. mike on January 18, 2009 7:21 PM

    Is it possible to add a psd? I did the tutorial but for some reason it didn’t come out in such a similar fashion. It would be greatly appreciated. Maybe it would give me a better idea on where I messed up?

  19. James on January 18, 2009 10:54 PM

    hi mike, i won’t be able to upload the psd file due to bandwidth and hosting space limitation. but if i could email you the psd if that’s ok.

  20. Jose on January 20, 2009 5:07 PM

    which photo shop did u use? n wat curve u use n where u found it? cuz mines diff from urs help plz

  21. James on January 21, 2009 11:24 PM

    HI Jose, i use photoshop cs3, the curve tool should be under image > adjustment > curves
    The end result will be different for different versions of Photoshop.

  22. Tenkai on January 31, 2009 3:20 PM

    Hey man do you still have this PSD? Could you send it to me by email? I’d be greatful. Thx man, and btw, great work! keep it up

  23. Josh on February 4, 2009 9:06 AM

    First of all nice tutorial i found it mostly easy to follow. However, my file doesnt quite achieve the effect yours does. It looks just like the normal text that has been coloured in with a firey/rocky texture, it doesnt have any of the ‘flame’ bits coming off the top or the bottom. Id be happy to send the file to you if you leave me your e-mail if you want to take a look at it.

    Thanks again, i can still used the product that i am left with so i am happy either way. =)

  24. [WOH]Prancer on February 6, 2009 4:03 AM

    I tried this but it turned out as crap, most likely due to me just starting out on photoshop. I barely had any of the crackles visible when I was done and could not get the orange fiery blur at the end. Any suggestions or anybody will to help me out? I wanted to due this to my name( [WOH]Prancer ). Thanks for any help or suggestions.

  25. DevilG on February 9, 2009 9:21 PM

    Hello
    Nice tutorial …. anyway ..can u please send me the psd file ?
    Thank`s in advance!

  26. Ed Hardy on February 12, 2009 4:56 AM

    Nice post. Most blogs or not very informative. At least I learnt somthing with yours.

  27. PUNISHER_LP on February 21, 2009 7:47 AM

    can you send me the photoshop file pls ?
    I’m confused at step 3 because i have ps7 and i think ps7 does not support “clipping mask”

  28. Andrew on February 24, 2009 5:42 PM

    Hi,

    could you also send your psd file to me? I can’t get the shine effect on my letters.
    I would appreciate that very much!

    Kind regards,

    Andrew

  29. xanax on February 26, 2009 10:00 PM

    I bookmarked this site. Thank you for good job!

  30. jason on March 4, 2009 11:16 AM

    I really liked the way they came off

  31. Mike on March 8, 2009 11:30 PM

    James, I’ve been trying this effect and am just not getting the same outcome. Any chance you could e-mail me the .PSD as well when you get a chance? I’d appreciate it.

  32. Nick on March 30, 2009 10:37 AM

    Very nice, however my outcome doesn’t look as great any chance of a PSD email? I’d appreciate it

  33. Business Card Printing on April 7, 2009 12:16 PM

    The font really complemented the effect, that was the perfect choice really. Thanks for posting this tutorial, I’m looking forward to trying this one out. Excellent work!

  34. seizedcarautos on April 10, 2009 6:12 PM

    Hello to all ! Great site. I am new here greetings to all from Poland.

  35. paw on April 13, 2009 8:59 AM

    could you send me the psd file please?
    cant get that same blur effect at the end like you ><

  36. Nicholas on May 2, 2009 10:46 PM

    I dont understand which curves are that.

    If you have bandwidth , so why dont you upload on rapidshare ?
    it will be a lot easier

  37. Blashyrkh on May 3, 2009 1:50 AM

    Nice tut, but a bit confusing on step 4. Screen blending option doesn’t give the shown result, I used multiply instead.

    Those who can’t find the Curve tool, press Ctrl+M on your keyboard people.

  38. admin on May 5, 2009 8:09 PM

    @Nicholas: PSD files aren’t something I’m preparing to give away for free at the moment :)

  39. Frank on May 15, 2009 2:10 PM

    Hey…really great tutorial…but i’m stuck at the end….how did you get the motion blur and the brush effects

  40. revO on May 22, 2009 3:14 AM

    cant you upload a photoshop file of this effect? for me its really hard to translate this filters etc.
    i really loved to try this :D

  41. James on May 23, 2009 11:16 PM

    @rev0: In the future I may consider upload some of the PSD files for free for future tutorial/or just as a giveaway. However at this stage, I do not wish to giveaway PSD files as it would be unfair to those who have already paid for them. Do apologise for this.

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  43. Vlad on September 4, 2009 9:12 AM

    Hi, you make awesome things, and a nice tutorial, but i have some comments sothat you can improve it in future:

    -Please show more often the result of the used tool.
    -Make the tutorial til its final end, cause this ends up with just fire coloured text without the flames and that smudged letters effect, what is very very dissapointing. I havent the result you have, cause i havent those brushes and knowledge..

  44. el on October 10, 2009 1:37 AM

    could you add how to do the motion blur? its not having the result i wanted..

  45. photographe on October 13, 2009 6:17 AM

    Thanks, so nice!

  46. architecte liège on October 13, 2009 6:18 AM

    i really loved to try this :D

  47. photographe on October 13, 2009 6:20 AM

    i really loved to try this :D

  48. Stricken on November 10, 2009 4:38 PM

    Thank you very much, useful ;)

  49. Ruslan on December 17, 2009 12:36 AM

    I want to ask you James. After finishing these steps abave we received same text with fire or only darck yellow text and shadow?

