Advanced' Photo Effects Tutorials

Hi and welcome to the tutorial. If you don't get something, feel free to message me. As per usual, I'm sure this isn't the only way to do this, just the way I do it. I used Photoshop, so PSP users will have to adapt it to that program.

Basically, we're gonna make this:

First of all, open up a new document any size you want. I'm going to use 500x500 because it's a good large size to work with.

With your document open (making sure the background is white), go to Filter>Texture>Grain and use the settings as:
Intensity-100%
Contrast-100%
Grain Type-Vertical

After that you should end up with something like this:

Now go to Filter>Artistic>Neon Glow and use the settings as:
Glow=5
Glow Brightness=20
And make sure to use a green glow colour.

It now looks like this:




It may seem a little odd at the moment, but it's not finished yet!

After that, go to Filter>Stylize>Glowing Edges set it as:
Edge Width=1
Edge Brightness=5
Smoothness=1

You now should have something like this:



It's pink, but not for long.


Go to Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation (or just ctrl+U) and make sure the box 'colourize' is ticked.
Slide the bars until your box is a dull green colour. Then click OK.
It now looks like this:

Now we're going to add the dropping effect. Go to Image>Rotate Canvas>90CW Right click on your layer, and select duplicate layer.

Select the Background layer and go to Filter>Stylize>Wind.
Put the settings as:
Method=Blast
Direction=Left


Now select the layer without the wind and set the opacity to around 55%. (To change the opacity, slide the little slide thing at the top of the layers pallet).

Go back to Image>Rotate Canvas>90CCW

It should now look like this:

Now to add the main text! Select the text tool, and type in what you want to say. it can be anything but I'm using 'MATRIX' to keep in theme.

Make sure that the font is 'Times New Roman' and In BLOCK CAPITALS. Make the colour is light green, almost white. (I used #CBEBCF).

You now have something like this:



Looks kinda cool already, but not nearly Matrix enough yet.

Right click on the 'Text' layer, and select 'Rasterize Layer'.

Zoom in to the text and select the 'Rectangular Marquee' tool. Now we'll have some fun chopping it up.

Selecting small parts of the letters, draw a selection around them and move them a bit out of place. Move any parts you want as long as it doesn't create a huge gap. After you've cut it up, it should look something like this:



Looking better, but still not quite what we want...

If the text colour isn't already there, use the 'eye dropper' tool and select the pale green colour of the text.

Then select a small hard brush and draw in lines connecting the letters.

Don't join every part up, just some of it and be sure to go longer over the end of a few letters to create that real Matrix feeling. Do it how you want, but after it should look like this:

Duplicate the text layer. (Right click on the layer and select 'Duplicate'). Now select the top text layer.

Go to Layer>Layer Style>Outer Glow

Make sure the Blend Mode is set to 'Normal' and change the settings to:
Opacity:100%
Noise:0%
Colour:#2EA558
Spread:15%
Range:50%
and
Jitter:0%

And click 'OK'.

Now go to Layer>Layer Style>Colour Overlay
Make sure the opacity is set to 100% and set the colour as a light green. I used #D9ECD7. After that, click OK.

It now looks like this:



Looking good, but there's one more step.

Now select the text layer that you haven't done anything to.
Go to Filter>Blur>Motion Blur and make sure the angle is 0 and the distance is 250 pixels. If they aren't, set them.

It should now look like this:



Only one more thing to do now.

Duplicate the text layer with the motion blur two times. Then select the top one of your two duplicates and press 'ctrl+E' to merge it with the layer below. Do this twice so you have the two original text layers.

Now to change the colour of the blur. Go to Layer>Layer Style>Colour Overlay and select a green colour. I used #39C84B. Click OK and Voila! You have Matrix-style text!