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Final Image

This is the final image that we’ll be creating. We’re aiming to create some christmas wrapped text.

Step 1

Open up a new document (600X300px) and create a new layer called ‘background. Then drag a radial gradient ranging from D2EAFF to 9DCFFB from the center of your canvas towards the edge.

Step 2

Now apply some white snowflakes to your background. I used this great free brush set: http://Qbrushes.com/objects/snowflakes-brushes/. Rather than applying each snowflake individually I wanted to simply paint in large areas. The images below show my brush settings that I used to achieve this effect. Finally I reduced the opacity of this layer to 40% in order to make the snowflakes a little more subtle.

Step 3

Now type out some text, and select each letter, changing them to different colors.

Step 4

Now go to blending options for your text layer, and apply a gradient overlay (blend mode: overlay, opacity: 50%). By using an ‘overlay’ blend mode, the text will keep it’s color, but receive the gradient effect, so making it look a little shinier.

Step 5

How apply an outer glow effect to your text (settings shown below):

Step 6

Now apply a texture to your text. First apply a bevel and emboss effect. Notice in the settings below there is a highlight mode and a shadow mode. You need to reduce the highlights opacity to 0%, and the shadows opacity to 15%. Leave all other bevel settings the same. Then notice a couple of sub-options in your blending options menu – contour and texture. We’re going to be applying the texture option. Check the texture box, and then select a default texture called ’satin’ (see the settings for this below). This should make your text look more like wrapping paper.

Step 7

Create a new layer called ‘ribbon’. Use your rectangular marquee tool to create a cross shape over your first letter. Make the color a darker version of the letter (in this case dark red).

Step 8

Now apply an inner glow and gradient overlay to your ribbon layer. Also reduce the ribbon layer to 80%.

Step 9

Now duplicate your ribbon layer and apply the duplicates to each letter. Then go to image>adjustments>hue/saturation and change the hue of each ribbon to match the letter’s color. Then use your selection tool to cut away parts of the ribbon that overlap onto parts of your letter where you don’t want the ribbon.

Step 10

Now option+click on your text layer in your layers palette. This will select all data on this layer (i.e.: your text). Then go to select>inverse to select the area surrounding your text. Go on each of your ribbon layers and hit ‘delete’.

Step 11

Now if you notice the ribbon is looking good, but the outer glow effect is making the point where it reaches the edge of the text contrast the shadowed edges of the letters. We need to apply some shadow to the edges of the ribbon, in order to make it appear to be wrapping itself around the letters. To do this create a new layer called ‘ribbon edges’. Select a 1px paintbrush, and use the eye dropper tool to select the color next to the very edge of your ribbon. Then paint over the line of the outer glow. Repeat this for each edge, and each ribbon. Then reduce your ‘ribbon edges’ layer opacity to 75%.

Step 12

Now use your path tool to create a petal shaped path. Then right click on your path and click ‘make selection’. Then fill your selection with a linear gradient ranging from red>light red>red>dark red.

Step 13

Then create a new layer. Create a curved shape within your petal shape and fill this with a darker gradient than that of your petal shape. The merge the two layers together and call this layer ‘ribbon tie’.

Step 14

Now duplicate your your ‘ribbon tie’ layer. And go to edit>transform>rotate. Keep duplicating and rotating this shape until you have something that looks like the ribbon ties you see on presents.

Step 15

Now apply a drop shadow to each ribbon tie layer, including all duplicates. The settings for this drop shadow are shown below. To apply the drop shadow quickly to each layer simply right click on it in your layers palette and click ‘copy layer style’. Then simply right click on each duplicate layer and click ‘paste layer style’. Then merge down all of your ‘ribbon tie’ layers into just one layer containing your tie shape.

Step 16

Now go to edit>transform>scale and resize your ribbon tie to fit over the center of your cross of ribbon on the letter X.

Step 17

Now duplicate your ribbon tie and fit it over the cross on each letter. Then go to image>adjustments>hue/saturation and change the hue to fit with the color of each letter.

Step 18

Create a new layer beneath your original text layer called ‘gradient background’. Create a linear gradient ranging from a medium blue to transparent, starting from the base of your letters. Reduce your layer’s opacity until it looks good – you don’t want this background addition to be too bold.

Step 19

Now hide your background layers, leaving just your text, patterns and ribbon layers. Then go to layer>merge visible. Duplicate your merged layer and go to edit>transform>flip vertical. Then move it to become a reflection of your original text. Reduce your layer’s opacity to 30%.

And We’re Done!

To finish up I increased my snowflake layer’s opacity from 40% to 60%.

I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial, and would love to hear your thoughts on it!