How To Create a Realistic Golden “Bling” Text Effect
Introduction
In this tutorial we will be learning how to create a realistic Golden “Bling” Text. There are a lot of different “Bling” text tutorials out there and I wanted to create my own, more advanced and expressive. This one is sure to catch any viewers eyes and a great way to add detail to your site or presentation.
The skills for this tutorial are pretty much just basic knowledge in how to work in Photoshop to be able to finish up this tutorial. We will have two options when saving the final result. Either we will just use it as a plain “image” with background and all or we can save it as a “.png” and make it transparent for use on any website. We will go through both of the options.
Step 1
The first thing we need to do is to set up our work area. Open Photoshop and create a new project. I have chosen to write “MINERVITY” (the name of this blog) and therefor I have have set the size of my workspace in Photoshop to: Width: 568, Height 128.
As we will be working with a lot of copy and paste here there is a some addition space that we could need so add another 100 on the height to make it more suited for this purpose
Step 2
The font we’re going to be using is “Rockwell Extra Bold” as it’s best suited for what we are going to create. I am sure there are several other fonts this would work on as well. Your imagination is the limit. But for this tutorial this is what we’re going to use. Rockwell Extra Bold is included in Office 2003 and should you not have it then you can just find something similar right here: 1001font.com
After making sure you have the font or have found something similar in type, let’s type what we want to write. Type your word of choice in the upper part of your work area as we will be using the lower part as our “sketch” copy and paste area.
Use the color “#472000” as it will simulate our golden background. After typing your choice of word and changing the color to the above you should now have something looking similar to this: (Re-sized to fit this blog)
Step 3
Now, go ahead and change your background color to pure black (“#000000“) as we will be working with some shine bevel composing now. Also, with the text layer selected we’re going to add some bevel:ing to that text. Open up your “Blending” window (right click the layer and choose “Blending Options…”).
In that window chose “Bevel and Emboss” and use these settings:
Step 4
It’s now time to set up our color “palette” that will make our text “Bling” like no other. The next step will be the monumental task of the whole process. But now worries, you’ll be done before you know it. So, create a new layer and underneath your “Text” in your new layer create five different circles measuring Width: 3, Height: 3. Remember to delete that center pixel to make it look like a hole in it. It’s just 1 pixel so that should be easy.
Choose the colors that you feel your text best is suited for. I am going with that “Gold” bling kind of look so I have chosen colors grading from bright yellow to deep brown to simulate that gold feeling. This is what I ended up with:
Step 5
Now were going to add these circles randomly on top of our text to simulate that really cool “Bling” effect. This may take a while but it will be well worth it! I assure you.
So, create another five layers and name them “Bright“, “Light“, “Mid Tone“, “Shade” and “Dark” so we know what they contain.
After doing this, start adding these circles by “copy & paste”:ing them on top of your text in their setup layers. make sure you add them in the right layers as we will add different effects to each layer later in the tutorial. Do it randomly and going from Bright in the top to Dark in the bottom. Mix it up though. Well worth the work. Here I have finished the up the first letter “M” in my design:
Just want to show how I actually set up my layers and what goes in where. All the “Bright” circles is added to the “Bright” layer which later comes in really handy when we’re going to add some effects to the whole thingy. Here’s how my layers are set up:
Now, continue adding all those circles, “Bright” from the top and “Dark” from the bottom randomly until the entire text is finished.
Step 6
Now when we have our text fully plotted out with our 5 colored circles it’s time to add some effects to the whole lot. First, select the “Bright” layer and once again open up it’s “Blending Options…” panel. While in it insert the following settings under the “Outer Glow” tab:
You shal now see that all the circles that’s the contents of the “Bright” layer is showing some glow effects. Time to add some to the “Light” layer as well. So, select the “Light” layer and then open up the “Blending Options…” again and once again enter these settings under it’s “Outer Glow” layer:
With these effects added we now have a first look at what it will look like when it’s done. There are a few more steps to go before we really can enjoy the final result. Here’s how it looks with the effects on it:
Step 7
We have our text all plotted out and with some minor effects on it. Time to add the final touches. Of course we need some flares to make it more believable. This we can achieve with brushes. Using Photoshop’s own “Lens Flare” is not recommended at this stage as it will add a lot of “junk” to our image as far as lens glows and what not. These we do not want. We just want the nice flares.
