Create Medieval Text with Timber Textures and Layer Styles in Photoshop

From this short tutorial you will learn from me fast and easy way to create cool Medieval Style Text Effect with the help of layer styles and two Tree Bark textures which are my own photos and unrestricted stock. The Font I have used is Black Initial Text and you can download it for free from http://www.1001freefonts.com/.

All Photoshop versions are applicable.

This is the result you should get if you follow all my twenty two steps:

STEP 1

Start your work with creating a new Adobe Photoshop .psd document. Set its Width to 1300px and Height to 900px. Type 96 Pixels/Inch for Resolution (if you don't intend to print the outcome) and select Transparent for Background Contents to get and editable first layer in your Layers panel. Choose also RGB Color from Color Mode drop down menu.

I have called my document Beautiful Medieval Text but you could use shorter name.

Those of you who prefer to print the Text when it is ready, should set its Resolution to 300 Pixels/Inch and select CMYK Color for Color Mode.

Rename your Layer 1 to Radial Gradient, then press Ctrl+G to place it in a group. Call the group Gradient.

STEP 2

While Radial Gradient layer is highlighted, navigate to the Menu bar and firstly Set Foreground Color to #063a3a then Set Background Color to Black- #000000.

Grab Gradient tool and go to the Options bar. Select the first Foreground to Background Gradient from the Gradient Picker and click on Radial Gradient icon.

Now drag with Gradient tool from the middle to a chosen corner of the image.

Your Background should resemble the result on my screenshot below after being colorized with the Radial Gradient:

STEP 3

Click on Tree Bark Texture 1 photo below in order to open it in high res in a new window, then right click and select Save As to save the image in the respective folder on your computer.

This and the next Tree Bark Texture which you are to download are my photos and unrestricted stock. You can use both of them for your own projects if you like them.

STEP 4

Now you have to Create a New Layer on top of Gradient group. Name it Tree Bark Texture 1 and keep this new layer selected.

Open in Adobe Photoshop the Tree Bark Texture 1 image which is already in your folder, press Ctrl+A (Select All) to Load Selection on it then press Ctrl+C to Copy it. Go back to your Beautiful Medieval Text.psd document and press Ctrl+V to Paste the Texture in its layer (Tree Bark Texture 1 layer). Well, the texture appears bigger than your canvas, so go to Edit, Free Transform and drag any node in inner direction in order to resize the texture to cover your canvas. Press Enter to apply the Transformation.

STEP 5

Change the Blend mode of Tree Bark Texture 1 layer to Multiply and you'll get this result on your canvas:

STEP 6

Now we'll start with the most important part of our tutorial- firstly typing then beautifying the Medieval Text.

For the purpose you have to download one super cool old style Font from here: http://www.1001freefonts.com/black_initial_text.font.

Install the font then select Horizontal Type tool from the Tools bar (hot key T). From the Font Family drop down menu choose Black Initial Text Font you have already downloaded and set its Font Size to 250pt. Choose #dcdd6f for Text Color then type The King using Capital Letters and Center Text option checked.

The Tracking for the Selected Characters should be set to 100.

Press Ctrl+G to place the The King Text layer in a Group. Name this newly created Group Text.

STEP 7

While your Text layer is selected, press Ctrl+J to make one duplicate. Reduce Fill Opacity of The King copy layer to 0%.

STEP 8

Go back to the original Text layer (The King), right click on it and select Blending Options to activate Layer Style dialog box.

STEP 9

The first Layer Style to be applied on The King layer is Drop Shadow.

STEP 10

Now tick Bevel and Emboss Layer Style to add 3D look to our Medieval Text.

STEP 11

The third Layer Style we have to apply on The King layer is Contour. It will improve the Bevel and Emboss Effect.

This is how your Medieval Text will look after adding the three Blending Options.

STEP 12

Now we'll start to apply layer styles on the duplicated Text layer so select The King copy layer, right click on it and choose Blending Options then firstly tick Gradient Overlay in Layer Style box. Select the default Gold Gradient from the Gradient Picker.

STEP 13

The second Layer Style that is to be applied on The King copy layer is Inner Shadow.

STEP 14

Let us add awesome relief to our Medieval Text. For the purpose tick Bevel and Emboss Layer Style.

STEP 15

The last Layer Style we have to add on The King copy layer is Contour. Choose Rolling Slope-Descending from the Contour Picker and change Range to 65%.

This is how our Medieval Text will look so far:

STEP 16

It is time to download Tree Bark Texture 2. See Step 3 for reference.

STEP 17

Create a New Layer on top of Text group and name it Tree bark Texture 2. Paste the Texture downloaded in the previous step in this new layer (see Step 4).

Use Edit, Free Transform to resize the Texture so that it covers the Text. Press Enter to apply the Transformation.

STEP 18

While Tree Bark Texture 2 layer is selected, hold down Ctrl and click on The King layer's thumbnail to Load Selection on the Text. Click on the screenshot below to open it in high res for a better visibility because the colors of the Texture prevent from seeing the Selection clearly.

STEP 19

With Tree Bark Texture 2 layer selected and Selection on the Text active, click on Add Layer Mask button at the bottom of Layers panel (Layer, Layer Mask, Reveal Selection).

Your result should be similar to the one on the screenshot below after adding Layer Mask to Tree Bark Texture 2.

STEP 20

Change the Blend Mode of Tree Bark Texture 2 layer to Overlay.

STEP 21

Double click on Tree Bark Texture 2 layer's thumbnail to call Layer Style box. Apply Outer Glow Layer Style to make the borders of the Texture look hot. :)

We finished our work on the Medieval Text. You should have these two groups in Layers panel:

1. Gradient Group with two layers in it: Radial Gradient and Tree Bark Texture 1 and
2. Text group which consists of three layers: The King, The King copy and Tree Bark Texture 2 layer.

STEP 22

This is my Medieval Text saved in .jpg format. You can improve the look of your .jpg file with Filter, Sharpen, Unsharp Mask.

Hope you find this tutorial interesting and easy and like the outcome. Many thanks for reading and God bless!

Please, leave a comment below if you have questions or critiques. :)