Create a Simple Letterpress Effect in Photoshop

In this tutorial we will be creating a simple and sleek letterpress effect using Photoshop. Recently, I have been asked quite a few times on how to create this effect, so I decided to write a tutorial. It’s a pretty simple effect really. There are plenty of different methods to achieve the desired effect. This is by far the simplest.

Okay so let’s get started!

1.

Open up Photoshop and create a blank document. I am creating a 1080p canvas (1920 x 1080) but you can use whatever you like. Don’t forget to raise the the resolution to 300 pixels/inch.

2.

Use the Paint Bucket tool to create a blank background with the color #234154.

3.

Now let’s create a subtle lighting effect as the base of the canvas. Create a new layer (ctrl+shift+ N) and paint it white using the same method in step 2. Open up the blending options and enter in the values bellow.

4.

Now that looks good, and we could leave it like that, but we want the background to be a little more dramatic.
Create another new layer and paint it white again using the Paint Bucket. Now select Filter > Render > Lighting Effects and enter in the following settings. You can position the light source wherever you like, I have chosen above where the text will be placed. Set the layer opacity to 24%.

5.

That looks great! Now let’s create a subtle lens flare effect for a bit more dynamic lighting.
Duplicate the lighting effect layer we created in Step 4. Now select the layer we just duplicated (i.e the layer from step 4) and select Filter > Render > Lens Flare. Select 35mm Prime and 124%. Set the layer opacity to 48% and the blending type to Hard Light.
Ok, so your layer panel should look like this:

And your canvas should look like so:

6.

Ok, so now its time to add the text!
Create a new text layer and type in whatever you like. I have used the name of this site. Set the font to Myriad Pro, the font size to 90pt, the anti-aliasing to strong, and the color to #444444. Now go to the paragraph panel and set the tracking to -75, this just condenses the characters in the font.

7.

Now to create the letterpress effect, open up the blending options of the text layer and enter in the following settings:



And that’s it! The final result should look like this:

Pretty cool right? You can play around with the settings a little bit if it doesnt look right for you. Keep in mind when using different fonts the effect may not look as good, so if you decide to try a different font you will need to tweak the settings in step 7. Anyway hope you enjoyed the tutorial! If you have any questions, drop them in the comments bellow.