Metals are highly reflective -- exactly the opposite of the solid matte colors that Photoshop CS5 allows you to choose for your text. To convert yellow, gray or brown letters into gold, silver or copper ones, you must apply layer effects, which will give the words a shiny, three-dimensional appearance. The exact values you need to apply to your text will vary according to your project and purpose. However, since Photoshop applies its effects in real time, you can watch the changes take place on the canvas as you work and adjust the effects to create exactly the look you want.
Instructions
Metallic Texture
1. Click on the "Foreground Color" well and click on a shade of medium gray, copper or gold, as appropriate to the metal you want to create. Click "OK" when you are finished.
2. Click on the "Paint Bucket" tool in the Toolbox, then click on the canvas to apply the color.
3. Click on the "Filter" menu, select "Noise," then choose "Add Noise."
4. Click inside the "Uniform" radio button to select it and inside the "Monochromatic" check box to deselect it. Drag the amount slider to the value that gives you the amount of grain you want. The more grain you choose, the coarser the grain of the finished metal will be.
5. Click the "Filter" menu, select "Blur," then choose "Motion Blur."
6. Enter "0" into the "Angle" text box, then drag the "Distance" slider to the right until the noise blurs into a smooth grain pattern.
7. Select the "Crop" tool from the Toolbox and crop out the rough edges or choose one of the selection tools, select the interior portion of the metal, then press "Ctrl" and "T" to scale the selection to fit the canvas.
8. Click on the "Filter" menu, select "Render," then choose "Lighting Effects."
9. Choose "Spotlight" from the "Light Type" drop-down box. Drag the "Intensity" slider toward "Full" and the "Focus" slider toward "Wide" until the light covers most of the metal's surface. Drag the "Material" slider toward "Metallic" and the "Ambiance" slider slightly toward "Positive" until you achieve a smooth, shiny look.
Metallic Text
10. Click on the Text Tool in the Toolbox, then click the "Color" selection box in the toolbar. Select a medium yellow, gray or copper, as appropriate to the metal you want to create.
11. Click on the canvas and type the text.
12. Double-click the text layer in the "Layers" palette to open the "Layer Styles" window.
13. Click inside the "Bevel and Emboss" and "Contour" check boxes, then click on the "Bevel and Emboss" layer style to reveal its attributes.
14. Select "Inner Bevel" from the "Styles" drop-down box and "Smooth" from the "Technique" drop-down box. Drag the "Depth" slider until the text has the three-dimensional look you want. This will usually be around 600 percent. Select "Up" as the direction, drag the "Size" slider to 13 pixels and the "Soften" slider to 2 pixels.
15. Click inside the "Use Global Light" check box under the "Shading" section, then adjust the "Angle" and "Altitude" of the vitual light source if desired. Select the "Linear" contour from the "Gloss Contour" drop-down box, then drag the "Highlight" and "Shadow" sliders to 75 percent. Select "Screen" as the "Highlight Mode" and "Multiply" as the "Shadow Mode."
16. Click inside the "Satin" checkbox, then click on the layer style to reveal its attributes.
17.Select "Multiply" from the "Blend Mode" drop-down box, drag the "Opacity" slider to 50 percent, and set the "Angle" to approximately 20 degrees. Next, drag the "Distance" slider to 11 pixels and the "Size" slider to 14 pixels. Finally, select the "Gaussian" curve from the "Contour" drop-down box and click inside the "Anti-aliased" and "Invert" check boxes.
18. Click the "Outer Glow" check box, then click on the layer style.
19. Drag the "Opacity" slider to 55 percent, then click on the solid yellow box. A color picker window will appear where you can select the glow color appropriate to your metal.
20. Drag the "Spread" slider to 56 percent, the "Size" slider to 2 pixels, the "Range" slider to 50 percent and the "Jitter" slider to 0 percent.
21. Click the "Inner Glow" check box, then click on the layer style.
22. Drag the "Opacity" slider to 95 percent, the "Noise" slider to 0 percent, the "Choke" slider to 30 percent and the "Size" slider to 5 pixels. Then click on the solid yellow box and choose the appropriate glow color for your metal from Color Picker.
23. Drag the "Range" slider to 50 percent and the "Jitter" slider to 15 percent, then close the Layer Styles box to see your metallic text.
Tags: slider percent, slider pixels, Click inside, layer style, Size slider