dark and sharp with ripped outer glow text background tutorial in PS CS
This is only my second tutorial, so take it easy on me!
How to go from
to 
In about 10 steps using CS. Shouldn't be too tough to transcribe if you know your program pretty well.
I started with this picture of Patrick from Fall Out Boy. Idn't he precious?
I get my sassy little marquee tool and crop it all nice and pretty the way I like it, try to make it interesting. Then made it 100x100.
image>adjustments>auto contrast, then filter>sharpen>sharpen
then duplicated the base layer, set it to screen, duplicated it again, set it to soft light and drag it to the top. Flatten or merge if you like, to make things less confusing.
New color fill layer! I used 98A6CE, a sort of icey blue. Set it to color burn.
Now, it's pretty dark, but I sort of like it this way so I'm gonna stick with it. If you want to brighten 'er up though I suggest duplicating the base, setting it to screen, dragging it to the top and playing with the opacity. That's not what I did though, so on with the tutorial.
Simple, now for the text. I use Georgia set to caps, black, at 6 pt with the tracking (I think that's what it's called? The thingy that makes the space between the letters) set to 80, for the first line that says 'I'll keep singing', and the next line, "this lie" below it at 8 point, 300 tracking. I can't really see the text too well at this point, so I saved the fine tuning for later.
Now, I created a new layer and dragged it beneath the text on the layer palette. I took a brush that I found in my brush presets (in natural brushes, I believe) that's got a sort of rough edge, and I scribbled it underneath my text with white until I liked it.
Just to make it a little more interesting, on the layer with the scribbled white, I add an outer glow effect. Layer>layer style>outer glow, set the blend mode to multiply and the color to black.
Nothing left but a border. On the same layer as the scribbled white, because I like the outerglow effect but I don't want to use it on another layer because it would overlap the scribbles. I use a border I made myself (posted below, feel free to use), that's a bit grungy, in white, once and then once over itself.
Now we've gone from
to
In just under 10 steps. I hope this was helpful to some.
How to go from
In about 10 steps using CS. Shouldn't be too tough to transcribe if you know your program pretty well.
I started with this picture of Patrick from Fall Out Boy. Idn't he precious?
I get my sassy little marquee tool and crop it all nice and pretty the way I like it, try to make it interesting. Then made it 100x100.
image>adjustments>auto contrast, then filter>sharpen>sharpen
then duplicated the base layer, set it to screen, duplicated it again, set it to soft light and drag it to the top. Flatten or merge if you like, to make things less confusing.
New color fill layer! I used 98A6CE, a sort of icey blue. Set it to color burn.
Now, it's pretty dark, but I sort of like it this way so I'm gonna stick with it. If you want to brighten 'er up though I suggest duplicating the base, setting it to screen, dragging it to the top and playing with the opacity. That's not what I did though, so on with the tutorial.
Simple, now for the text. I use Georgia set to caps, black, at 6 pt with the tracking (I think that's what it's called? The thingy that makes the space between the letters) set to 80, for the first line that says 'I'll keep singing', and the next line, "this lie" below it at 8 point, 300 tracking. I can't really see the text too well at this point, so I saved the fine tuning for later.
Now, I created a new layer and dragged it beneath the text on the layer palette. I took a brush that I found in my brush presets (in natural brushes, I believe) that's got a sort of rough edge, and I scribbled it underneath my text with white until I liked it.
Just to make it a little more interesting, on the layer with the scribbled white, I add an outer glow effect. Layer>layer style>outer glow, set the blend mode to multiply and the color to black.
Nothing left but a border. On the same layer as the scribbled white, because I like the outerglow effect but I don't want to use it on another layer because it would overlap the scribbles. I use a border I made myself (posted below, feel free to use), that's a bit grungy, in white, once and then once over itself.
Now we've gone from
In just under 10 steps. I hope this was helpful to some.