In this tutorial we will be learning how to create a realistic “Stone” text effect. There are plenty of stone text effects out on the Internet but what I miss is the details in them. Wouldn’t it be cool of you could some how create a realistically detailed stone text with just a few steps of Photoshop wonder? That’s what we are going to do right here.

The skill level for this tutorial is quite low. The basic knowledge of how to use the most common tools in basic is required and if you still wouldn’t be that experienced you can just follow this tutorial step by step as I will be commenting everything. It would be quite easy just following what I do.

Oh, and don’t be thrown off by the text. I wanted it to be something else instead of “Stone” as that would have been affecting your mindset to much.

Enjoy!

Step 1

Let’s start by creating our workspace area. Make it Width: 550 and Height: 300 and set the background to Black (#000000) for now.

In the middle of the work area type “STONE (or whatever you prefer) using the “Type Tool“. I am using “Arial Black” and size “130” to make sure I get the best detailing in to it.

Step 2

We are now going to add the realistic texture to it. However, we aren’t going to do it the conventional way. When I usually create designs I want to have as much creative freedom as I can get so we are going to use “Masking” instead to make it easier for us to get the best result possible.

We are going to use a texture which we are going to size several times and you can download it right here “Stone Texture“.

Open your newly downloaded texture file and copy the whole thing. Paste it (when you choose paste it will automatically create a new layer for you) in a new layer on top of our “STONE” text layer and name it “Texture“.

Before we do anything to the layer we need to re-size it a little bit. Choose “Edit” -> “Transform” -> “Scale” and size it so it’s just a little bigger then the text.

Alright go ahead and “Apply” the new size by clicking the “Move Tool“. This should fixate the new size for the texture. Let’s make sure we can really see the details in the texture as well.

With the “Texture” layer selected choose “Filter” -> “Sharpen” -> “Sharpen More“. As you can see the details pop out quite a bit more and we can go ahead and fit the texture to the text.

With the “Texture” layer still selected right click it and select “Create Clipping Mask“. The text is now textured and as you can see, it already give us a realistic feeling. What we have now is a way to manipulate the texture in itself without having to worry about the text. If our texture would have stayed bigger we could have moved around our texture until we would have felt satisfied with its positioning.

Step 3

Let’s add even more realism to the text before we go ahead and do some really cool effects to it. Right click the “Texture” layer and select “Blending Options…” In the left menu select “Gradient Overlay” and insert the following settings:

Step 4

Let’s continue to transform our text into 3D. Select the “STONE” layer and the “Texture” layer by holding down the “Shift” key and clicking on both layers. When selected right click the top layer and choose “Merge Layers“. Name the new layer “STONE“.

With our new merged layer selected choose “Edit” -> “Transform” -> “Perspective” and drag the top right dot inwards “45” degrees.

Step 5

Now we have our perspective set and it’s time to add the 3D looking realism to the text. Copy the “Stone” layer and past a new copy of it underneath the “Stone” layer.

Move the new layer down using the “Move Tool” 20 pixels and also set its “Opacity” to “30%“. We are only going to use this layer as a guide so no need naming it.

We now need to fit the text with the sides. We’ll do it in two groups as we need to have control of the “Bottoms” and the “Sides” of the text for effect settings later on.

Create a new layer underneath the “Stone” layer and above our guide layer. Name it “Bottoms“.

Create rectangles between the top text and the darker bottom text using the “Rectangular Marquee Tool” and the color White (#000000). Don’t worry about how it looks. Once done we will fit the white rectangles with textures just like we did with the “Stone” text.

With those done, let’s create the sides as well. Create a new layer underneath the “Bottoms” layer and call it “Sides“. This time we need to use the “Polygonal Lasso Tool” to create the sides. Drag straight lines following the edges of the “Stone” text and the guide text and then again fill them using the “Paint Bucket Tool” with white color.

All done creating the sides for our 3D Stonetext. Time to fit them with some textures.

