Jazz up Text with Gradient Effects

The first stage is to create your text using the type tool or (T) icon on the tool bar.

The other good thing to remeber when creating text that really stands out is to use a good strong type face. For this tutorial i have used SF Williamette you can download this in the downloads section.

Once you are happy with your text bring up the Window -> Layers panel and right click on the text layer, then select the "Blending Options" option.

You should then be shown a blending panel with tons of options listed down the left hand side, each of which can be applied to the layer you have selected.

From this big list of effects you will need to select the "Color Overaly" option.

You can then choose any colour to overlay into your text (for this tutorial I have chosen white. Also be sure to set the "Opacity" to 100%

Next choose the "Stroke" effect from the left panel, this will create a border around the text.

Set the "Stroke Size" to around 5, then set the "Opacity" to 100% and the "Fill Type" to Gradient.

Once you select the Gradient option a new panel will appear that lets you choose the colours for this effect.

For this tutorial I have chosen to follow the golden rule of gradients which is to use two closley related colours (See more on gradient techniques)

Decide on your chosen colours then simply select each of the sliders and choose a colour from the palette, then click "OK" to confirm your selection, then and again to confirm the "Blending Options" you have chosen.

You should then be left with an effect simular to the above. The most important thing to remember with any gradient effect is te choice of colours is the key.

I will now show another slight variation on this effect. Simply duplicating the existing text layer by right clicking on the layer and selecting the "Duplicate Layer" option, then move the new text below the existing text using the move tool or keyboard arrow keys.

Now return to the "Blending Options" panel for this new duplicated text layer and select the "Gradient Overlay" effect.

Then once again select a colour that closley relates to the other stroke gradient, i have chosen light orange and white, just enough so that it stands out from the darker colours.

The final effect should resemble the above, this just gives a little twist to the previous effect and shows what can be accomplished with the gradient tools in Adobe Photoshop

For more on gradients see our article on Become a Gradient Junkie.

This is a very simple yet effective way of making your logo stand out that little bit more.

Once you have your chosen text, simply right click on its layer name in the Windows -> Layer panel, then select the "Duplicate Layer" option.

This will now create a copy of this layer above the original.

Next make sure that you have the lower original layer selected (shown above)

Now find the Edit -> Transform -> Flip Vertical option from the top menu bar.

You may also have to move the finaly flipped text down a little so that it matches up perfectly with the point of reflection (using the arrow keys on the keyboard is the easiest way to do this)

Finally you will need to either adjust or set a gradient overlay for your new vertical text.

As covered in the last section of this tutorial open up the "Blending Options" panel, select the "Gradient Overaly" option and set the colour furthest from the above text to match the background colour

And there your have it simple but effective!