Inside Gradient

Step 1 - Take a look

First tutorial of Muxla.com... How refreshing is it to see a beautiful website just like this huh? Well, let's do what you came here for. Ok, this isn't just some ordinary gradient effect. What i'll be demonstrating is creating two layers, one smaller then the other. The smaller one will have a gradient on it and have the option to lower opacity and other effects. Then we will add another effect on the bottom layer to create an astonishing effect.

Step 2 - Fonts & Colors

This is one of those steps that most people would obviously skip. It's not just as sample as picking one random font and any old color. You need to pick a bright color (not like hot pink or super bright colors). Good colors would be like blue, green, yellow, and orange.

The font must be a wide font, not some thin or pixel font. Just get a regular font and add bold to it. If it still doesn't look good, adjust the size a little bit until it does. The size above works great for this effect.

I'm using Trebuchet (Bold Italic) at size 48 (Sharp).
Color: #ffb400.

Step 3 - Inside Layer

Once you have the font, color, and size down it's time to move onto making the effect. First we need to create the 2nd layer, which will be the inside. To do this, you will have to find the Layers Box. Now, [b]hold CTRL and click on the box just left of your text layer[/b]. Your text should have a selection all around it as above.

Now after you see it selected, move to the top of your Adobe Photoshop window and find Select > Modify > Contract. Change the option to 1 pixel and click OK. Create a new layer. Now right click > Fill > #FFFFFF. If your using a white background like i have, it should look as if you have just a orange border around no text. That's correct.

Step 4 - Inside Layer Settings

Alright, now find your inner text layer you just created and go to the Blending Options (Right click layer). Now start with Inner shadow and use the following settings:

Inner Shadow
Blending Mode: Overlay
Color: #FFFFFF (Change to white)
Distance: 1
Size: 3

Ok, now go down and click Gradient Overlay. Click on the gradient image in the middle and it will pop up with many boxes / options to choose from. Choose the second one from left to right. Now click on the gradient (below the boxes) and change the color to #FFFFFF white. Then click OK. Then hit reverse and click OK to get out of blending options.

Step 5 - Outside Layer Settings

Think your done? Well, suit yourself. I still got one more step to go. This part will adjust the background (outside layer) of the text to look a little bit different. It will lower the gradient you just created as well. Now everything will balance out. Right click on the outside layer (original text layer) and go to Blending Options. Now use these settings for Drop Shadow:

Drop Shadow
Blending Mode: Multiply
Color: #9d9d9d
Angle: 90 (disable use global lighting)
Distance: 2

Gradient Overlay
Blending Mode: Overlay (13% Opacity)
Gradient: ORIGINAL (black & white)
Reverse?: YES

Congratulations, your finished! Here's a copy of the .psd file. Enjoy!