Place An Image In Text In Photoshop
Learn Photoshop With Text Effects Tutorials At Photoshop Essentials.com
Written By Steve Patterson
In this Adobe Photoshop tutorial, we’re going to learn how to place an image in text, a very popular thing to do in Photoshop, and also a very easy thing to do as we’ll see.
Here’s the effect we’re going for:
Let’s get started!
Step 1: Open A Photo To Place Inside Your Text
First, we need the image that we’re going to place inside of our text. I’ll use this panoramic photo of Hawaii:
Photoshop Image In Text: An ocean view from Hawaii.
Step 2: Duplicate The Background Layer
If we look in the Layers palette, we can see that we currently have one layer, named Background. This layer contains our image. We need to duplicate this layer, and the easiest way to do that is by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac). If we look once again in the Layers palette, we see that we now have two layers. The original Background layer is on the bottom, and a copy of the Background layer, which Photoshop automatically named “Layer 1”, is sitting above it:
Photoshop Image In Text: Photoshop’s Layers palette.
Step 3: Add A New Blank Layer Between The Two Layers
Next, we need to add a new blank layer between the Background layer and “Layer 1”. Currently, “Layer 1” is the layer that’s selected in the Layers palette. We can tell which layer is selected because the selected layer is always highlighted in blue. Normally, when we add a new layer, Photoshop places the new layer directly above whichever layer is currently selected, which means that Photoshop would place the layer above “Layer 1”. That’s not what we want. We want the new layer to be placed below “Layer 1”. Here’s a useful trick. To add a new layer below the currently selected layer, hold down your Ctrl (Win) / Command (Mac) key and click on the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette. Holding down Ctrl (Win) / Command (Mac) is the trick to placing the layer below the currently selected layer:
Photoshop Image In Text: Hold down “Ctrl” (Win) / “Command” (Mac) and click on the New Layer icon in the Layers palette.
We now have a new blank layer named “Layer 2” sitting directly between the Background layer and “Layer 1”:
Photoshop Image In Text: The Layers palette showing the new blank layer between the Background layer and “Layer 1”.
Step 4: Fill The New Layer With White
At the moment, our new layer is completely blank. Let’s fill it with white so it will appear as a white background after we’ve placed our image inside the text. Go up to the Edit menu at the top of the screen and choose Fill. This will bring up Photoshop’s Fill dialog box. Select White for the Contents option at the top of the dialog box, then click OK to exit out of the dialog box:
Photoshop Image In Text: Select White for the Contents option at the top of the Fill command’s dialog box.
Nothing will appear to have happened in the document window, since the image on “Layer 1” is blocking “Layer 2” from view, but if we look at the layer preview thumbnail for “Layer 2” in the Layers palette, we can see that sure enough, the layer is now filled with solid white:
Photoshop Image In Text: The preview thumbnail for “Layer 2” shows that the layer is now filled with white.
Step 5: Select “Layer 1” In The Layers Palette
It’s time to add our text, but in order to see the text when we add it, we’ll need to have the text appear above “Layer 1”, otherwise the image on “Layer 1” will block the text from view. To make sure we can see our text, click on “Layer 1” in the Layers palette to select it. This way, as soon as we begin typing, Photoshop will create a new type layer for us and place the type layer directly above “Layer 1”:
Photoshop Image In Text: Click on “Layer 1” in the Layers palette to select it.
Step 6: Select The Type Tool
To add the text, we’ll need Photoshop’s Type Tool, so select the Type Tool from the Tools palette. You can also quickly select the Type Tool by pressing the letter T on your keyboard:
Photoshop Image In Text: Select the Type Tool.
Step 7: Choose A Font In The Options Bar
With the Type Tool selected, go up to the Options Bar at the top of the screen and choose whichever font you want to use for the effect. Generally, fonts with thick letters work best. I’m going to choose Arial Black. Don’t worry about the font size for now:
Photoshop Image In Text: Select a font in the Options Bar.
Step 8: Set White As Your Foreground Color
This step isn’t absolutely necessary, but to help me see my text, I’m going to use white for my text color. The color you choose for your text doesn’t really matter since we’ll be filling the text with an image in a moment, but it still helps to be able to see the text when we’re adding it. To set the text color to white, all we need to do is set Photoshop’s Foreground color to white. First, press the letter D on your keyboard, which will reset the Foreground and Background colors to their defaults. Black is the default color for the Foreground color and white is the default color for the Background color. To swap them so white becomes the Foreground color, press the letter X on your keyboard. If you look at the Foreground and Background color swatches near the bottom of the Tools palette, you’ll see that white is now the Foreground color (the left swatch):
Photoshop Image In Text: Setting the Foreground color to white sets the text color to white as well.
