Step 1
Create a new document (size doesn't really matter for this tutorial) with black background. Firstly I would like to get into a bit of details about cloud render techniques in Photoshop.
Create a new layer on top and use the Lasso Tool with 40px feather, draw a selection as shown below:
Then go to Filter - Render - Clouds:
Set the foreground/background colour to be white and black, render some cloud inside the selection:
As you can see, because we added a 40px feather, the edge of the cloud becomes softer:
Bring up the Levels adjustment tool: (Ctrl + L)
Apply the following Levels adjustment settings:
Then use a soft eraser tool to gently erase the edge of the cloud so it fades into the background, you will have the following effect:
Then you can free-transform this piece of cloud into any shape you want, without having to worry about the edges:
You can duplicate this compressed cloud layer a few times and move them around the canvas for more effect:
Step 2
Use any font you like, type a letter into the centre of the canvas:
Apply the following layer blending option on the letter layer:
Bevel and Emboss
Gradient Overlay
Attach a layer mask onto this letter layer, use the dirt brush we downloaded + the chalk brush, erase parts of the letter:
As you can see, because of this layer mask, we now have cracked top and a icy effect for the letter:
and here is the overall effect so far:
Step 3
Now let's a bit of texture for the text. Load the concrete texture into Photoshop. Select the letter and drag the selection onto the concrete texture:
Copy and paste the texture back to our document, make sure it covers the letter as shown below:
Change the blending mode of this concrete layer to "overlay":
Use a hard eraser tool, carefully erase parts of the concrete texture so more frosty texture can be revealed:
Add the following two adjustment layer as clipping mask to this concrete texture layer:
Curves
Black and White (set layer opacity to around 50%)
and you will have the following effect:
Step 4
Let's add some frozen ground texture onto the letter. Load the frozen ground image into Photoshop, again we copy and paste a piece of it onto our document, covering the letter as shown below:
Change the blending mode of this frost texture to "overlay":
Add the following two adjustment layer as clipping mask to the frozen texture layer:
Black and white (set layer opacity to around 60%)
Levels
Optional: You can then add some particles (You can find lots of different particle brushes on the web) and more cloud effect around text.
Here is the effect I have so far:
Step 5
We're almost done. For final retouches, I decided to sharpen the image a bit with the Reduce Noise filter: (Flatten the image first)
As you can see, the texture becomes more crispy:
I also used the Selective Color image adjustment tool to fine-tune the colour a bit:
With Selective Color tool, you can alter individual colour without affecting the rest of the image.
For instance, my image so far has cyan and neutral colour, so I choose "Cyans" and "Neutral" colours on the selective color tool for adjustment:
As you can see, the cyan/blue part of the image becomes more vibrant as a result:
For the neutral part of the image, I give them more yellowish/earth kind of the feeling:
Selective color can be quite powerful when it comes to adjusting colourseparately, so use it wisely :)
and here is the final effect I have: (click to enlarge)
That's it for this tutorial!Hope you enjoy this tutorial and find it useful! Till next time, have a great day!
