2.11 Text effects (basic)

To place a gradient inside text in Gimp:

  1. Write your text in a text layer.
  2. Center  / move it into place. (One quirk of Gimp: Sometimes you need to put  your cursor directly inside the text itself or, alternately, move text by holding down shift key while using move tool).
  3. Create a new transparent layer and put it UNDER the text layer .
  4. Click on text layer
  5.  Main menu :  Layer / Transparency / Alpha to Selection
  6. Turn off text layer (Click on the eyeball)
  7. Switch to transparent layer underneath
  8. Click and drag gradient tool and hit return to release

And in Photoshop…  

  1. Write the  text
  2. Create a transparent layer underneath the text
  3. Select the text – There are several ways to do this but the easiest is the menu Select / Color Range command, which brings up a dialogue box.
    1. Use the eyedropper tool to select the color you want
    2. Adjust the color sensitivity on the slider bar
  4. Click and drag a gradient in the transparent layer
  5. Turn off the upper text layer
  6. Double click on the gradient layer to bring up a text effects dialogue box and add bevel and drop shadow. 

 

 

 

Tutorials on text effects for Gimp  

  1. 3-D Text  in Gimp by Little Web Hut
  2. Top Five text effects in Gimp  and Text tool in Depth, both by Davies Media Design
  3. Text effects by Empty Easel