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Create A Grungy Text Background

posted by John Owen on July 6th, 2009, in Backgrounds, Photoshop, Text Effects | 4 Comments

This tutorial will show you how to create a cool grunge background, it also works as a good text effect too. I will provide you with the neccassary brushes and resources so don’t worry. You will learn how to use brushes and apply them effectively. This tutorial heavily relies on you creating a good basis with the brushes provided, use your own if you want.

Here is the final result:

Resources:

• Brush Set Pack (Comes from this amazing brush creator)
• Grunge Texture

If you don’t know how to install brushes go here

Step 1 – Getting Started

Create a new document, the size I chose is 1024×768 pixels. Create a new layer and draw a gradient like this

or you can save this image for the gradient and as a starting point (click for full size).

Step 2 – Brushes, Text & Creativity

Select the text tool and type what ever you want, I chose ‘bottled’ for some reason, don’t ask why. The font I chose is “Plantagenet Cherokee” (wierd name I know). After that center the text.

Create a new layer underneath the text layer, bring out your newly fresh brush pack with and select a blueish color. Bearing in mind that this tutorial is based on your own inspiration I’m not going to say exactly what brush I used and place where and what colors etc.. I’m leaving that to you! the blending mode I mainly used though was “Soft Light”.

On a side note use a light lime green and a light blue for the brushes.

Place a few different brushes around the text and you should have something like this

Use blurs, different colors, sizes and just experiment.!

After that I downsize some brushes and made them come out of the text, if you noticed I made one size green and one side blue, I will be applying a gradient to the text soon.

Step 3 – Glows, Gradients and Blur

Select the text layer and rasterize it (Rightclick > Rasterize Layer) now go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur and blur it like so

Now open up the layer styles and set these options

Now your image should be looking better.

Step 4 – Adjustment Layers, Black Lines and Blur

Create a new adjustment layer (Curves) and make the line around my image

Now create a new layer and make a selection like so using the Polygonal Lasso Tool (with Shift)

Note: You are selection the top and bottom of the image not the inside.

Fill the selection with black in your new layer, then proceed to motion blur the layer

Set the layers opacity to 50%.

Step 5 – Final Hurdle

Select all previous layers, right click on one and select duplicate. Now with your freshly duplicated layers merge them. Apply a Gaussian Blur to the duplicated layer.

Set the layers blending mode to ‘Pin Light’

Drag the grunge texture into the image above all other layers and set the mode to overlay. This should make it look a lot better.

Finished! Download the .PSD

Any questions just comment!