INDIANA JONES™ TITLES PHOTOSHOP TUTORIAL

Prerequisite Photoshop skills:

• create, copy and rename layers
• create and rename layer groups
• copying, pasting and tiling image data
• create, move, merge, rename, hide and change the blending mode and opacity of layers
• work with selections, select and deselect
• paint using the brush tool
• use HEX color codes
• importing files from Illustrator

Step 1: Set up the Photoshop file

A) Install the Safari and Venture font software.

B) Create a Photoshop file with the dimensions you need.

C) Open the leather texture image, copy the image, and then paste it into your Photoshop file. Resize and/or tile the image as needed. Rename the layer "Leather Background."

D) Name and save the file and exit Photoshop.

Step 2: Type the text in Illustrator

A) Open Adobe Illustrator and set up a new file. An 8.5" x 11" file will work fine.

B) Using the Type tool and the Safari Bold Small Caps font at 120 pt., type a word or two.

C) Set the type fill to transparent (none), and apply a 2 pt black line stroke.

D) Rotate the text layer about 7° counterclockwise (Object: Transform: Rotate...)

Step 3: Warp and distort the text

A) Apply a warp arch to the text (Effect: Warp)

• Arch
• Horizontal: 7%
• Horizontal Distort: 1%

B) Apply a Free Distort (Effect: Distort & Transform: Free Distort) and set the envelope:

C) Apply a Shear effect (Object: Transform: Shear...) and add a horizontal shear of about 5°

Step 4: Customize the lettering

To achieve a custom hand-lettered look, modify the letters in the Safari font by making minor adjustments to the letter shapes to add balance.

A) Select the text layer and convert the font to outlines (Object: Expand Appearance).

B) Use the Direct Selection , and the Free Transformtools to modify the shapes of the letters as needed to achieve the best balance for your specific text phrase.

Note that while the tops of the letters are roughly at the same height, the bottoms of the letters vary in height, typically alternating with short then long descending lines. Figure 4 above shows this, where both "A"s are shorter at the bottom, and "F," "R" and "I" extend a bit lower. This also adds a splashy, action-oriented quality to the type.

C) Overlap some of the letters. In our example, we nudged "F" so that it will fall behind the first "A" just a bit. Similarly, the right side of the second "A" overlaps the "R."

Step 5: Trim overlapping paths

Any overlapping areas need to be cleaned up so that extraneous lines are gone.

A) With the lettering still selected, change the fill to white.

B) With the Pathfinder window open (Window: Pathfinder), click on the "Trim" option:

This removes unwanted lines.

C) The Pathfinder operation will have deleted your 2 pt. black stroke on the letters, so return the 2 pt. stroke and then change the fill back to transparent (none).

D) Save the Illustrator artwork (to be on the safe side) and then copy all the lettering so that it can be pasted in Photoshop. Keep the Illustrator file open as you'll be coming back to it.

Step 6: Add the lettering to Photoshop

You be adding to new layers to Photoshop that you'll use for the creation of the final artwork.

A) Paste the Illustrator data that you just copied into a new layer in Photoshop. If it doesn't paste, go back to Illustrator, select the artwork, return to Photoshop and paste.

If you find that the artwork isn't the preferred size, delete the Photoshop layer, return to Illustrator and use the Free Transform tool to scale the artwork to the correct size, copy it, and then repaste.

You now have the outlines of the letters in Photoshop. Rename this layer "Lettering Outlines."

B) Return to Illustrator and select the artwork. Set the fill color to black and the stroke to none (zero). Copy this solid text, go back to Photoshop and paste the solid lettering into a new layer and rename the layer "Lettering Fill." Be sure that the "Lettering Fill" layer is under the outline later (see Fig. 6a).

C) Quit Illustrator: you won't need it for the remainder of this project (unless you decide to tweak the lettering further, and in that case, be sure to delete all the vector art layers in Photoshop and repeat steps 6A-C.)

Step 7: Create the multi-colored gradient

There are simpler ways to create the gradient, but the following procedure offers the most precision and results in a better looking graphic.

A) Turn off the "Lettering Outline" layer for now.

B) Create four new layers above the "Lettering Fill" layer and label them as shown in Figure 7a. Group the four new layers in a layer group, "Gradient Fill."

