PhotoShop Lesson

Outlined Text with Hard Black Shadow

Objective: This is a very quick example of how you can take advantage of the Styles palette and customize it to fit your needs.

USEFUL TIP: A drop shadow is a good way of off-setting text, especially against a busy background. As a part of this exercise, you will change the shadow to 100% instead of 75%, making it even more pronounced.

  1. Create a new file at about 600 X 250 px. Then change the background color.
  2. Type a text block and increase the font size.
  3. Apply the following style:
    - From the Styles palette, click the Options menu and choose "Text Effects".
    - Choose "Clear Double Black Stroke"
  4. Modify it by double-clicking on the Effects icon on the Layers palette.
  5. From the Layer Style dialog box, reduce the stroke from 6 to 3.
  6. Then click on Drop Shadow and change the opacity from 75 to 100.
  7. Then increase the Distance to about 10. Then reduce the Spread and Size to zero (0).
  8. Feel free to undo the changes if you wish. I don't care what it looks like in the end, and long as you have explored some of the possibilities in that dialog box.