Tutorials

Icy Letters

7/23/2003

Every time I come on "The Screen Savers" I try to think of a fun and artistic Photoshop project. Today I'm showing you how to make your own winter landscape from scratch and create an image similar to the one I created for TSS segment producer, Kim Kinst.

Start landscaping

1. In a new Photoshop file, select the top half of the canvas with the Rectangular Marquee Tool.

2. In the selection, create a gradient with the Gradient Tool that has a dark blue at top to a lighter blue at the bottom.

3. In the Select menu, choose Inverse.

4. Make a New Layer.

5. Fill the selection with another gradient with a blue, lighter than the previous light blue going down to a very light blue at the bottom of the canvas. Deselect.

6. Make a new layer between the Background and the layer with the lighter gradient.
Making mountains

1. With The Pen Tool, make some shapes to resemble mountains along the horizon (where sky and land meet).

2. Make the path a selection and give it a gradient of light blue at top to a darker blue at bottom.

3. Lower the Opacity of the mountain layer to make them seem soft and distant.
Add your text

Now you need to make the letters. You want the edges of the type to be rounded.

1. Choose the Horizontal Type Mask Tool and type whatever you wish in whatever font you would like.

2. Turn the text that comes in as a selection into an Alpha channel by clicking Select and Save Selection.

3. Deselect.

Icy letters

1. Blur the Alpha channel enough to make the word soft (Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur).

2. Using the Levels command (click Image>Adjustments>Levels), push the white and black sliders inward to sharpen the word and make it rounded.

3. Go back to the RGB channel. Make a new layer in the Layer palette.

4. Load the Alpha channel into a selection by Command/Ctrl-clicking it in the Channel's palette.

5. Fill the selection with a radial gradient from light blue in the center to a dark blue.

6. Apply the Glass filter by clicking Filter, Distort, and Glass. Adjust the settings to give the letters an icy look.

3D icy letters

1. Duplicate the layer of the text.

2. Bring up the Layer Styles dialog box for the top text layer.

3. Apply a Bevel and Emboss. Adjust the settings till you get a three-dimensional look to the letters. Change the color for the Shadow Mode at the bottom from black to a deep blue.

4. Select the second text layer and scale it down slightly. Click Edit, Transform, and Scale.

5. Position it as centered behind the main text and deepen the colors with the Levels command. Click Image, then Adjustments, then Levels.

Snowy finishing touches

1. Create a new layer above all the rest.

2. With a hard-edged Paintbrush and white, paint in little snowdrifts at the bottom of the letters and hanging from the top.

3. Give the snow a little noise. Click Filter>Noise>Add Noise).

4. Apply a similar Layer Style as you did to the letters.

Create a letter reflection in the ice

1. Merge the two layers with the text. Duplicate the resulting layer.

2. Flip it vertically. Click Edit>Transform>Flip Vertical.

3. Lower it to a position under the original letters to look like a reflection.

4. Lower the Opacity and apply a Layer Mask to have the furthest portion disappear.
You're done!