Final Image :
The highlight of this tutorial is to make the text stand out from the background without converting the text to a 3D text with the help of shadows. Open a new document in Adobe Photoshop with width = 500 px, and height = 500 px and continue with the following steps.
STEP 1 : Three layers contribute to the creation of a background in Photoshop. To create the first layer, select the ' Create New Layer ' icon available in Layers window or go to Layer menu > New > Layer, and give a name for the layer as = Cloud . Set the foreground color in the color swatch under Tools as Black and set the Background color as White. Selecting the Cloud layer, use the shortcut, CTRL + Backspace to fill the layer with Background color white. Next, go to FILTER menu > RENDER and select the option > CLOUDS. The cloud effect can now be noticed with black appearing in a foggy manner over the white background.
STEP 2 : To add color to the clouds, let us not make changes directly to the clouds layer. Instead let us create adjustment layers and position it over the cloud layer. Go to LAYER menu, select > New Fill Layer > Gradient. Select the gradient = Red, Green gradient. Set the gradient style to = Radial. The gradient is placed at angle of 45 degree and scaled to 90 degree. Set the Blend mode of this fill layer as = OVERLAY and name the layer as = Gradient fill. Now again, go to LAYER menu and select > New Fill Layer > Color. Set the color as # b10606 ( Red color ). Name this layer as = Red and adjust the blend mode of this layer in Layers window as = MULTIPLY. Check that the Gradient fill layer is placed over the Clouds layer and the Red layer is placed over the Gradient fill layer.
STEP 3 : Use the Pen tool and draw a curve. Click on the document, and click again at some distance and drag the mouse in different directions to get a curve. The more you drag, the greater would be the curve and the distance between the anchor point from the first click and the anchor point from the second click defines the size of the curve. When one path is drawn, set the foreground color in color swatch as = # d6dd1a ( Yellow shade ). Set the brush size as 3 px and create a new layer and name it = Curve. While the pen tool is still selected, right click the path and select the sub option called = Stroke path. When a window is opened, select the stroke type as = Brush. You will notice that the path drawn using pen tool is stroked with the color yellow set as the foreground color and the thickness of the brush size set in the newly created layer called Curve.
STEP 4 : Make Four Duplicate copies of the curve layer using the shortcut CTRL + J ( by first selecting the curve layer). Position each layer beside the other and also move them downwards step by step. Select all the five curves ( CTRL + select multiple layers at once ) and group them into one group (not one layer) using the option, Layer menu > Group layers or new > group from layers. Make duplicate copies of the groups ( right click the group and select > duplicate layers option as there is no shortcut for this feature ) and using the Transform tool rotate them. An important option that can be very useful is the options called Flip Horizontal / Flip Vertical. These options are visible when the Free transform tool is selected and right clicked. Using this feature, flip the groups and position them as seen in the image included.
STEP 5 : The first section of the image shows the original group. The second image shows two groups, where in one group the curves are flipped both horizontally and vertically and positioned at the top, whereas in the other group, the curves are flipped vertically and positioned down. The third section of the image shows the original curves being flipped only horizontally, and more copies are made, but not arranged in an order. The arrangement as shown in the third section of the five sections image is random. Hence there are totally FIVE groups that further contain five yellow curves. Totally there are 25 yellow curves rotated and flipped in different positions.
STEP 6 : For the grass like shape placed at the corner, we are going to use the pen tool again. Using the pen tool click on an area and at a particular distance, click again and drag at a very small distance to make a curve. We do not need a bulge for the curve that looks like a semi circle. We need a simple arc shaped curve. Now that the path is created, set the foreground color in color swatch as = # 3393d0 ( Blue shade ). Set the brush size as 2 px and create a new layer and name it = Arc. While the pen tool is still selected, right click the path and select the option = Stroke path. Select the stroke type as = Brush and also select the ' Stimulate Pressure ' option. The result is that, the path drawn using pen tool is stroked with the blue color set as the foreground color in the newly created layer called Curve. Along with the Layer option in Layers window, there is an option called > Paths. Under that you can notice the paths created using the pen tool. You can select the paths and delete them after the paths are stroked with brush or retain them for future reference.
STEP 7 : Make three copies of the curve by holding on to the ALT key, and clicking the shape and dragging the mouse ( to make one copy). Select all the three arc shapes and right click the layers and select the option > Merge layers. Name the merged layer as = Grass. Make copies of the grass layer and rotate them using the free transform tool. Position them in the corner as shown in the fourth section of the image. As seen in the fifth section of the image, make many copies and position them only on the right side of the background. Set the Blend mode of ALL the blue colored grass shape layers to = MULTIPLY in Layers window.
STEP 8 : The last step is to type the Text. Use the Type tool in the tools window and Type the alphabet ' B' with Font set to - ‘Times New Roman’ and Style set to = Regular with Size increased to as large as = 535 pt and Strong effect is selected as style. The color used for the Text is Black. Right click the text layer and select the Blending options. This feature is also available at Layer menu > Layer style > Blending options. Select the options Drop Shadow and Gradient overlay and make the following changes. Set the Blend mode of this layer in layers window as = SATURATION when the blending options adjustments are made.
- Drop Shadow setting : The Blend mode of the shadow is = MULTIPLY and the shadow color is Black. The shadow has an opacity of 80 percentage. The shadow is placed at an angle of 120 degree from the text. The Distance of the shadow is 40 px and spread is 68 px. The size of the shadow is 8 px. The contour style used is = Cone - inverted contour. The very important adjustment is the noise. The noise percentage is 40 %.
- Gradient Overlay setting : Set the Blend mode to = ' Normal ' with opacity as 24 percentage and the gradient style used as = Linear with angle = 90% and scaled to 100 %. The Gradient style used is a newly created gradient of four colors. Refer to the image included to understand how the gradient colors should be set. All the color in the gradient may look similar but, their shade values are different. For creating a new gradient, choose a default available Black and white gradient, and select the ' NEW ' option. After giving a name, select the black color of the Gradient and under color swatches, set the color to = # b0ff05 ( Florescent green shade ). Select the white color of the gradient and select color icon and set the new color to # 86be0b ( slightly darker than the first green color ). Click below the gradient bar to add more colors. Click twice. For one color icon set the shade # 52720e and for the other, # 2b3d04 ( Darke green color ).The location values for # b0ff05 ( Florescent green shade ) is zero percentage and the location for # 86be0b ( slightly darker than the florescent green color ) is 40 percentage. Also, the location for # 52720e ( Green color ) is 70 percentage and the last one # 86be0b ( Dark green shade ) is 100 percentage.
STEP 9 : Make a Duplicate copy of the text layer using CTRL + J as shortcut, and adjust the following Blending options. Set the Blend mode of this duplicate text layer as = VIVID LIGHT and also reduce the opacity to 90 percentage, the default being 100 percentage. Pllace this dupliacte layer over the original text layer.The Drop shadow setting and Gradient Overlay setting for the duplicate text layer is the same as above as applied for the original text layer.
Bevel and Emboss setting : The bevel used is = ' INNER BEVEL ' and technique used is = Smooth with Depth= 100 % and direction set to = UP. The size is set to = 5 px and soften level is 0 px. The contour used is = ' Linear contour ' and Highlight color is White and mode is = Screen and shadow color is Black and mode is = multiply and both set at 75%. The bevel is placed at an angle of 120 degree. Under the Bevel option there is also another option called Texture. The texture pattern selected here is applied over the bevel. Select the Texture called = Leaves. The texture is scaled to 67 % to fit on the text. The Depth of the texture is 441 ( Four hundred and forty one ) percentage. Position both the texts in the middle of the document.