The sparkle brush I am using I got from a site where you can download 150+ high quality Photoshop brushes for free. You can find the site here: GetBrushes.com
The kind of sparkle you want to use is entirely up to you. I will be working with different to make it look more realistic. Using different colors in the actual flair is also a trick worth trying. Just play around a little with it and you’ll soon understand what I mean. No strong colors just tints of different ones still staying in the almost white region.
After adding all the sparkles and glares that I want the text now look like this:
Step 8
Alright, so what we have now is a pretty nice looking image. But, there is still something missing. And that is the true flares that make you really think this image is believable. So, we’re now going to use Photoshop’s own “Lens Flare” filter.
What we need to do before we do this is to actually pack our layers into one layer. This is called “Merge Layers” and can be found in the “Layer” menu.
BUT, first we want to save our image again as a second setup as we want to have a safety copy of our layered setup. Go ahead and do this before we continue.
After saving your project as a backup, we can now go ahead and “flatten” our image. Select all the layers except the “Color” layer and the “Background” layer. Use the “Merge Layers” function in the “Layers” menu.
You can now go ahead and make the “Color” layer invisible. We won’t need it anymore (you can actually delete it if you want to as we already have it in our backup).
Now, select the layer with our image in it and go to the “Filter” menu. Chose “Filter” -> “Render” -> “Lens Flare“. A window comes up where we can set a few different factors making the flare look a little bit different in each choice. Use these settings:
As you can see we have the brightness on the lowest possible setting as the image is just so little and we don’t want the whole image to be engulfed in flare. But this is perfect. We can really work some magic now. Put flares wherever you feel and make it tasteful. It’s real easy to just add and add stuff and then you realize that it’s way too much.
So, let’s go ahead and add a few of these, more realistic, flares to the mix. Repeat the step over and over. Just choosing “Filter” and then chose the “Lens Flare” in the top of the list is not a good thing. You will only add flare to the exact same position as you last put it. You have to repeat the whole step in order to bring up the window again allowing you reposition the cross to where you want the next flare to go. But hey, it’s just a few more clicks.
After I have added my lens flares the finsihed image now looks like this:
Step 9
The only thing left to do now it actually to save it. In the beginning¨we talked about the possibility to save it as a “.png” file or a regular image. Here we are, at the end of our tutorial, with just that choice. The only thing you have to do now is to make the “Background” layer invisible and you are all good to go saving it as a “.png” making it usable on any background. Great way to make scalable user interfaces.
It’s entire up to you what you want it to be for and how you want to save it.
Round Up
So the “Golden Bling” effect is finished up and ready. Now it’s up to you what you have written. Would love to see what you people did so if you feel like it please comment underneath with a link to your picture and I will be sure to check it out.
I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and that it will come to good use. There are a ton of cool things you can do with it. Choose a red:ish scale and it will look like a ruby text and so on. Your imagination is the limit here!
There are plenty of other tutorials that you can check out on this website so please go ahead and see if there’s anything that might interest you further.
Also, don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS Feed. There are new tutorials and articles all the time! You can subscribe to the RSS Feed right here: Minervity RSS Feed
Thank you!
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A lot of patience there with the placement of the “tiles.” I like you’re statement on using the lensflare in the beginning. This is one of the better tutorials I have seen on “blingin’” text. Great work!
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I will definitely try this with my logo. Thanks.
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Cristhian Bedon – Thanks m8! Actually, not to be promoting myself, but it only took like 30 minutes putting them tiles into the letters. Pretty easy, randomize -> Bright in the top to Dark in the bottom.
Elidet – Glad you liked it! You have to show me it when you’re done! Would love to check it out!
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I can not get my out come to match the one is this tutorial that si why I am seeking the .psd file
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Teknotik – If you’re looking for the font size in this tutorial it’s 75px. Just wanted everyon to kind of do their own size as you still can use the bling circles.
What seems to be the problem? Do you have an image of your version? maybe I can check it out and then see if I can point you in the right direction.
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how do you create those circles? I have photoshop elements 6.0 so it may be different.
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[...] continue [...]
[...] Minervity » How To Create a Realistic Golden “Bling” Text Effect Nice text effect! (tags: photoshop tutorial photoshoptutorials) [...]
