Tutorial 12 Fool's Gold Text

Requirements: Adobe Photoshop 6.0
The Project: Gold Textured Text

When I was a kid my father gave me this gold rock which I thought was made of gold. After closer inspection I figured out I had been dupped. If you have ever seen Fool's Gold its a little different than gold. This tutorial is for those of you trying to create the look of Fool's Gold onto your favorite text. Fool's Gold is very easy to create with the help of Adobe Photoshop 6.0. Don't want to bother with the tutorial? Click here to download the action!

To begin our tutorial we need to start off with an image. Create your new image by clicking File> New. I usually start off using 600 pixels width by 300 pixels height with the resolution of 72.

For later in the tutorial you will need this texture image file. Save it to your system and remember where you saved it. We will need it in a few minutes.

Dry Dirt Texture

For the best look with this effect change your background color to black. Now type in your text using the Text Tool. The size can vary for the text. I used a size of 120. Once you have this completed your image should resemble Image 12-1 below.

Image 12-1

Now here comes the easy part. Photoshop 6 is easier than any other version at creating very quick effects with the Blending Options. In the lower left hand corner of your Layers Palette there is a black circle with an "f" inside. Click it. You are now in the Blending Options menu! Click Bevel and Emboss and change the settings to resemble Image 12-2 below.

Image 12-2

We need to give the bevel a little Contour now. Click Contour and use the settings in Image 12-3.

Image 12-3

Your text should now look like beveled metal. We can now apply the texture of Fool's Gold. Remember that texture you saved to your system? I hope so. You need it now. Click Texture and use the drop down arrow to find the texture you saved earlier. Select it and use the settings in Image 12-4 below.

Image 12-4

The text you have probably looks more like aluminum foil right now rather than Fool's Gold. Click Color Overlay and use the color settings below in Image 12-5.

Image 12-5

To give the text a little more emphasis lets give it a dark stroke. Click Stroke and use the following settings in Image 12-6. I chose to use a gray web color of #333333.

Image 12-6

Click OK. You are done! Take a look at that masterpiece. You should have something similar to Image 12-7 below.