Step 6

Before we continue now we can go ahead and delete the guide layer we’ve been using to make sure our sides are correctly located.

Now, copy the texture we used for the text again and copy it to a layer above the “Bottoms” layer. We again need to re-size this one to fit the text texture so select the layer and again choose “Edit” -> “Transform” -> “Scale” and re-size it so it’s just a little bigger then the “Stone” text itself.

With it re-sized and still selected right click it and choose “Create Clipping Mask“. It pops right in there.

Choose “Filter” -> “Sharpen” -> “Sharpen More” to make its details pop out just like the “StoneText“.

We also need to work a little with the “Brightness” and “Contrast” to make sure it fits to be on the bottom of the text.

With the new texture layer selected choose “Image” -> “Adjustments” -> “Brightness/Contrast…” and insert the following settings:

We also need to fix a little gradient on these bottom textures to make it more realistic. Right click the texture layer and select “Blending Options…” In the menu to the left select “Gradient Overlay” and insert the following settings:

You might have to work a little with the gradient itself. Just click “ON” the gradient and another window will open where you can adjust it to look like mine. You should now have something looking like this:

Alright, time to fix the “Sides” as well. But first, select the new texture layer and the “Bottoms” layer and right click the texture layer and choose “Merge Layers“. name the new layer “Bottoms” again. We just fixated the layer and can now move on to the sides.

Let’s copy the texture again and paste it in a new layer above the “Sides” layer. Again re-size it by selecting the new texture layer and choose “Edit” -> “Transform” -> “Scale” and make it just a little bigger then the text itself. Fixate the new size by clicking on the “Move Tool” when you are done.

Select the layer (if not already selected) and right click it and choose “Create Clipping Mask”. It pops right in there just like the other textures.

As you can see we need to make some adjustments to the texture in order for it to look really believable. First off (with the texture layer selected) choose “Filter” -> “Sharpen” -> “Sharpen More“.

We also should set the “Brightness/Contrast” for the texture. Choose “Image” -> “Adjustments” -> “Brightness/Contrast…” and insert the following settings:

And again we need to add some gradient to it so go ahead and right click the new texture layer and choose “Blending Options…” In the left menu select “Gradient Overlay” and insert the following settings:

Again you might have to fiddle a little with the gradient itself to make it look like mine but it should be that hard I think. After you are done with it you should now have something looking like this:

Step 7

Our text looks more like stone right now but we will fix that in the coming steps. Now, let’s fixate the “Sides” by selecting the new texture layer and the “Sides” layer. Right click the texture layer and choose “Merge Layers“.

Let’s add some edge reflections to the text. Select the “Stone” layer and right click it. Select “Blending Options…“. Select “Bevel and Emboss” in the menu to your left and insert the following settings:

Also click the “Contour” option right underneath the “Bevel and Emboss“. leave the settings as they are.

Now select the “Bottoms” layer and right click it and select “Blending Options…” Again choose “Bevel and Emboss” and insert the following settings:

Again click “Contour” to activate it. No need to set anything in this area.

Finally select the “Sides” layer. Right click it and select “Blending Options…” In the menu to your left again select “Bevel and Emboss” and insert the following settings (don’t forget to click the “Contour” option underneath it again):

When everything is setup you should now have something looking like this:

Result

With these few steps done the result is quite realistic. You can add exactly whatever you want to this text. I’ve gone ahead and created reflection floor version as the result.

Round Up

Well, there we go. All done and in just a few steps. You can go ahead and use any textures you want with this technique and the result will come out just as realistic as this one if you just put a little time in to it and work out those details. I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial as much as I have creating it. There is always things to learn from tutorials whether it is a technique or just a particular angle and usage of a tool that you never thought of before.

If you have used this tutorial and use your creation on the Internet or otherwise I would love to check out what you have created. Comment with a link down below and I will as soon as time permits. For me, I am on to my next tutorial.

Thank you!

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