Step 9: Add Your Text
With the Type Tool selected, your font chosen and white as your Foreground color, click inside your document window and add your text. Since I’m using a photo of an ocean scene in Hawaii, I’m going to type the word “HAWAII”:
Photoshop Image In Text: Click inside the document and add your text.
When you’re done, click on the checkmark up in the Options Bar to accept the text.
Photoshop Image In Text: Click on the checkmark in the Options Bar to accept the text.
Step 10: Resize and Reposition The Text With The Free Transform Command
You’ll probably need to resize and reposition your text at this point, and we can do both of those things using Photoshop’s Free Transform command. Press Ctrl+T (Win) / Command+T (Mac) on your keyboard to bring up the Free Transform box and handles around your text, then drag any of the handles to resize the text. If you want to resize the text without distorting the look of it, hold down your Shift key and drag any of the four corner handles. You can also resize the text from its center by holding down the Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) key as you drag. Finally, to move the text, click anywhere inside the Free Transform box and drag your mouse to move the text around inside the document window:
Photoshop Image In Text: Use Photoshop’s Free Transform command to resize and move the text.
Press Enter (Win) / Return (Mac) when you’re done to accept the transformation and exit out of the Free Transform command.
Step 11: Drag The Text Layer Below “Layer 1”
Now that we have our text the way we want it, we need to move the type layer below the text in the Layers palette. Click on the text layer, then simply drag it down below “Layer 1”. You’ll see a thick black line appear between “Layer 1” and “Layer 2”:
Photoshop Image In Text: Drag the type layer below “Layer 1”.
Release your mouse button when the black line appears to drop the type layer into place between “Layer 1” and “Layer 2”:
Photoshop Image In Text: The type layer now appears between “Layer 1” and “Layer 2”.
Step 12: Select “Layer 1” Again
Click once again on “Layer 1” in the Layers palette to select it:
Photoshop Image In Text: The type layer now appears between “Layer 1” and “Layer 2”.
The text will temporarily disappear inside the document window now that the image on “Layer 1” is blocking it from view.
Step 13: Create A Clipping Mask
To create the illusion that the photo is inside the text, we need to use a clipping mask. This will “clip” the photo on “Layer 1” to the text on the layer directly below it. Any areas of the photo that appear directly above the letters will remain visible in the document. The rest of the photo will disappear from view.
With “Layer 1” selected in the Layers palette, go up to the Layer menu at the top of the screen and choose Create Clipping Mask:
Photoshop Image In Text: Go to Layer > Create Clipping Mask.
If we look in the document window, we can see that the photo now appears to be inside the text:
Photoshop Image In Text: The photo now appears inside the letters.
Step 14: Add A Drop Shadow (Optional)
To complete my effect, I’m going to add a drop shadow to the letters. If you want to follow along, first select the type layer in the Layers palette, then click on the Layer Styles icon at the bottom of the Layers palette:
Photoshop Image In Text: Select the type layer, then click on the Layer Styles icon.
Select Drop Shadow from the list of layer styles that appears:
Photoshop Image In Text: Select the Drop Shadow layer style.
This brings up Photoshop’s Layer Style dialog box set to the Drop Shadow options in the middle column. I’m going to leave most of the options alone, but I’ll lower the Opacity of the drop shadow down to about 60% so it’s not quite so intense, and I’ll set the Angle of the drop shadow to 120°:
Photoshop Image In Text: The Layer Style dialog box displaying the options for the Drop Shadow.
Click OK when you’re done to apply the drop shadow an exit out of the Layer Style dialog box. Here is my final “image in text” effect:
Photoshop Image In Text: The final “image in text” effect.
And there we have it!
Placing Multiple Images In Text In Photoshop
Learn Photoshop with Text Effects Tutorials at Photoshop Essentials.com
Written By Steve Patterson
In a previous Photoshop text effects tutorial, we looked at how to place a single image inside text. This time, we’re going to take things further and learn how to place multiple images in text. This is a popular effect that’s often used in advertising and promotional material but is also lots of fun just to play around with on your own. We’re going to take a word and place a different image inside each individual letter. It’s very easy to do, and a lot of it is just simple repetition.
I’ll be using some images made freely available by the good folks at NASA, along with a font that’s also freely available online, but as always, the end result I come up with here is not what’s important. The point is learning how it’s done so you can use the same techniques to bring your own ideas to life. Having said that, he’s the result I’ll be working towards in this tutorial:
Let’s get started!
