Hi friends – today, as promised, I’m sharing the tutorial for how to create your own digital typography art.
You see it all around the internet: pinned on Pinterest, prints on Etsy, shared on Instagram…the font-based typography layout as art has taken the world by storm. There’s nothing like a motivational or inspirational quote to get your going in the morning, or inspire you to pick up when you’ve lost steam. So here’s how to make your own:
DIY Digital* Gold Typography How-To
I’m using the Sobbers font from the Spring Bundle from FontBundles.net if you’d like to follow along. I’m also using Photoshop CS6 on a Mac – so replace any CMD (command) with CTRL (control) keys for PC’s.
1. Create a new file, size it square, 72dpi, RGB. Save it as a .PSD on your desktop or somewhere as your working file.
2. Hit T for the Type Tool shortcut, choose Sobbers font, and type one word on the canvas. Type the 2nd word. Type the 3rd word. You want each word to be separate (and to commit your typing, hit CMD Enter to exit the Type Tool and start another word).
3. SHIFT-select your 3 separate words (that are all on their own layers) and choose the vertical align option from the Align panel to center them all to each other. I chose not to center to the canvas but you could do that by selecting all the layers and aligning them.
4. With all 3 layers selected, press and hold SHIFT and OPTION keys, grab the lower right-hand corner of the transform control. (Make sure your “Show transform controls” option is checked when the Move tool (V) is selected. Drag it out so all the words are sized larger so they look nice on the canvas but are still aligned center to each other.
5. Now select each single layer and move closer together so the spacing between them sees comfortable.
6. I chose to resize both the words “Spring” and “Action” larger, again keeping the 3 words vertically aligned with each other.
7. Then, move the words closer together again so they “fit” well – paying attention to creating similar white space between the ascenders and descenders of the font, and creating a path of movement for the eye through the artwork.
8. Select all your word layers and choose CMD G (or CTRL G on a PC) to group them. I renamed my group “Words.” Then create a new layer (CMD SHIFT N) and hit OK.
9. Choose the Gradient tool (G…keep hitting SHIFT G to cycle through the tools until the Gradient is chosen). Double-click on the gradient image at the top left of the window to open up the Gradient editor. I chose a 5-point gradient that was gold with 2 lighter stripes in it. Hit OK.
10. In your new layer, click near the top left and drag the gradient down to the bottom right.
11. To place (“clip”) the gradient to your words, hold down the OPTION key, hover over the line in-between the gradient layer and the “Words” group, and the cursor will change to a little bent arrow next to a box. Click on the line and you will “clip” the gradient to the letters.
12. If you don’t like the placement of the gradient, select the gradient layer and just use the Move tool to move it around on your words. I had to play with it a bit, enlargening it and spinning it around until I liked it. Finally, create a new layer again and type your name, website name, or whatever you like in there. (I tend to type in black and set the Blending mode to Multiply, at 35% opacity. It’s something you have to play with to see if you like the results.)
And that’s it! It’s really simple to make with Photoshop (or GIMP, for that matter) – with spectacular results. Now you have something all your own that you can share across your channels to inspire your friends and family with quotes, ideas, funny phrases – anything!
Get More Beautiful Fonts from FontBundles (for only $20!)
Happy DIY’ing!
xo
Carly
*Note: this tutorial is for digital typography – if you want to create something for print you need to set up your file as CYMK 300dpi.
Carly, Thanks for sharing. You make it look so easy. Pat S
Thanks, Pat! Spring into action 🙂