In this week’s free Deke’s Techniques episode, Deke uses a savvy Illustrator-Photoshop combo to create a hand-lettered, distressed effect to increase the realism of last week’s Chinese seal project. 

As you’ll see in the video, step one is to grab the paths and their itinerant effects from Illustrator:

...then, paste them into Photoshop as a smart object. Notice that the rounded corner effect has fallen off in the process:

So a return to Illustrator is in order, initiated by opening the smart object in Photoshop and then having Illustrator remind the corners to round. While he’s here, Deke uses an Illustrator art brush to give the letters their more embellished effect. 

Closing the smart object returns Deke to Photoshop, where he can apply the background texture effect, the subject one of two member-exclusive videos this week: 

There’s also another exclusive movie this week in which Deke turns this whole project into a black-on-red color scheme. You can enjoy this and the entire library of over 300 Deke’s Techniques episode at lynda.com, and if you’re not a member, you can get a free week’s trial subscription by signing up at lynda.com/deke.