Step 1: Open The Image You Want To Use As Your Background Image
The first thing we need to do is open our initial image, the one we’ll be using as the background. Of course, you don’t necessarily need to use an image. You could have a solid color background, a gradient, a pattern – whatever you like. I just happen to be using an image, and here’s the one I’ll be using:
Images In Text: The original image that will be used as the background.
Step 2: Select Photoshop’s Type Tool
Select the Type Tool from the Tools palette, or simply press the letter T on your keyboard to select it:
Images In Text: Select the Type Tool.
Step 3: Select Your Font In The Options Bar
With the Type Tool selected, go up to the Options Bar at the top of the screen and choose your font. You’ll want to use a font that will give you thick letters for this effect, otherwise it will be tough to see the images inside them. Don’t worry about the font size for now, since we can easily resize it as needed later. I’m going to use a font called “Mathmos Original”, a sci-fi font which I downloaded for free from 1001 Free Fonts:
Images In Text: Select your font from the Options Bar at the top of the screen.
Step 4: Set Your Text Color To Something You’ll Be Able To See In Front Of Your Image
Before we begin typing, let’s make sure our text color is something we’ll be able to see. My image is mostly black, and by default, my text color is also set to black, which will make seeing it a bit difficult, so I’m going to change it to a different color. To do that, I’ll click on the color swatch in the Options Bar:
Images In Text: Change the color of your text by clicking on the color swatch in the Options Bar (with the Type Tool selected).
Then I’ll choose a different color from Photoshop’s Color Picker. It doesn’t matter which color you choose since you won’t see it once we fill the text with images, so don’t spend too much time on your decision. I’ll choose a shade of red:
Images In Text: Choosing white from the Color Picker in Photoshop.
Click OK to accept the new color and exit out of the Color Picker. The color swatch in the Options Bar now changes to show the color you selected. In my case, it’s showing red:
Images In Text: The color swatch in the Options Bar has changes to show the new text color.
Step 5: Type The First Letter Of Your Word
In order to add a different image inside each letter of a word, we’ll need to work with each letter individually, so let’s create our word one letter a time. This way, each letter will appear on its own layer in the Layers palette. Click approximately where you want your first letter to appear inside your document and type the letter. I’m going to be using the word “SPACE”, and since the first letter of the word is “S”, I’ll type “S” (I know, it’s all very complicated stuff):
Images In Text: Type the first letter of your word.
When you’re done, click on the checkmark in the Options Bar to commit the text.
Images In Text: Commit the text by clicking on the checkmark in the Option Bar.
If we look at our Layers palette, we can see that we now have two layers – the Background layer on the bottom which contains whatever you happen to be using as your background, and the first letter of our word on its own layer above it:
Images In Text: The Layers palette in Photoshop showing the Background layer and the letter on its own layer above it.
Step 6: Resize And Reposition The Letter If Needed With Free Transform
If, like me, you need to resize the letter and move it into a better position, press Ctrl+T (Win) / Command+T (Mac) to bring up Photoshop’s Free Transform box and handles around the letter. Hold down your Shift key and drag any of the corner handles to resize it. Holding down Shift prevents you from accidentally distorting the look of the letter as you drag. You can also hold down Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) to tell Photoshop to resize the letter from its center, which is often helpful.
To move the letter, click anywhere inside the Free Transform box and drag the letter where you need it. Just don’t click on the small target symbol in the very center, otherwise you’ll move the target symbol, not the letter. As you’re resizing the letter, keep in mind how many other letters you’ll need to add so you don’t end up making the letter too big:
Images In Text: Resize and reposition the letter as needed using Photoshop’s Free Transform command.
Press Enter (Win) / Return (Mac) when you’re done to accept the transformation and exit out of the Free Transform command.
Step 7: Add A Stroke Around The Letter (Optional)
Depending on the images you’ll be placing inside your letters, as well as the background you’re using, it may be difficult to make out the shapes of the letters when you’re done. To help keep things readable, I’m going to add a white stroke around my letters. I could wait until the end to add the stroke around all the letters, but since I already know what I want to do, I’m going to save myself some time by adding it to this first letter. That way, when I go to create the rest of my letters by making copies of this first one, the stroke will be copied along with it.
To add a stroke, click on the Layer Styles icon at the bottom of the Layers palette:
Images In Text: Click on the Layer Styles icon.
Then select Stroke from the bottom of the list of Layer Styles that appears:
Images In Text: Select “Stroke” from the list of Layer Styles.
