> PHOTOSHOP USER>^ OCTOBER 2019[ 38 ]
› › HOW TO> PHOTOSHOP USER>^ OCTOBER 2019[ 38 ]
› › HOW TOStep Three: Create a new layer, double-click
its name in the Layers panel, and rename it
“Mist.” Click on the Foreground color swatch
near the bottom of the Toolbar, set it to a bright
magenta (#6f0e8f), and click OK to close the
Color Picker. Set the Background color to black.
Then hold down the Option (PC: Alt) key and
go to Filter>Render>Clouds. (The Option [PC:
Alt] key creates clouds with more contrast.)
Then, go to Filter>Render>Difference Clouds.
This should generate something like magenta
mist tendrils.
Set the layer’s blending mode to Linear
Dodge (Add) near the top left of the Layers
panel to render the black areas invisible. Press
Command-L (PC: Ctrl-L) to bring up Levels
and increase the contrast by pulling the out-
side handles below the histogram closer to
each other. (Your settings will most likely be
different because the Clouds and Difference
Clouds filters create random effects.) Drag the
highlights slider until you’re happy with the
intensity of the effect, and drag the shadows
slider to change the size of the clouds. Click
OK. Then use the Eraser tool (E) to remove the
mist from the open areas so it only appears to
be along the cave walls and rock surfaces.Step Four: To create the title, use the font
called Fairy Tale JF available from Adobe Fonts.
(Go to Fonts>Add Fonts from Typekit, and
when the webpage opens, type “Fairy Tale JF”
into the search field. Once you find the font,
click its Activate Font switch.) Using the Type
tool (T), type the words “THE BLACK CRYSTAL”
at a large font size, making sure each word
is on its own text layer and using all capital
letters. I set the words “THE” and “Crystal”
at around 240 px, and the word “BLACK” at
around 300 px, but we’ll be resizing these as
we go. (The color doesn’t matter at this point;
white was used here to make it easier to see.)
Use the Move tool (V) to position each line
of text as desired. Then in the Layers panel,
Right-click on each text layer and select Con-
vert to Shape from the context menu. This
changes the letters into vector shapes that can
be manipulated by their control points.