Glossy Emblem Text Effects

In this tutorial, we’ll demonstrate how to create the following nice looking Glossy Emblem Text Effect
with Adobe Photoshop in 4 simple steps.

With just one text layer and a few layer styles you can have yourself a deliciously glossy emblem text
effect in no time. Since the entire effect is done on a vector text layer, you’ll be free to change the font
face or letters to suit your needs and still retain all of its styling. As a final touch, we’ll add a simple
shadow to give it some perspective and realism.

Step 1

Fire up Photoshop and set your canvas to 800×600. We’ll be using a dark perforated material
for the background. This can easily be made by cutting out a pattern of circles from your
background and applying a subtle bevel. Feel free to grab the background from the PSD file or
use another texture if you wish.

Step 2

Next, lay out your type. I’m using black Trajan, 425px in size to cover most of our area. A
couple of letters will do for now.

Step 3
Now lets slap on a barrage of layer effects. Start off by selecting your text and going to Layer >
Layer Style > Drop Shadow and enter in the settings below. Then continue down the list
while paying close attention to each setting and blending mode. Also take note of the different
contour maps being used. You can find a larger array of contour maps.
A closer look at the color ramp for your Gradient Overlay:
And here’s what your stroke’s gradient should look like:
You should now have a beautifully reflective emblem with metal trim. But lets add that last shadow for a
little depth.

Step 4

Ctrl (Command for Mac) + click on your text layer’s thumbnail (the white box with the
capital ‘T’) in the layer’s palette to select it. Now create a new layer underneath your styled text
by pressing Ctrl + Shift + N. Fill this selection with black and Ctrl (Command for Mac) + D to
deselect. Apply a Motion Blur filter with a -85 degree angle and 39px of distance. Finally,
nudge this layer down a tad so most of the shadow falls below your type.

Congratulations, you’ve created a slick type effect in minutes that’ll compliment your next project and
maybe even garner praise from your boss, friends or peers.
 Stainless Steel Background
Step 1

Create a blank new document at the size of 600×400. Create a new layer, name it ‘background’
and fill it with gray color [#c0c0c0]. Duplicate ‘background’ layer, name the new layer ‘steel
background‘ and place it on top of ‘background‘.

Step 2

With ‘steel background’ layer selected, apply Filter -> Add Noise and enter the following
settings:

 Amount: 14.21
 Distribution: Gaussian
 Monochromatic checked

Step 3
With ‘steel background‘ layer still selected, go Filter -> Blur -> Motion Blur and enter the
following settings:

 Angel: 0
 Distance: 34 pixels

Right click ‘steel background‘, select Blending Options and enter the following settings for
Gradient Overlay – Gradient Editor:

Color Stop 1

 Color: #000000
 Opacity: 50%
 Location: 0%

Color Stop 2

 Color: #ffffff
 Location: 50%

Color Stop 3

 Color: #000000
 Opacity: 50%
 Location: 0%

Metal Text

Step 4
Your stainless steel background is basically done, we’ll continue from there to insert a metal text
that should look matching. Use the Text Tool, write something in the middle, preferably with
think fat font (I’m using Myriad Pro Bold here). Right click (or double click) the text layer to
launch the Blending Options dialog.

1. Drop Shadow
o Opacity: 38%
o Distance: 1px
o Spread: 1%
o Size: 2px

 Bevel and Emboss

 Depth: 100%
 Size: 0px
 Soften: 0px
 Highlight Opacity: 42%
 Shadow Opacity: 32%

Gradient Overlay, Gradient Editor

Color Stop 1
  Color: #3f3f3f
 Location: 0%

Color Stop 2

 Color: #a1a1a1
 Location: 100%

Your text should look something similar to the below.

Step 5
Here’s something you need to follow tightly. Hold Control key (Mac: Command key) and left
click on the text layer to highlight it’s outline. Make sure the outline is still there, select ‘steel
background‘ layer, and hit Control + J (Mac: Command + J)

By doing this, you are duplicating the steel background in the shape of your text. Rename the
layer to ‘text background‘ and move it to the top.

Step 6

Change ‘text background‘ to Color Burn, bring it’s Opacity down to 67%.

Your final output should look something similar to the image below.
Gold & Silver Metallic text
Open a new #ffffff (white) background color canvas, enter some text and toggle the Blending Options
with the following settings.

Drop Shadow

Bevel and Emboss

Bevel and Emboss > Contour

Satin

Gradient Overlay
Color stop: Location:0%, Color:#998e00
Color stop: Location:25%, Color:#fff30a
Color stop: Location:50%, Color:#e9d91c
Color stop: Location:75%, Color:#fff30a
Color stop: Location:100%, Color:#998e00

Your gold text will be something like this

To create a metallic font instead of gold, rework on the Gradiant Overlay with these following
settings

Color stop: Location:0%, Color:#535b5e

Color stop: Location:25%, Color:#9a9a9a
Color stop: Location:50%, Color:#4a5154
Color stop: Location:75%, Color:#9a9a9a
Color stop: Location:100%, Color:#535b5e

And your output should look something like this