Learn how to mask a photo with type and add special effects in Photoshop through our tutorial that provides step-by-step instructions and downloadable exercise files.
This exercise is excerpted from Noble Desktop’s past Photoshop training materials and is compatible with Photoshop updates through 2020. To learn current skills in Photoshop, check out our Photoshop Bootcamp and graphic design classes in NYC and live online.
Topics covered in this Photoshop tutorial:
Masking a photo with type, Clipping masks
Exercise Preview
Exercise Overview
In this exercise, you’ll use text to mask a photo, so the image will only be revealed within the type. Then you’ll enhance the type by adding some visual effects.
Masking a Photo with Type
From the Photoshop Class folder, open the file grandCentral.jpg.
To create a solid backdrop for the design, we’ll use a fill layer. This is a special kind of layer that is just used to fill an area with a solid color. At the bottom of the Layers panel, click the Create new fill or adjustment layer button
, and from the menu, choose Solid Color.In the Color Picker that appears, choose white. (The initial color is based on the current foreground color.)
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Let’s change the Background layer into a normal layer so we can work with it. In the Layers panel, to the right of the Background layer’s name click the Lock icon
.The layer will change names to Layer 0.
In the Layers panel, double–click on the Layer 0 name and change it to photo
Drag the photo layer above the Color Fill layer, to put the photo on the top of the layer stacking order.
Select the Horizontal Type tool
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Click in the image and type the following, as shown (on 2 lines):
GRAND
CENTRAL Select all the text (Select > All).
In the Character panel (Window > Character), choose a thick font, such as Impact. Choose a font size that allows the text to stretch across most of the photo and a leading that looks comfortable for the font size. Remember, if you can’t find the value you need, you can either type numbers directly into each field, click in a field and use the Up and Down Arrows on your keyboard, or hover over the icon next to the menu and click and drag with the hand slider
.Move the type until it’s positioned where you like it. If you have problems seeing the type, try changing its fill color in the Character panel or Options bar. It doesn’t matter what color the text is—you won’t see this color in a moment.
Once the text is positioned, go to the Layers panel and drag the type layer underneath the photo layer.
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Hold the Option (Mac) or Alt (Windows) key and position the cursor on the divider line between the text layer and photo layer. When the cursor changes to a Clipping Group icon (as shown below), then click once.
You will see that the type has “masked” the photo. With the Move tool
, move either the text or photo layer until the layout looks best to you.
Adding Special Effects
Let’s put a glow around the text. Select the type layer and click the Add a layer style button
. From the menu, choose Outer Glow.-
In the dialog box that appears, set the following:
- Change the Blend Mode to Normal.
- Click the white color box (under Noise) to bring up the color picker. Choose any color that looks good to you.
- Adjust the other Outer Glow settings as you like.
Click OK.
Congratulations! If you’d like to experiment further with layer styles, you can create your own special effects to add to this.
If you save the file, you should choose the Photoshop (.psd) format to preserve editability.
Saving for Use in InDesign
We want to ensure that the type in this image prints as well as possible! It’s best to print it as resolution-independent vectors, rather than pixels. As vectors, it will output crisp and clean at the full resolution of the output device. That leaves us with only two file formats that support printable vectors: Photoshop EPS and Photoshop PDF.
If you save as an EPS, you’ll see a dialog that has an option (checked by default) to Include Vector Data, which preserves the vector data in the file, including text and vector paths. The drawback to EPS files is they don’t support layers or semi‑transparency. Because they don’t support layers, you’ll need to keep a layered Photoshop (.psd) file in case you need to make edits.
If you save as a Photoshop PDF, you get it all: vector printing, layer support, full editability, and semi‑transparency. When doing a File > Save As, set the Format (Mac) or Save as type (Windows) to Photoshop PDF, click Save, and make sure you set these important settings:
At the top of the window, set the Adobe PDF Preset to [Press Quality].
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On the left, click on Compression and:
Change Bicubic Downsampling To to Do Not Downsample.
Set Compression to None.
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On the left, click on Output and:
- Set Color Conversion to No Conversion.
After you save, if it asks if you want to Preserve Photoshop Editing Capabilities, just click Yes.
TIP: We recommend you save these settings as a preset, so in the future you can choose it from the Adobe PDF Preset menu. To do that, on the bottom left of the window, click the Save Preset button and name it something like Photoshop File for Page Layout Program.