This brings up Photoshop’s Layer Style dialog box set to the Stroke options in the middle column. The first thing I’m going to do is lower the Size of the stroke down to 2 px. If you’re working in high resolution, you’ll probably want to set your stroke size higher. I’m also going to change the Position of the stroke to Inside. Finally, by default, Photoshop sets the color of strokes to red, which makes no sense. I want my stroke color to be white, so I’ll click on the color swatch to the right of the Color option, which again brings up Photoshop’s Color Picker, and I’ll change the stroke color to white:
Images In Text: The Stroke options in the Layer Style dialog box in Photoshop.
Click OK when you’re done to apply the stroke to the letter and exit out of the dialog box. Here we can see my white stroke applied to the letter “S”:
Images In Text: The letter is now surrounded by a thin white stroke.
Step 8: Copy The Type Layer
Before I place an image inside my letter, I’m going to finish adding the rest of my letters to create my complete word. To create my second letter, I’m simply going to press Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac) to duplicate my Type layer. Nothing seems to have happened in my document window, but if I look at the Layers palette, I can see that I now have my original Type layer containing the letter “S”, as well as a copy of it, also currently containing the letter “S”, above it:
Images In Text: Press “Ctrl+J” (Win) / “Command+J” (Mac) to make a copy of the Type layer.
Step 9: Move The Second Letter Into Position
By making a copy of our initial letter, we’ve created our second letter. Of course, there’s a couple of problems at the moment. For one thing, both letters are sitting directly on top of each other, and they’re also set to the exact same letter. Let’s take care of the first problem by moving the second letter into position. To do that, we’ll need the Move Tool. Now, you could select the Move Tool from the Tools palette, but that’s the “getting paid by the hour” way. Here’s a handy trick. To temporarily switch to the Move Tool from any other tool (except the Hand Tool), just hold down your Ctrl (Win) / Command (Mac) key. This gives you quick access to the Move Tool without having to select it. Then, while still holding down “Alt/Option”, hold down your Shift key to constrain your movements in a horizontal line and drag the second letter to the right until it’s in position:
Images In Text: Use the Move Tool to drag the second letter into position.
Step 10: Change The Letter
Now we need to change the letter itself. To do that, double-click directly on the Type layer’s thumbnail in the Layers palette:
Images In Text: Double-click on the thumbnail of the Type layer.
This will highlight the letter in the document window:
Images In Text: The letter is now highlighted.
Change the letter to the second letter of your word. Since my word is “SPACE”, I’ll enter “P” on my keyboard:
Images In Text: Change the letter to the second letter of your word.
When you’re done, click once again on the checkmark in the Options Bar to accept the change and exit out of text editing mode:
Images In Text: Click on the checkmark in the Options Bar to accept the change.
Step 11: Add The Remaining Letters
Repeat steps 8-10 to add the rest of your letters and complete the word. Use the Move Tool to make any adjustments to the spacing between the letters until you have everything looking the way you want it. Here’s my completed word:
Images In Text: Repeat the previous three steps to complete your word.
Notice that the white stroke I added to my initial letter has been automatically added to every letter in the word, since each letter is essentially a copy of the first one. And if I look in my Layers palette now, I can see that each letter in the word is on its own separate layer, which is going to make it very easy to place an image inside each one individually:
Images In Text: The Layers palette in Photoshop showing each letter on its own layer.
We’ll begin placing images inside our letters next!
Step 12: Select The First Letter In The Layers Palette
Now that we have our word with each letter on its own separate layer, we can begin placing images inside the letters. We’ll start with the first letter, which in my case is “S”. Click on the letter’s layer in the Layers palette to select it. You’ll know it’s selected because it will be highlighted in blue:
Images In Text: Select the first letter’s layer in the Layers palette.
Step 13: Open The Image You Want To Place Inside The Letter
With the layer selected, open the image you want to place inside the first letter. If, when you open the image, it appears in one of Photoshop’s full screen modes, press the letter F on your keyboard until the image appears in a document window. Here’s the image I’ll be using:
Images In Text: Open the image you want to place inside your first letter.
Step 14: Drag The Image Into The Main Document
With the image open in its own document window, simply click anywhere inside the image and drag it into the main document:
Images In Text: Click inside the image and drag it into the main document.
If we look in the Layers palette now, we can see that Photoshop has placed the image on its own layer directly above the first letter of the word:
Images In Text: The Layers palette showing the image now appearing on “Layer 1” directly above the first letter in the word.
And if we look in our main document, we can see the image blocking the first letter, as well as much of the background, from view:
Images In Text: The main document showing the second image now blocking the first letter and some of the background image from view.
Step 15: Create A Clipping Mask
To place the image directly inside the letter, or at least make it appear as if that’s what we’ve done, we’re going to use a clipping mask. The letter is going to become a mask for the image above it, which means that the only part of the image that will remain visible is the area directly over top of the letter. The rest of the image will be hidden, creating the illusion that the image is actually inside the letter!
