Web Master Tutorials

Here’s a creative type effect that pulls the fill of the type right out of the photo itself. More than that, by using clipping masks to create this effect we can lighten or darken the type’s fill, all in an editable and movable way.

I like text that emanates right out of an image, with the text shape defined only by some shadow and emboss effects, and heightened in intensity by being lighter than the surrounding image. You could approach this technique using the Fill slider in the Layers palette (more below) but I find the method I’ll demonstrate here gives me more options, and provides a great tutorial on making clipping masks as well.

Add type to an image, large enough to have visual impact

I’ll start out with this image of an incense burner that I photographed in Hong Kong. The goal is to create a graphic with enough impact to be a book cover, but enough subtlety to the type that the type not pull the eye away from the underlying photograph.

Step 1

Choose the type tool from Tools, and then choose a large font, appropriate for the image. For this image I chose a font called Charlemegne, and entered 90 into the font size field to size the type to fill a large horizontal area of the image. Smaller point sizes can work as long as the font, and font size, end up with the desired effect. Font and font size can always be changed later as well.


Don’t worry too much about the position of the type at this point, but after entering the type and while the text is still active (cursor blinking), if you position the cursor away from the type it will turn into the Move tool and you can reposition the type as you go. We will center it later on.
When you have finished typing, click the “check mark” in the Options bar, or press the Enter key on your numeric keypad, to commit the type.

Add type effects

Step 2

Next we’ll add some layer effects to the type. You can choose layer styles from the fx menu at the bottom of the Layers palette, or as I’ve done here simply double click at the far right, in the blank area, of the type layer in the Layer’s palette.

In the Layer Style dialog I’ve chosen Drop Shadow, and left the default Drop Shadow settings. Then I chose Bevel and Emboss, and chose Outer Bevel from the drop down menu. The effects preview as they are chosen, but once we are done with the next steps it’s easy to double click in the Layers palette again to bring up the Layer Styles dialog to make changes.

When satisfied with the effects click “OK” to dismiss the dialog.
Create a Clipping Mask with a duplicate of the Background
Now we need a duplicate of the Background layer that we can move upstairs to the top of the Layers palette, in order to use it, along with the type layer, to create a Clipping Mask from the type’s shape.

Step 3

Duplicate the background layer by dragging it to the New Layer icon (the little “dog eared” document icon at the bottom of the Layers palette).

Step 4

Move the duplicate layer above the type layer.

Step 5

Make a Clipping Mask from the type’s shape by holding down the Option (Mac), or Alt (Windows), key and hovering the cursor on the line between the Background Copy layer and the type layer below it. When hovering just over the divider line, with Option/Alt held down, the cursor turns into two overlapping circles with an arrow indicating a Clipping Mask will be created if you click there. Do so and the Background Copy layer becomes clipped to the shape of the type layer.

When a layer is clipped to the shape of a layer below it, via a Clipping Mask, the top layer of the Clipping Mask jogs to the right with an arrow pointing down to the layer it is clipped to.

We could have gotten to this same point from a completely other direction, and that would be by creating the type, adding the effects, and then dragging the Fill slider in the Layers palette all the way down to 0%. A Fill of 0% will make the type transparent while leaving the effects intact. However that alone does not separate out from the photograph very well and these next steps wouldn’t have the desired effect, so we’ll stay on course with Clipping Masks.

Add an adjustment layer to the Clipping Mask to lighten the type

Next we’ll add another layer to our Clipping Mask, in this case an adjustment layer. We’ll create the adjustment layer as part of the Clipping Mask using a different method than above.

Step 6

Hold down the Option (Mac), or Alt (Windows), key while choosing an adjustment layer and you will be prompted with a check-box to make a Clipping Mask. In this case I have held down the Option/Alt key while choosing a Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer from the adjustment layers menu at the bottom of the Layers palette.

Check the box next to “Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask”.

As soon as the adjustment layer’s dialog box appears, the adjustment layer itself will appear above the currently active layer already clipped to the shape of the Type layer, just as the Background Copy layer is. In this case I drag the Brightness slider upward and as I do so I can see the type get lighter in the image.

Center the type using Align Layers

Now that we have the type the way we want, popping out from the photograph as part of the image itself, we want to center it. Of course where the type is positioned may depend on the elements in the image, but centering this text will work best here visually to balance out the incense burner which is slightly off center.

Step 7

Select all the layers by clicking on the Background layer and then shift-clicking on the top-most layer.

Step 8

From the Layers menu, choose Align Layers > Horizontal Centers.

This will snap all the layers above the Background layer to the horizontal center of the image.

If you choose, you can reposition the type anywhere in the image by selecting the Type layer and the Brightness/Contrast layer (but not the Background Copy layer) and moving them. Try this type technique in smooth background areas of a photograph, like the sky in a landscape, and with different Drop Shadow and Bevel/Emboss effects as well.

42 Responses to “Photo Filled Type”

Leave a Reply

Name (required)

Email (required) (not shown)

Website