All your Font Needs
Water Text in Photoshop
For this tutorial, we will use the Free Font “Liquide” from Philip Fisser and some transparent png images of water drops to complement your artwork.
1 - In Photoshop, create a “New Document”. Make it the size you want.
2 - Click on the small “Black/White” Circle button at the bottom of the “Layers” Panel to create a “New Gradient Fill Layer”. Make your Gradient “Radial” with a 45° “Angle”, a 55% “Scale” and use #ddebdb as your first swatch and #668878 as the second. Make sure the “Align with layer” box is checked.
3 - Select the “Type Tool” (T), choose your font (we used “Liquide”) and type your text. Use an intermediate shade between the two you used in your “Background” Gradient (we used #c4e0bf).
4 - Double-click on your “Text” Layer thumbnail and apply the following “Layer Styles”:
Bevel & Emboss: Gloss Contour: Ring)
Contour: (Gloss Contour: Cone)
Inner Shadow: (#ffffff)
Inner Glow: (#ffffff)
Satin: (#ffffff and Contour: Cone - Inverted)
Color Overlay: (#000000)
Drop Shadow: (#000000)
5 - Right-click on top of your “Text” Layer thumbnail and choose “Convert to Smart Object”.
6 - Go to Object > Filter > Liquify (Shift + Command/Control + X). Select the “Bloat” brush and use a “Size” of 100, “Density” of 50, “Pressure” of 1 and “Rate” of 80. Just click and hold on top of the ends of your letters to “Bloat” them just as water should do. Work on your letters to make them look like made out of water. Remember that you just have one “Undo” (Command/Control + Z). Once you are happy, click “OK”.
7 - Duplicate your Text Layer (Command/Control + J), hide your duplicate (small eye icon to the left of the thumbnail) and change the “Blending Mode” of the original Layer to “Luminosity”.
8 - Go to Filter > Noise Median and use a “Radius” of 6 Pixels. Then, go to Filter > Blur > Box Blur and use a “Radius” of 2 Pixels.
9 - Un-hide your top Text Layer and change the “Blending Mode” to “Pin Light”. Make a duplicate of this Layer and use “Lighter Color” with an “Opacity” of 30% as “Blending Mode”.
10 - Open the Water Drops image you want to use and bring it into your Document. Use “Free Transform” (Command/Control + T) to Resize it if needed, then click Return/Enter. Name this Layer “Drops” and change the “Blending Mode” to “Pin Light”
11 - Go to the “Adjustments Panel” and create a “New Color Lookup Adjustment Layer”. Since our Background has Green tones we used “TensionGreen.3DL” as “3DLUT File”. Clip it to your “Drops” Layer by clicking on the small button at the bottom of the Panel.
12 - If some “Drops” are on top of your letters, use the “Polygonal Lasso Tool” (L) to select them and then move them with the “Move Tool” (V).
13 - Your Artwork should look similar to this:
You may need to change some of the values in your Filters and Layers Styles depending on the size and characteristics of your Font and on your Document’s Resolution.
by @lornacane
