As a reminder, the key here for me was to have everything included as a single appearance, which would allow us to keep the text editable and to apply it with a single click as a style to other objects, as needed. You can experiment with different fonts on your own, but I would suggest that you avoid using a serif typeface.ģ.
#CS3 PHOTOSHOP TEXT EFFECTS LICENSE#
I should also point out that I chose Helvetica Rounded Bold Condensed for the typeface - besides for the fact that license plates have a pretty "soft" emboss, I wanted to get that rounded look. I hope you like my custom plate (no, it's not my real license plate - I'm not the type to get "vanity" plates - besides I'm sure they would look AWESOME on my "hey I'm a dad!" minivan). Finally, I added the text of the license plate itself. I then added the remainder of the graphics - the background at the top and the New York State text. To add the texture, I choose Effect > Effect Gallery and applied the Grain Texture effect. I filled the shape with a gradient and then applied a slight drop shadow for that realistic touch. 5"), drew out the holes for the screws and created a compound path so that the holes were punched out of the overall shape.Ģ. I rounded the corners (a license plate has a radius of. I used a CMYK document and set my Document Raster Effects Resolution to 150 (which would be enough for what we'll need in this technique). But it's pretty simple to create one anyway. The obvious point of this tutorial is the emboss effect, so I won't spend much time on the license plate itself. The values will vary depending of size, font, and desired effect, so the point here is to encourage you to play and experiment.ġ. Well then, let's begin.ĭISCLAIMER: I don't specify exact values for the techniques here, just the steps you need to take. What was that? Oh, you want me to tell you how I did it? Ha - you know me - I wouldn't make mention of something here if I wasn't intent on sharing the knowledge. I also created a Graphic Style of the effect, making it possible to apply that exact same appearance to anything else with a single click. In the end, I was able to achieve the emboss effect using a single text object that is editable, meaning you can change the text to read whatever you like. In fact, if you zoom in close, you'll find that I've also applied a texture effect to the plate itself, in trying to simulate that metallic look. Not bad, eh? I think the emboss effect on the text looks realistic enough. So I spent a few minutes with Illustrator with this challenge, and came up with the following: Especially when you consider that depending on the typeface, you'll always get really odd self-intersecting errors, which don't help either. However, even with complex lighting settings, the emboss never looked good enough for me. One could, in theory, apply a 3D Extrude, specify a Rounded bevel, and set the position of the rotation to Front. In reality, Illustrator DOES have an emboss "effect" via the 3D effect. There were some Illustrator plugins that created a simulated emboss effect that have come and gone over the years, but they were vector and never looked realistic enough.
An emboss effect a la Photoshop's Layer Style and now InDesign CS3's emboss effect, has been a pretty popular feature request over the years. I know, kinda silly, right? Is that an oversight? Not exactly.
The challenge though is quite apparent - license plates feature text that is embossed into the metal - and Illustrator, with all of the wonderful effects it offers, doesn't have an emboss effect. But I couldn't help myself in thinking that creating a license plate in Illustrator would not only be possible, it would end up looking better, and it would be scalable to boot. As always, the techniques that Bert teaches on his show are great.
#CS3 PHOTOSHOP TEXT EFFECTS HOW TO#
Recently, Bert did an episode on how to create a license plate in Photoshop. Some of you may remember that I've appeared as a guest on Bert's show in the past, where I've spoken about using Illustrator and symbols, 3D, animation, and the awesome Live Paint feature. One of my dear friends, Bert Monroy, has a wonderful podcast on Revision3 called Pixel Perfect.
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