Awesome, trying it with gimp now
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I am curious to know the circle part also, how exactly is it done? Step 4 for me wasnt very clear, not exacly sure how I am to delete the center of a circle…can you go into further detail please?? Thank you so much for the tut its fantastic!
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How To Create a Realistic Golden “Bling” Text Effect…
In this tutorial we will be learning how to create a realistic Golden “Bling” Text. There are a lot of different “Bling” text tutorials out there and I wanted to create my own, more advanced and expressive. This one is sure to catch any viewers eye…
Hey, Thanx a million for this tutorial. I really like the bling!!
Keep up the gr8 work aight…
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KV – Well, all you do is to draw a 3*3 circle and then delete the middle pixel of it. Simple as that. Use the Circle tool.
SME+CME – Thank you! Much appreciated! I will certainly do my best to keep it up.
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This is a really cool effect. Looks like it’s very tedious to do though, specially the copy and paste part. But I’m sure with practice it’ll be a breeze! Thanks for sharing this!
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Great effect. Something new for me
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how do you draw the circles and second, what is the recommended resolution for the document
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Pretty cool! I’m still working on mine, but would like to ask a question.
Why is it, every time I try to add a circle to it’s proper layer it creates a new layer (after the initial one). Shouldn’t I be able to have 50 bright circles in the bright layer, not 50 different layers? Thanks!
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Also, I’ve been using elliptical marquee tool for circles, but I don’t see how to set it to create circles a certain size (3 pixels). Thanks again!
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[...] 37. How To Create a Realistic Golden “Bling” Text Effect [...]
Thanks so much! Check it out “in action” Extreme Website Makeover Party in Boston!
[Reply]
[...] How To Create a Realistic Golden “Bling” Text Effect [...]
Another great tutorial.
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How do you copy and paste the circles? I tried copying but I ended up with more layers instead.
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Shing – You continously merge them down if that happens to you. “Layer” -> “Merge Down” (Having the newly created “sequin” layer selected.
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EY this is the best tutorial that handles the bling. Well worth the effort of placing all the circles with color. Really taking it to the next level. Thanks!!
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I really try!
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i really didn’t get this… how sad i wanna make this for my friend but its really hard to follow… and maybe its really a hard thing to do…
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for step three how do you change background color to black when the text is written
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does this work in photoshop elements 7.0
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Hey, how do I do the circles. I’m having trouble, and I’m new to Photoshop.
Thanks
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[...] How To Create a Realistic Golden “Bling” Text Effect This entry was posted on Monday, May 25th, 2009 at 10:20 am and is filed under Text Effects. You [...]
[...] How To Create a Realistic Golden “Bling” Text Effect [...]
Hey thanks… I got the cirlces but now everything looks pixelated… =(
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KV – in order to create the circles you’ll need to
1. zoom in on the page as far as possible.
2. use guides to create a 3 x 3 px box.
3. use the ellipse shape tool from the toolbar
4. holding the SHIFT key down, draw a circle within the boundary of the guides you just created.
** at this point you should have a 3 x 3 circle
5. now select the ERASER from the toolbar
6. change the mode on the eraser toolbar from ‘brush’ to ‘block’
7. click on the center pixel of your circle to erase the center pixel. You’ll need to rasterize the image in order to erase the center pixer.
I hope this was helpful.
[Reply]
M. Brennan Reply:
April 13th, 2010 at 11:43 pm
You don’t even need to do guides. When you zoom in enough, squares/grid/whatever start to appear that you can use as guides instead.
I zoom in to 1600%, personally.
You don’t rasterize, either… unless I made a mistake or something, but it doesn’t allow me to rasterize.
Here’s what I did:
** zoom into the document 1600%, you’ll start seeing squares (pixels) **
1. Go to the tools and select the tool with the dashed line box (rectangular marquee). Switch it to elliptical marquee.
2. Stretch out the circle so it’s 3 boxes/pixels across, 3 boxes/pixels down. It’ll look like a plus sign after it’s the right size
** make sure the selection around the “plus sign” shape is still “moving” for the next steps **
3. go to the bottom of the tools and double-click the top color. Make it the color you need.
4. Use paint bucket to fill in your “plus sign” shape
5. Select the block eraser; erase the of the “plus sign”.
6. Repeat steps 1-5 in the same layer (I think… this is where I started getting confused)
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So
nice tut
it realy takes some more practicing from my side
but thanks for sharing this tut!
