Glitter Glue Text Effect in Photoshop

This tutorial is perfect for you if you want to add a little glitter effect in Photoshop to your text or images. We will show you how to make the glitter pattern from scratch and how to apply it to text.

You can purchase glitter textures from Design Bundles instead if you would rather not make your own.

For this tutorial, we are going to use the all lowercase font, Dallon, from Font Bundles.

Step 1 - Fill Background with Medium Gray Using the Bucket Tool

Set the Foreground color to a medium gray and the Background color to white. Use the Bucket Tool (G) to fill your background with the medium gray.

Step 2 - Apply Film Grain and Sketch Filters

Go to Filter > Filter Gallery > Artistic > Film Grain.

Apply a value of 20 to Grain and Highlight Area. Set Intensity to 10. Click on the New Layer button at the bottom of the menu and add another filter.

Use Sketch > Halftone Pattern. Set Size to 1, Contrast to 10, and choose Dot as the Pattern Type.

Step 3 - Duplicate Layer and Rotate Duplicate 90° Clockwise

Duplicate the layer by dragging it onto the New Layer button at the bottom of the Layer panel. Change the duplicate layer's Blending Mode to Linear Burn.

Go to Edit > Transform > Rotate 90° Clockwise.

Step 4 - Create a Solid Color New Fill or Adjustment Layer with Blending Mode Overlay

Create a New Fill or Adjustment Layer by clicking the button at the bottom of the Layer panel and choosing Solid Color.

Choose the color you want your glitter to be. We chose #fb04f2. Change the Blending Mode to Overlay. You can change your color by double-clicking on the layer’s thumbnail if you want.

Step 5 - Create a Levels New Fill or Adjustment Layer

Create another New Fill or Adjustment Layer but this time, choose Levels and change the Shadows value to 100 and the Highlights value to 250 to add more contrast. Feel free to experiment with the adjustments until you achieve a result of your liking.

Step 6 - Select Background Layer and Define Pattern

Select your Background layer, go to Edit > Define Pattern, and name your glitter texture pattern. You may want to save the Photoshop document so you can create other colors or texture variations.

Step 7 - Create a New Photoshop Document

Now, create a new Photoshop document or open an existing one. Try to make it the same resolution you used for the glitter pattern. If you have a background image you wish to use, add it to your file or use a contrasting color. We chose black.

Step 8 - Add Text Using the Type Tool

Select the Type Tool (T), choose your font, and add your text. Depending on the font you chose, you may want to increase the tracking a bit. We didn't need to increase the tracking with the font we used. Pick a color similar to the one you used for your glitter pattern.

Step 9 - Duplicate Text Layer and Rasterize Text of Duplicate Layer

Duplicate the text layer, and turn the visibility off for the original layer by clicking on the small eye icon to the left of the layer.

Right-click on the copy and select Rasterize Type.

Step 10 - Duplicate Layer and Decrease Fill to 0

Duplicate the rasterized text layer and decrease the Fill value of this copy to 0%.

Step 11 - Apply Inner Glow and Pattern Overlay Layer Styles to First Copy

Select the first copy and double-click on it to invoke the Layer Style dialog box. In the Inner Glow panel, select the color #ae05b0 or a darker shade of the one you chose for the text.

In the Pattern Overlay panel, use the glitter pattern we created previously and scale it 50%.

Step 12 - Apply Bevel & Emboss and Inner Glow Layer Styles to Second Copy

Now, double-click on the second layer copy. In the Bevel & Emboss panel, use the following values:

• Technique: Smooth
• Depth: 500%
• Size: 15 px
• Angle: 80°
• Altitude: 60°
• Highlight Mode: Linear Light
• Highlight Mode Opacity: 75%
• Shadow Mode Opacity: 0%

In the Inner Glow panel, select the color #f68bf7.

Step 13 - Expand Layer and Add a Value of 5 Pixels

Press and hold Command/Control and click on top of one of your layer's thumbnails to create a selection. Go to Select > Modify > Expand.

In the Expand Selection dialog box, enter a value of 5 pixels and click OK.

Step 14 - Create New (Edge) Layer and Fill It with Foreground Color

Create a new layer and name it Edge. Fill the selection with your Foreground color (#c90db9).

Step 15 - Apply Bevel & Emboss, Contour, and Inner Shadow Layer Styles to Edge Layer

Double-click on the Edge layer. In the Bevel & Emboss panel, use the following values:

• Angle: 180°
• Highlight Mode: Hard Light
• Highlight Mode Opacity: 73%

In the Contour panel, select Half Round for Contour and set the Range to 50%.

In the Inner Shadow panel, use the following values if you're using a darker background:

• Blend Mode: Luminosity
• Inner Shadow Color: white (#ffffff)
• Opacity: 100%
• Angle: 120°
• Distance: 0px
• Choke: 0%
• Size: 5px

If you are using a lighter background, use the following settings for Inner Shadow:

• Blend Mode: Multiply
• Inner Shadow Color: black (#000000)
• Opacity: around 20%
• Angle: 120°
• Distance: 0px
• Choke: 0%
• Size: 5px

Step 16 - Adjust Fill of Edge Layer to 0%

Change the Edge layer Fill value to 0%.

Step 17 - Group Three Topmost Layers

Select your three topmost layers and group them by clicking the Create a New Group button at the bottom of the Layer panel.

Alternate Liquid Text Style

If you want your text to look more like liquid, you can apply this filter after Step 9. Go to Filter > Liquify (Shift + Cmd/Ctrl + X) and play around with your text. Then proceed with the tutorial.

You can group your layers, turn them into a Smart Object, then apply the Liquify filter to your finished text, but it will make the glitter pattern look a bit deformed.