Rotating a Layer or Selection

Rotating a Layer or Selection

Earlier, you may have used the Free Transform command to resize layers and

selections, and thought it was pretty swell. What you probably weren’t aware of

at the time is that the very same command can also be used to rotate layers and

selections!

Giving Text a Motion Effect

Giving Text a Motion Effect

Solution

Create your text layer. Use an italic font to enhance the motion effect. Duplicate the

text layer using Ctrl-J (Command-J on a Mac). Right-click (hold Ctrl and click on a Mac)

on the original layer, and select Rasterize from the menu that appears.

Now we’re going to apply a filter to make the text look like it’s moving. Filters can

only be applied to raster layers, which is why we’ve rasterized our original layer.

Select Filter > Blur > Motion Blur to bring up the Motion Blur dialog. To make your text

look like it’s moving horizontally, set the Angle to 0°. Adjust the Distance to a value

that works with your text.

The Basics 1

In the finished example below, I’ve adjusted the

Opacity of the motion layer in the Layers palette to fade

it out slightly, and used a layer mask to hide the righthand

side of the blur effect so that the text looks like

it’s moving towards the right. (If you need a refresher

on creating layer masks, see the solutions for “Fading

an Image into the Background” in Chapter 2.)

WARNING Raster Right!

.

Making Glassy Text

Making Glassy Text

This solution is very similar to the solution for “Creating a Glassy Button” in Chapter 3.

We’re going to use a combination of layer styles to give our text a glassy effect.

Solution

In the Layers palette, select your text layer and set its fill to 0%. First, we’re going to

add a drop shadow to the text. Open the Layer Style dialog box by clicking on the Add

a layer style button at the bottom-left of the Layers palette, and selecting Drop Shadow

from the menu that appears. Apply the following settings to your drop shadow (you

might need to adjust these depending on the size and type of font you use—in this

example I’ve used Arial Bold and Arial Black, both at 85pt).

Making Glassy Text

Making Glassy Text

This solution is very similar to the solution for “Creating a Glassy Button” in Chapter 3.

We’re going to use a combination of layer styles to give our text a glassy effect.

Solution

In the Layers palette, select your text layer and set its fill to 0%. First, we’re going to

add a drop shadow to the text. Open the Layer Style dialog box by clicking on the Add

a layer style button at the bottom-left of the Layers palette, and selecting Drop Shadow

from the menu that appears. Apply the following settings to your drop shadow (you

might need to adjust these depending on the size and type of font you use—in this

example I’ve used Arial Bold and Arial Black, both at 85pt).

Making Angled Tab Buttons

Making Angled Tab Buttons

In this solution, I’ll show you how to use vector graphic tools to create the angled tab

buttons illustrated below.

Solution

Angled Tab

1 Start with a rectangular vector shape in a color of your choice. I’ve used a light

blue in the image below.

2 Using the Direct Selection Tool (A), select the top left-hand

anchor point of the rectangle. Hold down the Shift key and

move the point to the right by pressing the right arrow once

or twice. Your image should look something like the one at

right. Release the Shift key and use the arrow keys to fine-tune the point. We’ll go

“old school” here and count the number of times we press the arrow key so that

we know how far to move the point on the right-hand side when we get to it.

3 Repeat step 2 for the top, right-hand anchor point.

That’s it—believe it or not, our angled tab button is complete! If you don’t believe

me, look at the finished result below.

Creating Buttons

Making a Shiny Metallic Button

Making a Shiny Metallic Button

Here, I’m going to show you how to create shiny,   

metallic buttons like the ones shown to the right.

I’ll also show you how you can vary their

appearance using different settings.

Solution

1 Create a raster or vector button. I’ve created both

a rounded and rectangular button in this example.

The color of the button is unimportant, as it won’t

affect the final result.

Adding a Shadow to Text

Adding a Shadow to Text

Solution

Applying.the.Drop Shadow layer.style

Select the text layer from                                             

the Layers palette. Open the  

Layer Style dialog box by

clicking on the Add a layer

Photoshop workspace

 

             options.bar                                                                 palette.well                                                                           

palettes toolbox status.bar document

window

The.Photoshop.workspace

Customizing your Workspace