Exploding Text in Photoshop

For this Tutorial, we will use Highliner Free Font from Anton Chergonorov and some “Dust” Photoshop Brushes that you can find online.

1 - In Photoshop, create a “New Document” and use black as “Background” color.

2 - Select the “Type Tool” (T) and type your text with the font of your choice (we used Highliner). Use white as “Fill” color.

3 - Double-click on your text layer and apply the following “Layer Styles”:

Inner Glow:

Gradient Overlay:

Outer Glow:

4 - Make sure your “Foreground” and “Background” colors are black and white respectively (if not, press “D” to reset them). Then, create a “New Layer” by clicking on the small button at the bottom of the “Layers” window.

5 - Make sure your new layer is on top, name it “Clouds” and go to Filter > Render > Clouds. Set the “Blending Mode” to “Overlay”.

6 - To load your “Dust” Brushes just double-click on “.abr” file you downloaded. Create a “New Layer”, place it on top and select the “Brush” Tool (B). Choose one of the brushes and click around the text adding some “Dust”. Remember to change the “Foreground” color to white.

7 - Change the size and select different brushes until you are satisfied with the result. Duplicate your “Text” Layer (Command/Control + J) and turn the original layer’s visibility off by clicking on the small eye icon in the left side of the thumbnail. (Use the original text layer in case you need to edit the text).

8 - Right-click on your duplicate text layer and chose “Rasterize Type”. Select the “Eraser” Tool (E) and using some of your “Dust” brushes erase some parts of the text.

9 - Go to the “Adjustments” Panel and add a “Gradient Map Adjustment Layer”, click on the “Gradient” Slider and apply something similar to this (The colors we used #070319, # 18245e, # 3928b4 and # e1cdef):

10 - Change the “Blending Mode” to “Linear Dodge (Add)”. Select your “Text” Layer and lower the “Opacity” a bit (to about 90%).

11 - Create a “New Layer”, place it on top of the “Background” Layer but under the “Text” Layers. Select the “Brush” Tool (B) and using a soft round large brush, with an “Opacity” of 20% and white as “Foreground” color, paint some light behind your text. Then, change the “Blending Mode” to “Lighten” and set the “Opacity” to 60%.

12- Check out your Artwork:

by @lornacane