My first attempt is shown at the website…Hope there’s a link here now..
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[...] 37. How To Create a Realistic Golden “Bling” Text Effect [...]
[...] Bling Text Effect [...]
I love this tutorial but the only thing holding me back is Step 4. I know it may sound stupid, but how on earth do you make sure that the circles are going to be 3 by 3? I’ve read the steps Jonathan Chacko gave but I’m still at a loss to how it would work. I mean you make the 3×3 box, and then what? I’ve lost myself from there.
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[...] How To Create Realistic Golden Bling Effect Source Minervity [...]
Useful tutorial
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The 4th step is very unclear, as is the revision to it.
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how do i make a cooool text wa web do i need 2 use
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very nice and shiny!!!!
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[...] Realistic Golden “Bling” Text Effect [...]
[...] Realistic Golden “Bling” Text Effect [...]
How do i copy and paste the 3×3 pixels?
i highlighted them and tried to copy and paste via CTRL+C, AND right click but there’s no option for that… :\
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EDISON Reply:
April 13th, 2010 at 12:59 pm
Por favor ayudame con lo circulos no se como hacerlos
e18narvaez@hotmail.com
España
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…love your site. Thanks for posting.
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Okay on step 4 i have the 3 by 3 squar?es coloured and middle pixle deleted how do i make it into a circle
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Richard Darell Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 9:33 am
Use the “Elliptical Marquee Tool” to create the first circle before you delete the middle pixel.
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Very sweet! Retweet!
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Hey ppl,
maybe a hint for people having trouble with the circle placement… turn on the grid, set snapping to grid only, and make the grid 4×4px with no sublines.
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Great tutorial! I’ve done everyhing and the result is excellent!
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ok so two questions!
1) what font size did you use?
2) i can’t figure out step 4… how do i draw a 3 x 3 pixel circle? i tryed Jonathan Chacko way but i did’t get it!! do you think you could say exactly how you got a 3 x 3 circle?
thank i really want to learn how to do this bling text as iu think its awesome!!
[Reply]
M. Brennan Reply:
April 13th, 2010 at 11:26 pm
he said either 72 or 75… it’s in the replies somewhere
-zoom into the document as far as you can, you’ll start seeing squares (pixels)
-go to the tools and select the tool with the dashed line box (switch it to ellipse)
-stretch out the circle so it’s 3 boxes across, 3 boxes down.
-it’ll look like a plus sign after it’s the right size
-go to the bottom of the tools and double-click the top color
-make it the color you need
-use paint bucket to fill in your “plus sign” shape
-select the block eraser
-erase the center square
-repeat all steps within the same layer (i think… this is where i started getting confused)
[Reply]
M. Brennan Reply:
April 13th, 2010 at 11:37 pm
I zoom in to 1600%
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this just awesome and i m really happy that i visited this blog,thnx
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I’ve always wondered how you got that bling effect going, huh.
This was really informative and well done, thank you richard
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Hola me gustaria saber como hacer los circulos no logro hacerlos
Gracias
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Sorry, I just really think you need to add more details to Step 4 and Step 5… more explanation and screen-shots or something.
The farthest I got was creating the circles (with the elliptical marquee tool), adding the 5 colors, and erasing the center pixel. I got confused after that.
At least I’m not alone with this confusion.
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Hola me gustaria saber como hacer los circulos no logro hacerlos
Gracias
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WOW man!!!!WOOOOOOOO!thts sme rily tyt stuff u gat.u know,wen i saw ths tut,my nyts completly chnged,4 ril bru…i ws rily,truly n deeply inspired,no i min HEAVILY inspired.ths is jus off the chains man..kip on “blinging” me wth ur blinding bling.THANX A LOT
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Haha. Brilliant collection. There’s quite a few with food items. Where you hungry when you did this list?
Good work!
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Shouldn’t I be able to have 50 bright circles in the bright layer, not 50 different layers? Thanks!
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Shouldn’t I be able to have 50 bright circles in the bright layer
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Your post is really informative for me. I liked it very much.
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there’s an easy way of doing this job by making a pattern and then applying a gradient to the ‘bling’ thing.
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this is still excellent though
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