Abstract Tech Text Boxes

You probably have seen those trendy text boxes in abstracts before that seem to blend perfectly with the image, and really make it more techy. This tutorial will show you how you can make your own abstract text boxes for your images!

1. First load up the image that you would like to add the abstract text boxes for in Photoshop:

2. Now select your Polygonal Lasso Tool ( ) and make a selection like the one shown below. To make perfect 45 degree angles, hold shift while making your selection:

Note that the top left and bottom right corners have 45 degree angles while the top right and bottom left have 90 degree angles.

3. Create a new layer in your Photoshop Document, and then fill the selection you made in the previous step with white using your Paint Bucket Tool ( ):

4. Now, from your toolbar, select the Single Row Marquee Tool ( ). In your document, make a selection just above the bottom right 45 degree angle:

5. Cut out the selection (Ctrl + X), there should be a gap between the top part of the abstract text box and the lower part:

6. Grab your Eyedropper Tool ( ) and try to select one of the most attractive colors from your document. Considering my picture consists of mostly grey's and then a light blue, I will choose blue. Simply scroll over the area with the color and click to select that color as your foreground in photoshop:

7. Select your paint bucket tool again, and fill in the lower part of your abstract text box:

8. Now we need to fill our box with some sort of content. For this particular effect, I am going to use a mix of numbers, colors, and text. Select your Horizontal Type Tool ( ), and then click somewhere on the document to start typing. Select a simple font, such as ITC Franklin Gothic or Century Gothic, set it to Bold (or Demi), and then select the color you chose earlier as your fonts color. Using a decent sized font (18 pt, you may use smaller or larger depending on the size of your box), type a number and place it in the bottom right of your abstract text box:

9. Add some more text to the top left of your abstract text box using a smaller font (8 pt). Also change the color to black or a dark grey:

10. In an even smaller font (6 pt), write something below the black text. Choose another color from your image (I will be using a lighter grey/blue):

11. And there you have it! A simple effect that goes a long ways.

You do not necessarily have to use it in 3d abstracts either. Below is an example of this effect used in a picture I took on the road:

Good luck and continue to experiment!