C) Create a mask based on the "Lettering Fill" and apply it to the "Gradient Fill" layer group:

• Hold down the "command" key and click on the layer icon once to create a layer selection (in Fig 7a, this icon is to the immediate left of the "Lettering Fill" layer label. Then, make the "Lettering Fill"invisible (click once on the "eye" icon to hide the layer, as shown by the empty circle area in Fig 7a).
• With the selection active, click once on the "Gradient Fill" layer group layer to make it the active layer and then click once on the "Add Layer Mask" icon (shown in the circle at the bottom of Fig 7a). Doing this creates a new layer mask for the "Gradient Fill" layer and you'll see a mask icon appear in the layer group (as shown in Fig 7a).

D) It's time to paint each of the gradient colors. You'll be painting four colors, to each of the new layer you created in Step 7B, using a soft round brush tool:

• On the "Red" layer, use color e83426
• On the "Orange" layer, use color fd8c45
• On the "Yellow" layer, use color f7eb75 and set the layer blending mode to "Overlay"
• On the "White" layer, use color ffffff

Because each of these colors is on a separate layer, you can tweak and refine the contour and size of each gradient color to insure that the gradient follows the curved path of the text while remaining in the correct proportions. Figure 7 illustrates the correct proportions of each color and the very gentle curve of the gradient as it follows the letters from left to right. If you desire, you can apply perspective distortions (Edit: Transform: Perspective) to each layer to get the correct blending perspective.

D) Create another new layer above the "White" layer named "White Highlights." Using a soft brush, paint a gentle white highlight that follows the edges of each letter, fading the white in at about half way down and increasing the thickness just slightly as you move downwards to the bottom of the letter (see Fig. 7b). Use the Polygonal Lasso tool to isolate each letter as you work.

Step 8: Add the shadow and outline

A) Make the "Lettering Outline" layer visible again.

B) Make a copy of the "Lettering Fill" layer, rename it "Shadow" and position it just above the "Leather Background" layer. Using the Move tool, position the "Shadow" layer so that it appears to cast a shadow that falls to the lower left.

OPTION: In our example, the a more precise was used wherein each individual solid black letter was copied Illustrator into a separate layer into a new layer group. This allows for the precise tweaking of the shadow for each individual letter. Why the fuss? Because some letters cast awkward looking shadows (such as the "A" in our example) and manual adjustment of individual letter shadows is needed in order to balance the negative space in the lettering as well as lengthen shadows as needed. If you use this procedure, merge all the shadow layers to a single layer as a final step.

For most purposes, your artwork is completed. However, if you want to pull out all the stops on this project, you can continue your design adventure with the following optional steps.

Step 9: Optional enhancements

While the leather background is suitable, you might choose a different approach. In our example, a custom illustration of an ancient stone temple of South Asian architectural style was used. A light shaft was added on top on this, as well as an additional shadow of the lettering on the far wall of the temple. Uplighting was added to create an eerie mood.

To match this darker background and its moody lighting, the following highlights can be added:

A) Add a layer effect (Bevel and Emboss) to the "Lettering Stroke" layer:

• Style: Inner Bevel
• Technique: Smooth
• Depth: 71%
• Size: 1 px
• Soften: 0 px
• Shading Angle: 69°
• Shading Altitude: 42°
• Highlight Mode: Normal, Color: c3cce6, Opacity: 86%
• Shadow Mode: Normal, Color: ff6600, Opacity: 82%

B) Add the same layer effect (Bevel and Emboss) to the "Shadow" layer, but increase the Shadow Mode Opacity to 100%.

C) Add a new layer just above the "White Highlights" layer in the layer group and name it "Overlay Highlight." Using a procedure similar to Step 7C, create a selection from the "Lettering Outline" layer and then use the selection on the "Overlay Highlight" layer. Fill the selection with a pale gray-green (e0e2c6) and set the layer opacity to 48%. Then, using the Move tool, nudge the layer towards the lower left until you get a 1-2 pixel reveal.

D) Add subtitles. In our example we created two text layers:

• 1): "Venture Oblique", Text: "is the", Color: white, Anti-aliasing method: Crisp, Kerning: 138. A layer effect (Stroke) of 1 pixel of black was added.
• 2): "Venture Shadow Oblique", Text: "ADVENTURE FONT", Color: e2c86e, Anti-aliasing method: Crisp, Kerning: 198. A layer effect (Stroke) of 1 pixel of black was added. A second layer effect (Drop Shadow, Color: black, Distance: 3 px, Spread: 99%, Size 1-2px) was added.

Save your work and enjoy your new creation.