future-text-effect-flatten

CREATE ABSTRACT LAYERED TEXT WITH DECORATIVE LIGHTING EFFECT IN PHOTOSHOP

Step 1

Create a new document with black background (canvas size doesn’t matter for this tutorial), use the font we downloaded, type some pick texts on it:
1 type 500x185 Create Abstract Layered Text with Decorative Lighting Effect in Photoshop
Duplicate this layer once and choose a different text colour, move this layer slightly to the right:
1 type 2 500x214 Create Abstract Layered Text with Decorative Lighting Effect in Photoshop
Duplicate this second layer once more, again we choose a different colour and move it slightly to the right, you will have the following effect:
1 type 3 500x217 Create Abstract Layered Text with Decorative Lighting Effect in Photoshop

Step 2

Rasterize those text layer and merge them together, use a soft eraser to erase the edges of the text as shown below to add some depth:
2 erase 500x197 Create Abstract Layered Text with Decorative Lighting Effect in Photoshop
Use the blur tool to blur out some part of the text as well:
2 blur 500x375 Create Abstract Layered Text with Decorative Lighting Effect in Photoshop
2 blur 2 500x334 Create Abstract Layered Text with Decorative Lighting Effect in Photoshop
Optional Step: you can add a base line for the text by using a white brush to paint a big dot on the top edge of the canvas:
2 paint 500x335 Create Abstract Layered Text with Decorative Lighting Effect in Photoshop
Then compress it down with the free transform tool:
2 compress 500x90 Create Abstract Layered Text with Decorative Lighting Effect in Photoshop
Reduce the layer opacity to around 50% for this layer, effect as shown below:
2 cloud 500x162 Create Abstract Layered Text with Decorative Lighting Effect in Photoshop

Step 3

Now let’s add some highlighting effect – create a new layer and use a soft white brush to paint a dot like this:
3 paint 500x285 Create Abstract Layered Text with Decorative Lighting Effect in Photoshop
Hit Ctrl + T and use the free transform tool to compress it down:
3 compress 500x234 Create Abstract Layered Text with Decorative Lighting Effect in Photoshop
Change this layer blending mode to “overlay”:
3 overlay 500x214 Create Abstract Layered Text with Decorative Lighting Effect in Photoshop
Duplicate this light layer twice for a more shining effect:
3 dup 500x277 Create Abstract Layered Text with Decorative Lighting Effect in Photoshop
Repeat the above steps, add some further highlights around the text to the positions that you desire:
3 effect 2 500x246 Create Abstract Layered Text with Decorative Lighting Effect in Photoshop

Step 4

We can now add some pink lighting over the text – so let’s duplicate this original pick text layer and move it above all previous layers, go to Filter > Blur > Motion blur, and click on “OK” when you see the following window:
4 ras 500x282 Create Abstract Layered Text with Decorative Lighting Effect in Photoshop
Apply the following motion blur settings:
4 blur 500x427 Create Abstract Layered Text with Decorative Lighting Effect in Photoshop
Hit Ctrl + F and apply this filter twice for more blurring effect:
4 repeat 500x235 Create Abstract Layered Text with Decorative Lighting Effect in Photoshop
Then use a soft erase to remove some parts of the blur to add more depth:
4 erase 500x237 Create Abstract Layered Text with Decorative Lighting Effect in Photoshop
Duplicate this motion blur layer 3 times, and you will have the following effect:
4 dup 500x232 Create Abstract Layered Text with Decorative Lighting Effect in Photoshop

Step 5

OK we’re almost done! For some final retouches, I added some further lighting effect to the “X” letter with method describe above (except we keep the blending mode to “normal” this time):
5 extra light 500x367 Create Abstract Layered Text with Decorative Lighting Effect in Photoshop
Add some abstract particles with a custom brush (you can find plenty over the internet) around this additional lighting area:
5 partilce 500x251 Create Abstract Layered Text with Decorative Lighting Effect in Photoshop
Then I flatten the image, duplicate the background layer and apply this unsharp mask filter to bring some more details for the text:
5 unsharp Create Abstract Layered Text with Decorative Lighting Effect in Photoshop
Paint or render some more cloud effect around the text for some more dramatic effect:
5 cloud 500x247 Create Abstract Layered Text with Decorative Lighting Effect in Photoshop
I then further added some colour effect onto the image with selective colours and image adjustment layer, and here is the final effect I have: (click to enlarge)
future text effect flatten 500x184 Create Abstract Layered Text with Decorative Lighting Effect in Photoshop
That’s it for this tutorial! Hope you enjoy it and find it useful! Till next time, have a great day!