To create the clipping mask, make sure that you have the image’s layer (“Layer 1”) selected in the Layers palette, then go up to the Layer menu at the top of the screen
Images In Text: Choose “Create Clipping Mask” from the “Layer” menu.
You can also use the keyboard shortcut Alt+Ctrl+G (Win) / Option+Command+G (Mac). Either way “clips” the image to the shape of the letter. If we look again in the Layers palette, we can see that “Layer 1” now appears indented to the right with a small arrow pointing down at the Type layer below it, telling us that we’ve successfully created our clipping mask:
Images In Text: The Layers palette in Photoshop showing “Layer 1” being “clipped” by the Type layer below it.
And if we look in our main document, we can see that sure enough, the image now appears as if it’s inside the letter:
Images In Text: The image now appears inside the first letter of the word.
Step 16: Resize And Reposition The Image Inside The Letter
We have our first image inside our first letter. All we need to do now is resize and reposition it so it looks the way we want it. To do that, with “Layer 1” still selected, press Ctrl+T (Win) / Command+T (Mac) to bring up Photoshop’s Free Transform box and handles around the image. The Free Transform box and handles will appear around the entire image, even though the only part of the image you can see is whatever’s showing inside the letter.
If you can’t see some of the Free Transform handles because they extend outside the viewable area in the document window, press Ctrl+0 (Win) / Command+0 (Mac) to fit everything on the screen. Then simply drag any of the corner handles to resize the image. Hold down your Shift key as you drag to constrain the proportions of the image, and hold down Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) to resize the image from its center if that makes it easier. Move the image around inside the letter by clicking and dragging anywhere inside the Free Transform box:
Images In Text: Use Free Transform to move and resize the image inside the letter.
When you’re done, press Enter (Win) / Return (Mac) to accept the changes and exit out of the Free Transform command. Here’s my image with the work on my first letter now complete:
Images In Text: The first letter is done.
Step 17: Repeat The Same Steps With The Other Letters
To place images inside the remaining letters, simply repeat the same steps we used with our initial letter. First, select the letter in the Layers palette. Then open the image you want to place inside the letter, pressing F on your keyboard a few times if needed until the image appears in its own document window. Click anywhere inside the image and drag it into the main document. The image will appear on its own layer above the letter you had selected. Create a clipping mask to place the image directly inside the letter, then finish things off by using Free Transform to resize and reposition the image inside the letter as needed. It’s all just a matter of repeating the same steps, using different images for each letter, until you’re done!
I’ll go ahead and place images inside my remaining letters using the steps I just outlined. We can see in my Layers palette now that each letter has a separate image on a layer directly above it, and that each image is being “clipped” to the shape of the letter:
Images In Text: The Layers palette showing a separate image on a layer directly above each letter. Each letter is being used as a clipping mask for the image above it.
After viewing my final effect, it seemed like the white stroke around the letters looked a little boring by itself, especially for an outer space design. So to help give my letters more of a sci-fi look to them, I’ve added an Outer Glow layer style around them, using a light blue/purple color similar to the galaxy swirling around in the background. I won’t bother outlining the steps for adding the Outer Glow layer style, since it’s not the subject of this tutorial and you may not need or want to use it with your design.
I’ve also cropped the image around the word to give the effect more focus. Here’s my final result:
Images In Text: The final result.
Warped Effect
A simple tutorial to show you how to make your image looked warped. A nice effect used in alot of professional advertising . .
 |
To start off, select the image you want to apply the effect to. This effect works best on fast “moving” type images such as sports or cars, but really, you can apply it to any image you want. |
 |
Now duplicate the original layer, to do this, right click on the layer on the layers pallete then select “duplicate layer” (or just press “CTRL+J“ |
 |
Now, with the TOP layer selected as your working layer, go to Filter » Blur-Radial Blur . Amount: 100 You can play around with this. Method: Zom Quality: Good (or Best for better quality)You should now have something like the image to the left. |
 |
Now turn the opacity of the top layer down to about 50% so you can see the the bottom original image.Now select the eraser tool, and select brush size of about 20 to 30 SOFT EDGE. now use the eraser tool to erase out the top image to reveal the item you want to focus from the original layer. |
 |
now just turn the opacity of the top layer back up to 100 and you will see the effect. use the eraser tool to erase out any other part you want to show from the original image. |
 |
Now, with the top layer selected as your working layer, go to image » adjustments » levels.adjust the sliders to adjust color contrasts of your warped effect. |
SOURCE: http://photoshopessentials.com http://www.tutorialwiz.com
The Dudz Lopez 
