Chocolate Bar Text Effect

This tutorial explains how to create a simple pattern, then how to use it along with a couple of Layer Layer Styles to make a chocolate bar like text effect. It then explains how to modify a simple brush to add a nice filling to the text, and finally, adding some adjustment layers to complete the effect.

The Final Result

Tutorial Details

• Software Used : Photoshop
• Version : CS5 Extended
• Time : 0:45 – 1:45

Resources

The tutorial explains how to create the pattern to show some useful tips and tricks, but the pattern is also included in the Resources section if you want to skip that part.

• PicoBlack font.
• Pattern used.
• Yellow Vintage Paper Texture from the Colored Vintage Paper: Texture Pack
• Bows Set 2 by ro-stock. Edit: The deviation has been deleted. Here are two alternatives Bow 2 PSD, or Christmas Bows 7.

Purchase the File: You can purchase the PSD file for this for the price of a cup of coffee (just $4).

Step 1

Create a new 1250 x 800 px document. Set the Foreground color to #fece01, and the Background color to #e8661b, and create a Radial Gradient from the center of the document to one of the corners.

Place the Yellow Vintage Paper Texture on top of the Background layer, scale it down till it fits properly in the document, and change its Opacity value to 50%.

Click the New Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel, and choose the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer.

Change the Hue value to -10< and the Saturation value to -40.

Click the New Adjustment Layers icon once again, but this time, choose the Vibrance adjustment layer.

Change the Vibrance value to 100 and the Saturation value to -40.

Step 2

We are going to create the Pattern right now. So create a new 30 x 30 px document with a White Background. You can zoom in until the document is big enough to work with.

Using the Rectangular Marquee Tool, draw a square that selects the whole document.

Click the Subtract From Selection icon in the Options bar, and draw another rectangle that is 1px smaller than the first one.

You can open the Info panel (Window > Info) to check the dimensions.

Fill the selection with the color #888888.

Press Ctrl/Cmd + D to get rid of the selection, then, repeat a similar process, but this time, draw the first rectangle so that it selects the white area only, and the other one should be 2px smaller. Fill the selection with the color #222222.

Once again, draw another border that is 2px wide, and fill it with the color #c7c7c7.

Finally, we are going to create vertical lines that are 1px wide, leaving a space of 2px between them. Use the Rectangular Marquee Tool and click the Add to Selection icon in the Options bar to create all the lines’ selections together. Fill the lines with the color #e9e9e9 and get rid of the selection (Ctrl/Cmd + D).

Now, go to Edit > Define Pattern, and type in a name for the pattern.

Step 3

Back to the original document, create the text with the color #743d10. The font used is PicoBlack, and the Size is 350 px. Also, set the Tracking value to 25 to avoid overlapping. (You can get the Character panel from Window > Character).

Duplicate the text layer(s).

If you have multiple text layers, select all of the duplicated ones, then go to Layer > Merge Layers, or simply press Ctrl/Cmd + E. If you have only one text layer, the right click it, and choose Resterize Type.

Drag the merged/ rasterized layer so that it becomes under the original text layer(s), and rename it to Shadow. We are going to use this later to create a shadow using the Motion Blur filter.

Step 4

Double click the original text layer to apply the following Layer Style:

– Drop Shadow

• Color : #402713

– Inner Shadow

• Color : #743d10
• Distance : 0
• Size : 13

– Bevel and Emboss

• Size : 20
• Check the Anti-aliased box
• Highlight Mode – Color : #72533a
• Shadow Mode – Color : #98653b

– Contour

• Contour : Shallow Slop Valley
• Check the Anti-aliased box.

This will create a simple border around the beveled text, so that the text won’t look flat at the edges.

– Texture

• Pattern : Using the pattern created in Step 2
• Check the Invert box.

– Color Overlay

• Color : #673d26

Click OK to get out of the Layer Style box. Check out what we’ve got!

Step 5

Open the Brush panel (Window > Brush), choose a hard round brush, and modify its Settings as shown below:

Brush Tip Shape

Shape Dynamics

Create a new layer on top of the Shadow layer and under the text layer(s), call it Filling.

Right click the text layer, and choose Create Work Path.

Select the Filling layer so that it is the active layer, then, pick the Direct Selection Tool and set the Foreground color to White. Right click the path and choose Stroke Path.

Choose Brush from the Tool drop down menu, and un-check the Simulate Pressure box.

This will stroke the path with the brush. Hit Enter/Return to get rid of the path.

Step 6

Double click the Filling layer to add the following Layer Style:

– Drop Shadow

• Color : #787878

– Bevel and Emboss

• Gloss Contour : Rounded Steps
• Check the Anti-aliased box
• Highlight Mode : Overlay
• Shadow Mode – Color : #99846b

– Contour

• Contour : Rounded Steps
• Check the Anti-aliased box.

– Texture

• Pattern : Ant Farm
• Depth : 20%

– Color Overlay

• Color : #e7e5df

This is what the filling should look like.

Step 7

Select the Shadow layer we created earlier, and go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur. Change the Angle to -30 and the Distance to 100.

Move the shadow around (using the Move Tool) so that it starts at the top edge of the letters, and spreads away diagonally. Change the Shadow layer’s Blend Mode to Multiply, and the Opacity to 50%.

This should give the text more depth.

Step 8

Go back to the Brush panel, and using the same hard round brush, modify the Settings as shown below:

Brush Tip Shape

Shape Dynamice

Scattering

Now, start painting some scattered dots on the Filling layer, as if the filling is a bit scattered around the text.

Step 9

Open a bow form the Bows Set, and place it on top of all layers. Resize it and move it or rotate it till you like how it looks, and place it on top of one of the letters.

Double click the Bow layer to apply the following Layer Style:

– Drop Shadow

• Color : #805748
• Size : 11

– Color Overlay

• Color : #696149
• Blend Mode : Soft Light

This should enhance the color of the bow and give it more depth.

Go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation, change the Hue to 5 and the Saturation to -10.

Go to Image > Adjustments > Color Balance, make sure that the Tone Balance is set to Midtones, and change the Color Levels values as shown below:

Finally, go to Image > Adjustments > Vibrance, set the Vibrance to -5 and the Saturation to -10.

Step 10

The last thing we’re going to do is add some adjustment layers to make everything blend well. So click the New Adjustment Layer icon, and choose Photo Filter.

Choose the Deep Yellow Filter from the drop down menu.

Add a Hue/Saturation adjustments layer, and set the values as below:

You might as well need to adjust the colors of the Bow. The only adjustment made here is changing the Saturation (Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation) value once again, to make the colors a bit less bright.

Finally, set the Foreground color to Black, create a new layer on top of all layers and call it Gradient, then, create a Foreground to Transparent Radial Gradient. Change the layer’s Blend Mode to Soft Light, and its Fill value to 30%.

And that’s it!