  50. Ruslan on December 17, 2009 12:51 AM

    I’m sorry for my grammar.

  51. Reaper on January 7, 2010 11:18 PM

    can you please send me the PSD for this ? =(

  52. John on January 10, 2010 3:26 AM

    hellow,

    I have some problems in step 3

    where and how(in what program) i need to open the texture image file>?
    What i need to select what tool?
    how i drag on the text layer?

  53. gold-kaufen-verkaufen on January 12, 2010 6:50 AM

    I like your tutorial about this nice text effect!
    Simply stunning!

  54. Goldpreis on February 24, 2010 10:19 PM

    Thanks for “Create a Diablo III Inspired Grungy Text Effect” post. So nice.

  55. Bas on February 28, 2010 7:45 AM

    wow dude, awesome tutorial, I’m just a beginner so, many thanks! even for me it was simple to follow your lessons
    keep up the good work! and let me know when you got new good looking stuff!:)

  56. Magnus on March 21, 2010 7:02 PM

    im lost in step 5..help pls..♫♪

  57. Magnus on March 21, 2010 7:25 PM

    big circle brush?!

  58. James Qu on March 21, 2010 11:50 PM

    @Magnus: with step 5, the circle brushes are those round ones comes with Photoshop by default. Make sure you set the opacity low, around 30%.
    Hope this helps

  59. Stickers and Labels Lover on March 26, 2010 3:07 AM

    Great man, Diablo in deed, great tut by the way, thanx fo sharing!!!!

  60. zrh on April 7, 2010 12:50 PM

    thanks for sharing ! but I can’t see the picture !!

  61. Jen Pruett on May 26, 2010 6:00 AM

    Amazing tutorial, great technique will try it, Thanks Jen

  62. AEQ on June 12, 2010 7:40 AM

    which brush effects can be used here to get smth like u got? i have experimented with motion blur and other blurs, but not satisfied. If u could share urs or something. thanks beforehand

  63. heernitVono on June 14, 2010 6:36 PM

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  64. marco on July 7, 2010 9:45 PM

    dude, can i ask something.. i dont know to upload the text! can you tell what to on loading text in photoshop! ty..nice tuts..

  65. jethz on July 27, 2010 10:18 AM

    awesome! pls send me the psd file. . if thats okay. advance tnx.

  66. Buy Frontline Online on July 30, 2010 10:27 PM

    Grrrreat…..I have done it alone.thanks for your given information.

  67. Goldbarren on August 13, 2010 12:57 AM

    nice picture!

  68. yan paing on September 4, 2010 6:12 PM

    I like your website .

  69. online uk pharmacy reviews Guru on December 24, 2010 5:13 AM

    Great and amazing tutorial. Bookmarked now.

  70. Debt Scotland on December 29, 2010 12:40 AM

    Excellent Post! I’ll be doing that text effect in no time!

  71. matt on January 27, 2011 1:17 AM

    can you tell me the settings for curve plz

  72. mike on February 3, 2011 6:37 AM

    doesnt seem to work..
    at least not in cs5
    from step 3 it doesnt show the effect you show.

  73. Diablo III beta keys on February 6, 2011 11:08 PM

    That’s quite a sexy font you made.

  74. JeLLo on March 5, 2011 4:13 PM

    How can i get that font Metal macabre? i already download the font. i dont know where to put it.. can you help me..

  75. Trust Deeds on March 30, 2011 2:13 AM

    Are the images that you used open for public use?

  76. James Qu on March 30, 2011 9:29 AM

    Yes, that image is on cgtextures.com and open for public use.

  77. China Inflatable on June 10, 2011 6:37 PM

    It is funny and awesome, it looks like letters with fire. Maybe it is also suitable for games of Blizzard Enertainment.

  78. Digestive system disorders on June 26, 2011 4:57 AM

    Looking forward to your next posts

  79. slacchip on August 4, 2011 11:25 PM

    you have to install the font, and here is that you can do:    open control panel, and open there the fonts folder. After that simply pull the desired font in that folder, and it will install that. After that, open photoshop, and you can work with that. You have to reopen Photoshop if it was already started, just after the installation, you can use the font.

  80. Alex on October 10, 2011 2:35 AM

    man   yo are suck a idiot      the post are so stupid pls explain your self wend yo make a new  topic :|

  81. Timos on October 16, 2011 7:49 PM

    shit tut, so badly explained ….waste of time

  82. REX on October 29, 2011 2:57 PM

    suck explained!!!!!!!

  83. Ziad on December 29, 2011 9:20 PM

    good job

  84. Aaa on January 27, 2012 3:20 PM

    Suck explaned!!!

  85. DungeonSTW on June 6, 2012 9:39 PM

    Worlds worst tutorial

  86. eduard on September 12, 2012 5:08 PM

    aw i wish i could be the next top artist..

  87. mary on October 22, 2012 3:45 AM

    i cant do
    i wantttttttttttttttttttt

  88. You Suck on January 22, 2013 3:31 AM

    Wast of time… Poorly explained

  89. That guys on September 27, 2013 1:04 AM

    how do you make the blur effect please?

  90. Medical Specialists on February 18, 2014 11:53 PM

    explained very well, dont listen to thge negitive feedback

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