In this Adobe Photoshop tutorial, I will show you how I create a fully customizable neon text effect that will change when you decide you want to change the text itself. Create amazing glows by combining gradients and strokes, change the atmosphere with Color Balance, using Satin effect to create the actual neon inside the neon tubes, and so much more. I hope that you enjoy this tutorial! Thanks for watching!
Round, Flowing Text Works Best
I pulled the font Bukhari Script to use with this effect, but you can use nearly any smooth, round, and flowing typeface to get a good neon effect. There are even some fonts out there that are MORE suitable for a neon effect than this font, but I chose this one because I like it. Find a font that you think would work for a neon effect and start by creating a word of phrase and set the size pretty large. I used 300pt for my text.
Create the First Layer of Styles for the Neon Effect
I duplicated my Type layer by hitting Cmd/Ctrl + J and shut off the duplicated layer. Select the visible layer and go Layer>Layer Style>Satin and here are my settings: Blend Mode: Screen, Color: White, Opacity: 60%, 30° angle, Distance: 20, Size: 25px, with a “V” shaped contour. I also applied a Drop Shadow with these settings: Blend Mode: Screen, Color: #ffda59, Opacity: 75%, 90° Angle, Distance: 50px, Spread:10%, Size: 150px. I also reduced the Fill Opacity to 0%.
Create the Complex Gradient Stroke to Complete the Neon Effect
Turn on the duplicate text layer and drag it below the Type layer to which we just added all those layer styles. Go Layer>Layer Style>Stroke and use these settings: Size: 185px, Position: Center, Blend Mode: Screen, Opacity: 100%, tick on “Overprint”. Change Fill Type to “Gradient” and change the Style of gradient to “Shape Burst”, leave every else as a default here and click on the gradient strip and double click the far left color stop and change the color to: #f6010d and then set the Location to 49%, choose the far right color stop and change its Location to 50%, double click that and change the color to #ffe400. Click to the right of that yellow color stop on the gradient stripe to add a new color stop and change its color to #fff77b and set its Location to 60%. Select the top opacity handle over to the right and set its Location to 50%, select the transparency handle off to the left and set its Opacity to 0%. Leave its Location at 0%. This will effectively build a neon-like glow that will flow from out text. Make sure you check out the video at the top of this post to see all the info and detail about how I created this effect and finished it to pull everything together nicely!
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