type

Magically Inverting Text in Photoshop

Submitted by colleen on 20 March 2013 - 12:15pm.

Today's Photoshop tutorial covers a scenario that, for reasons beyond my comprehension, I encounter often. That is, how to make text that inverts against its background. Or how to make text that inverts its background. The semantics are different, the effect is the same. 

Or, as Deke once put it, "You make text that inverts unambiguously. Where the image is white, the text is black; where the image is black, the text is white. And where the image is gray, or near gray, the text provides as much contrast as possible."

And when you've created this text, you can actually move it anywhere in your image and get the same effect, with the text adjusting to its surroundings like a gorgeous black-or-white chameleon that can assess shades of gray and make a call which way to go. 

There's a relatively simple set of steps to follow to create this delightfully accommodating text:  Read more » 

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Deke's Techniques 102: Creating a Hobbit Movie Logo Effect in Adobe AI and Photoshop

Submitted by deke on 18 December 2012 - 12:15am.
Deke's Techniques 102: Creating a Hobbit Movie Logo Effect in Illustrator and Photoshop

This week's installment of Deke's Techniques shows how to create type that looks just like the logo for The Hobbit movie poster. Which is an insanely great effect.

As many of you know, Peter Jackson and company decided to divide The Hobbit---a 310-page book---into three movies. At the beginning of my video (the one above), I joke that the first movie (An Unexpected Journey) covers the first 36 pages of the book. Today, I took my boys to see the movie. And, as it turns out, I wasn't joking!

I timed it: The movie doesn't get to the beginning of the book, The Hobbit, until 37 minutes in! And it takes another 15 minutes (or thereabout, didn't time it) to cover the first page of the damn thing. After that, we discover that Thorin (the lead dwarf) hates elves, a wizard named Radagast the Brown rides on a sleigh pulled by bunnies, Saruman has something to do with this story, Cate Blanchett and Ian McKellen can speak to each other telekinetically, Bilbo (with no prior knowledge of swordsmanship) slays orcs and goblins (who attack ad nauseum and at various sizes), there are Stone Giants (why?), and Bilbo is tempted to kill Golum but he manages to trick a trio of trolls instead. None of which happens in the book! The movie is mildly entertaining (I got up and ordered popcorn at one point b/c I was so bored, after which I fell asleep twice), but it has Precious little to do with The Hobbit.

So here's my advice: Wait for the Blu-ray. And if you're making a movie based on a popular children's novel, diverge from it as much as possible and milk it for all you're worth.

Meanwhile, if you want to make your type look like The Hobbit movie logo (which is awesomely cool!), watch my video. Here's the official description from lynda.com: Read more » 

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Deke's Techniques 096: Creating 3D “Punched” Letters in Illustrator

Submitted by deke on 6 November 2012 - 12:15pm.
Deke's Techniques 096: Creating 3D “Punched” Letters in Illustrator

If you live in The States, very likely the only thing on your mind today is the election. Apparently that holds true for me as well because I forgot to post today's Deke's Techniques last night. It's my own thing and I spaced it. Oh, that Obama! What kinds of crazy antics will he get us into next?

Anyway, here it is. And here's the official description from lynda.com: Read more » 

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Deke's Techniques 075: Adding Photographic Texture to Vector Type in Illustrator

Submitted by deke on 12 June 2012 - 12:15am.
Deke's Techniques 75: Adding Photographic Texture to Vector Type

One of the great things about Deke's Techniques (for me anyway) is that it gives me the chance to explore, not just how vast and powerful programs like Photoshop and Illustrator work, but how they work together, and in real-world scenarios. For example, this week, I show you how to take a couple of cloud photographs (Photoshop) and cram them into some vector-based text objects (Illustrator), replete with strokes and drop shadows.

Here's the official description from lynda.com: Read more » 

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Photoshop reflection gone wrong

Submitted by deke on 10 May 2012 - 12:15am.

Last week, I posted a Deke's Techniques showing how to reflect text in water. Since then a bunch of my buddies at lynda.com have been reporting back sightings of the technique in action. (Whether the creators of these effects actually got the idea from me is very much in question.) One particularly unfortunate example has crossed my inbox so many times I figured I should just post it.

Suit and/or shit yourself, preferably with an alien arm Read more » 

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