Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect in Photoshop

Layer styles, textures, and blend modes can be combined in many different ways to create quick and easy effects. This tutorial will show you how to use them in order to create a simple, rough, rusty horror text effect in Photoshop.


Final Image

As always, this is the final image that we’ll be creating:

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect


Tutorial Details

  • Program: Adobe Photoshop CC 2015
  • Estimated Completion Time: 20 minutes
  • Difficulty: Beginner

Resources

  • Ghoulish Fright AOE font.
  • Wood grain texture 2 by Salitas91.
  • BG Texture – DT Original 44 by Hehayo.
  • Peeling Rust by LogicalXStock.
  • you’ll also need to load a patterns set. So go to Edit > Presets > Preset Manager, and choose Patterns from the Preset Type drop down menu. Then, click the little arrow to the right of the Preset Type drop down menu, and click Nature Patterns in the center of the pop-up menu. When the dialog box appears after that, just click Append, and you’ll get the patterns.

Step 1

Create a new 850 x 550px document. Place the Wood grain texture 2 image on top of the Background layer, resize it as needed, then rename its layer to Wood Texture.

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 1


Step 2

Double click the Wood Texture layer to apply a Color Overlay effect using the following settings:

Add a Color Overlay with these settings:

  • Color: #74716f
  • Blend Mode: Color Burn
  • Opacity: 55%

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 2


This will darken the texture.

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 3


Step 3

Place the BG Texture – DT Original 44 image on top of the Wood Texture layer, resize it as needed, rename its layer to Texture Overlay, then change its Blend Mode to Darker Color.

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 4


Step 4

Pick the Elliptical Marquee Tool, and draw an ellipse around the center of the document.

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 5


Step 5

Go to Select > Modify > Feather, and type in a Feather Radius that you like. The value used here is 50 – the bigger the value the softer the edges will be.

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 6


Step 6

Go to Select > Inverse, then create a new layer on top of all layers, call it Vignette, and fill the selection with Black.

Go to Select > Deselect, and change the layer’s Opacity value to 60%, or any other value you like.

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 7


Step 7

Create the text using the font Ghoulish Fright AOE. The Size is 250pt and the Color is #a2a2a2.

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 8


Step 8

Duplicate the text layer twice, then change the original and second copy text layers’ Fill value to 0.

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 9


Double click the original text layer to apply the following layer style:

Step 9

– Bevel and Emboss

  • Style: Stroke Emboss
  • Technique: Chisel Hard
  • Size: 60
  • Uncheck the Use Global Light box
  • Angle: 51
  • Altitude: 30
  • Gloss Contour: Rounded Steps
  • Check the Anti-aliased box
  • Highlight Mode: Linear Light
  • Color: #ec925c
  • Opacity: 50%
  • Shadow Mode: Linear Burn
  • Opacity: 50%

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 10


Step 10

– Contour

  • Check the Anti-aliased box.

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 11


Step 11

Texture

  • Pattern: Leaves
  • Scale: 50%

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 12


Step 12

– Stroke

  • Size: 6
  • Color: #4d4c4c

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 13


This will style the outer stroke.

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 14


Double click the first copy text layer to apply the following layer style:

Step 13

– Bevel and Emboss

  • Technique: Chisel Hard
  • Depth: 130%
  • Size: 7
  • Uncheck the Use Global Light box
  • Angle: 8
  • Altitude: 53
  • Gloss Contour: Rounded Steps
  • Check the Anti-aliased box
  • Highlight Mode: Linear Light
  • Color: #ffe1b6
  • Opacity: 50%
  • Shadow Mode: Linear Burn
  • Opacity: 50%

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 15


Step 14

– Contour

  • Check the Anti-aliased box.

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 16


Step 15

Texture

  • Pattern: Leaves

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 17


Step 16

– Outer Glow

  • Blend Mode: Vivid Light
  • Opacity: 35%
  • Color: #ffce64
  • Spread: 27
  • Size: 46

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 18


Step 17

Drop Shadow – 1

  • Distance: 11
  • Size: 7

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 19


Step 18

click the + sign next to the Drop Shadow tab, then select the tab at the bottom to change its settings as shown below:

Drop Shadow – 2

  • Uncheck the Use Global Light box
  • Angle: -21
  • Distance: 19
  • Size: 7

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 20


This will style the first text layer.

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 21


Double click the second copy text layer to apply the following layer style:

Step 19

– Bevel and Emboss

  • Technique: Chisel Hard
  • Depth: 130%
  • Size: 7
  • Uncheck the Use Global Light box
  • Angle: 8
  • Altitude: 53
  • Gloss Contour: Rounded Steps
  • Check the Anti-aliased box
  • Highlight Mode: Linear Light
  • Color: #ffefd8
  • Opacity: 50%
  • Shadow Mode: Linear Burn
  • Opacity: 50%

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 22


Step 20

– Contour

  • Check the Anti-aliased box.

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 23


Step 21

Texture

  • Pattern: Leaves

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 24


Step 22

– Inner Shadow

  • Blend Mode: Color Burn
  • Color: #383430
  • Opacity: 35%
  • Distance: 10
  • Size: 10

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 25


Step 23

– Inner Glow

  • Opacity: 100%
  • Color: #ff9e2b
  • Size: 7

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 26


Step 24

– Satin

  • Blend Mode: Vivid Light
  • Color: #ccb6a8
  • Opacity: 80%
  • Angle: -171
  • Distance: 37
  • Size: 21
  • Contour: Cone – Asymmetrical
  • Check the Anti-aliased box
  • Check the Invert box

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 27


Step 25

– Outer Glow

  • Blend Mode: Divide
  • Opacity: 32%
  • Noise: 100%
  • Color: #242f51
  • Technique: Precise
  • Size: 4
  • Contour: Cone

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 28


This will style the second text layer.

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 29


Step 26

Place the Peeling Rust image between the two copy text layers, go to Edit > Transform > Rotate 90° Clockwise, and resize it as needed.

After that, right click the texture layer , choose Create Clipping Mask, then change the layer’s Blend Mode to Darker Color.

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect 30


And We’re Done!

Create a Rusty Horror Text Effect