Easy methods to create a header text image in Photoshop

Photoshop allows you to do almost anything when we speak of image design and development. I happened to design an image myself. The image was basically a header text image for one of the websites I was working on. You could call it a logo. Initially, I tried to design an image that would contain a text ( or logo ), and the text would have some effect ( i mean it should not look dull and simple ).

Planning the approach

I wanted to create an image that would have a good background and some text effects. Planning the image was the most important part. Since, I am more of a code developer, I do not have extensive knowledge on designing images or Photoshop. So, I started off like a novice thinking that my final result would at least be of some use. I had some ideas about Photoshop layers and working with filters. Some of the online tutorials helped me as well. http://psd.tutsplus.com/ was one very useful website. I learned some of the basics from them.

Designing a background    

What I did was, I created a layer that contained a monochromatic rectangular shape. Now, from the filter options, I applied some film grain on this layer. This gave a great effect to the look of the background. Now, I needed to adjust the color of the rectangular shape. Monochrome is good, but that too must define a perfect mood for the image. I tried adding blue and gradually while trying several shades, landed on a fantastic color somewhere between black and grey. Now with this color and the black grains on it, my background was all set.

The overlaying text

Now, I started off with the second layer - a text. I wrote my text content and colored it. This time the color of the text was not something contrasting to the base color. This idea is long gone and looks quite simple. My idea was not to build anything simple and prototype, from the very beginning. So, I went on and tried a color that was lighter but of the same shade family as that of the background. The color was grayish teal. Now, the thing was looking quite good.

The "after - effects" 

After the text layer was done, I applied some blending to it. From the layers' pane, right click on the respective layer and select blending options. There, I added a drop shadow with effects such that it would create a close shadow just at the bottom of the text (not like a spot light shadow that appears at the space under the text). Then, I duplicated this text layer. This, I did, because I wanted to add more blending and not on this layer. On the new layer, I started adding blending effects. This time it was again a drop shadow, but with a darker color, blurring effect and long fade distance. This gave a fantastic look and feel. 

As a finishing touch to the image, I just added a text in a stylish, small font, below the big text. This was just like a slogan.