How to Make Death Metal Words on CS5

Create death metal words in Photoshop CS5 by using the program's Lasso and Warp tools to erode text from the Text tool. Enhance the effect by applying commands from the Layer Effects dialogue box. The most important part of this project is the erosion you produce with the Lasso selection tool. You can get a different, more linear effect by using the Polygon Lasso tool, which produces straight-line segments instead of arbitrarily shaped segments. You can further erode the text by applying a filter to it from the Filters menu, such as the Dust and Scratches filter.

Instructions

1. Click the "T" icon from the tool palette to run the Text tool. Click a color you want for the text, such as an eerie green hue. Click on the canvas where you want to add some text. Type the text to which a death metal effect will be applied. For example, type "Death Metal." Click the green check mark button above the canvas to finalize the text.

2. Click the "magnifying glass" icon on the tool palette to run the Magnify tool. Drag a selection region around the first letter of the text you typed. Photoshop will zoom the view into the letter.

3. Click the "lasso" icon on the tool palette to run the Lasso Selection tool, which allows you to make selections of arbitrary shapes.

4. Drag the mouse around the inside of the first character in your text, using a jittery, uneven motion. This action selects a portion of the text in such a way that it will appear eaten or eroded.

5. Press and hold the "Shift" key to indicate to Photoshop that you want to add to the region you just selected. Use the instructions in the previous step to create jittery selection regions for the remaining characters in your text.

6. Press "Ctrl" and "C" simultaneously to copy your selection to the clipboard and then press "Control" and "V" to paste the text onto a new layer. Notice that the text appears to be eaten away.

7. Drag a new selection region around the first character and press "Ctrl" and "T" to enter Free Transform mode, which lets you warp, move and rotate text. Right-click the text, then click "Warp" to enter this tool's Warp mode. Drag on the points of the grid to further distort the character within the grid. Press "Enter" to finalize the warp transformation.

8. Repeat the previous step for the remaining characters in your text and then click the "Fx" button at the bottom of the Layers panel to open the dialogue box for applying special effects to images. Click the "Bevel" and "Inner Glow" check boxes to add a 3-D effect and a glowing effect to the text. Click "OK" to commit to the effect and complete your death metal text.

References

• "Photoshop CS5 For Dummies"; Peter Bauer; 2010
• "Design Basics"; David Lauer; 2007