Graphic Design

Letterpress Photoshop Tutorial – Tipster Friday

What a cool effect letterpress creates. The smooth indentations of the paper beg for your finger to glide through the grooves of each letter. The appearance is high-class and the impression big (pun intended).

If you don’t have the technology to create true letterpress, you can still get this classy effect with a little Photoshop know-how. It may not be the real thing, but it still brings a depth to your project that a simple drop shadow can’t match.

Today’s Tipster Friday video shows just how simple this text effect is. Follow the tutorial for step-by-step instructions on creating your own letterpress effect in Photoshop.

Video Transcription

It’s Tipster Friday! Woooo!

This week I have something special in store for you.

Letterpress Photoshop Tutorial

I’m going to teach you how to create this sweet, vintage letterpress effect in Photoshop. Check it out.

This text effect imitates the look of letterpress printing and gives a super professional feel to your design projects. The best thing about it…it’s way easy. You don’t even have to be a Photoshop expert like me to do it. Alright, let’s get started.

In Photoshop, begin by creating a new file. Make it 2300 x 1200 pixels. Hit “OK.”

With your file open, start by dropping in a paper texture you want to use. I’ve found that a natural looking paper with lots of fibers works best for this effect.

This already looks great, but I think we can spice the texture up a little bit.

With the paper layer selected go to “Filter,” “Render,” then “Lighting Effects.”

With this window open, make sure “Spot” is selected.

Now, arrange the light so it appears as if it’s shining from above the composition. Drag out the outer control so it creates a nice soft gradient.

Since this is a paper texture, go over to your gloss control and set it to -100 to create a matte finish.

Finally to add a little extra dimension to the texture, change the texture channel from “none” to “red.” Click “OK.”

Alright, now let’s work on the text. I’ll be using a free font called “Arizonia.” Feel free to experiment with different typefaces and come with something original.

For the text color, choose something similar to the darker portion of the paper texture.

Now change the “Blending Mode” to “Multiply.”

Here is where we really create the pressed look.

With the text layer selected, go to “fx” and click “Bevel and Emboss”

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