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Custom Letters

			1. I love making custom lettering! Whether you're going to use it on your web site or in some other job, creating custom letters is cool. I'll show you how to make the one to the left, plus a couple variations. I started with a new 259 x 144 pixel RGB file (though the size can suit your needs of course- I just didn't want to leave you in the dark.) I filled the background with black and clicked on it with the Type Tool . Photoshop automatically creates a new layer for your text. You can see what settings (font, size, etc. I chose in the Type Tool dialogue box here to the left.
			2. I chose a size for my lettering that was the width I wanted. Now I'm going to stretch it vertically. From the Edit Menu, I pick Transform: Scale and drag upwards until I reach the height I want. Tip: You can double click inside the transform box, or simply hit return to apply a transformation. I hit return. It won't offend me if you're one of those "double clickers."
			3. I'm eventually going to make the type this color (more or less.) The choice of color is arbitrary, of course. But first I have to do some things to the color. I create a new layer above my text layer and completely fill it with this neon green. To do this I use the keyboard shortcut, Option-Delete (windows = Alt-Delete.)
			4. Now my image window is completely filled with green. I can't see the word "COOL" anymore but I'm not panicking. I'll see it a little later. Next I choose Filter: Noise: Add Noise... and get the dialogue box you see. After moving the slider around a bit, I decide 78 is a darn nice number and click OK. My green rectangle now looks just like the little preview you see here- noisy!
			5. Time for another filter! I apply Filter: Blur: Motion Blur... and the image looks the same as the preview you see here. You can change the angle of the "motion" here, by spinning that bisected circle or by typing a number into the Angle: box. Distance: offers you another slider to play with. I ended up at 30 pixels.
			6. Now we're getting back to the type. I Command-Click (windows = Control-Click) on the layer with the text on it in the layers palette. (I'm still actually on the green layer, though.) That loads the selection from the word on the text layer. Then I Select: Inverse to select the opposite area.
			7. I hit the Delete key and now I have a word made of that green texture. Year ago when I first saw this texture somewhere, it was referred to as "brushed aluminum" for whatever reason. What's in a name anyway? I thought it looked cool so I used it a few time here and there, varying the base color.
			8. We can be done now, if you want! I'm going to apply a layer effect here: Layer: Effects: Bevel and Emboss... will get you more or less what you see here if you click OK (I played around with a few of the numbers in the dialogue box that popped up, but that was mostly so I felt important- you can leave the default settings.) If you like this type, use it! Or read on, if you dare!