Altering Text
There are many things you can do with text in Photoshop. Here we will see how to use paper over text, a style and how to infill with a
color or pattern.
To overlay a solid style font, open a new document at 300ppi (my sizes were 1800 x 600). Find the font you wish to use and type your word(s). You may find you need to use a wider style font at a large point size. Here I used Bookman Old Style font at 400 points which makes the capital letter just about an inch tall. Select the layer palette menu (right click on the layer) or top menu options to rasterise
(it's called "simplify" in PSE) your text.
Firstly we will overlay the text with the paper of your choice...this is done using a clipping mask. You can use the layer palette menu (right click on the layer for the options) or the top menu options to create a mask. This overlays the paper to the shape of the text. Merge the mask and there is your patterned paper text.
If you want to further define the text you can add an outside stroke either through the layer palette menu options as I have done or in other versions of Photoshop. I chose the darker blue spot as the color to outline at size 9 pixels which is enough to define the outer edge of the letters. You can use a much larger size and make the stroke run together for each letter, so that you have a solid outline all around the text.
Another way to transform your text is to use a style. There are many free Photoshop styles available on the web for personal use and you can get some interesting texture and color effects. Here I have used a style that gives a woven type texture. Styles are easy to use and alter.
If you want to use a font that is an outline only, but then color in the center you can use the paint bucket. Create your word as before, but then choose your colors (or infill pattern by switching the foreground option to pattern) and click with your bucket onto each piece of letter to be filled.
You can create some
interesting effects using a combination of
these methods. It is ideal when you have a
digital kit you love but which has no alpha.
Simply use the paper method with one or more
papers (you can do one at a time and erase
over the letters to show the previous paper)
and you have a coordinating piece of text for your kit – make a whole alphabet even! Similarly, select one or more of the
colors from a kit to “color in" your letters.
