Type Art in Photoshop

For this tutorial, we will use an image of to use as an outline for the “Type Art” and a “Quote” that relates with your subject.

1 - In Photoshop, open the image you wish to convert to “Type Art”.

2 - Select the “Quick Selection Tool” (W), use the “Add to Selection” option in the upper menu and a large enough brush. Select your subject and then click on the “Select and Mask” button.

3 - Refine your selection (it doesn’t need to be perfect since we are only using it for reference). Crank the “Smooth” and “Contrast” values up to 100% and choose “Selection” as your “Output” option. Click “OK”.

4 - Create a “New Layer” by clicking on the button at the bottom of the “Layers Panel”. Then go to Edit > Stroke, choose a “With” of about 5 Pixels, a contrasting color (we used #fc0404). Use “Center” as “Location” and click “OK”. Name your layer “Outline”.

5 - Select the “Brush Tool” (B), use the same color and “Brush Size” as the “Stroke” and draw some lines dividing your image into sections. Leave enough space to make a word or words from the text you plan to use fits.

6 - Create a “New Layer”, place it between your “Background” and “Outline” layers and name it “Color”. Go to Edit > Fill (Shift + F5) and use a color that doesn’t blend with the one you used on the “Stroke” and that you like as a “Background” (we used #2c757c).

7 - Select the “Type Tool” (T), choose your font (we used “Arial Black”) and type your text.

8 - Right-click on top of your text layer thumbnail and choose “Rasterize Type”. Now, using the “rectangular Marquee Tool” (M), draw a square around the word or words of your text, “Cut” them out (Command/Control + X) and then “Paste” (Command/Control + V). Rename your newly created layer and repeat this for with the rest of your text.

9 - Use the “Move Tool” (V) to position your words on top of the section you want it to fill. Use “Free Transform” (Command/Control + T) to scale, rotate and/or resize them.

10 - Select one of your word layers, enter “Free Transform” (Command/Control + T) and click on the small “Wrap” button on the upper Menu to enter “Warp Transform”. Click and move the points of the “Mesh” to transform your text and make it fit the section you assigned to it. Once you are done click on the “Checkmark” in upper Menu or hit “Enter”. Repeat this with all your text and remember that you can toggle around between the two modes by clicking on the button.

11 - Select all your text layers (click on their thumbnails while holding the “Shift” key) and make a “Group” by clicking on the small “Folder” icon at the bottom of the “Layers Panel”. Turn off the visibility from the “Outline” and “Color” Layers, then double-click on top of your “Folder” and use the following “Layer Styles”:

Drop Shadow:

12 - Right-click on top of your “Text” Folder and choose “Convert to Smart Object”.

13 - Optional: In the “Adjustments Panel” create a new “Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer”, check the “Colorize” box and clip it to your “Smart Object” by clicking on the button at the bottom of the “Properties Panel”. Move the levers around to change the color of your text. You can also turn on the “Color” Layer and use it as “Background” instead.

14 - Your “Artwork” should look similar to this:

by @lornacane