See through text in Photoshop

This tutorial is suitable for a beginner. It was written in Photoshop CS2 but can easily be done in other versions. It will show you how to put "see though" text on an image so that you can see the colors of the image below. You will use the Type tool, and Layer Styles.

1. Open the image you want to put the see through text on. If you'd like to use the same image I'm using here, you can download the zip file. Extract the image and open it in Photoshop. Duplicate the image by right clicking on the title bar and choosing "Duplicate" from the drop down menu
   
   
   
   Now you can close the original and save for use another day.

2. Activate the Type tool and choose a fairly fat font (I'm using Broadway) and set the size to about 72 (you can adjust this depending on the size of the image you're using). Color doesn't matter but I'm using white.

3. Type your text and click the checkmark to apply it.

4. Use the Move tool to position your text on the image.

5. Change the Fill value of the Text Layer to 0%. Your text will disappear. Don't panic. We'll see it again in a moment. :)
   
   

6. Double click on a blank space on the Text layer (not on the text, and not on the icons) to open the Layer Style dialogue box.
   
   

7. Choose Bevel and Emboss. Use the settings below to start with. You can always adjust to suit your specific taste. :) Click OK when you're happy.
   
   

8. Optional: You can also give it a little drop shadow to set it off a bit more. With the Layer Styles palette still open, click on "Drop Shadow". The settings I used are below:
   
   

Here is my final result:

That's it! You're done. Easy eh? :)

If you want to add more text, just follow the steps again.

Use Edit > Save for Web to save your image as a jpg to send to your friends or post on your website.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Until next time, take care...

Come join us in the Photoshop classes at LVS to learn lots more good stuff!