Tutorial : Glass Font #2

Alright here is another way to get a  nice glass font in Photoshop. Well actually it's the same procedure but with different settings on the layer style.

This is what we will be looking at : 

Okay lets get started.

1.) Open a nice Background of your choice and create a new Text Layer using the Text Tool (T)
For this tutorial I use Font-Size 500px and the font called "Franklin Gothic Heavy"
Note : If you use a smaller font-size, you will have to adjust the layer style settings that I show later 

2.) When you got your text add a layer style by clicking the button shown below and select "Blending Options..." from the drop-down menu.

3.) Okay, we will need the following effects : Bevel & Emboss, Stroke, Inner Glow and Outer Glow



4.) To keep it less complicated I will just post the settings for the example shown above. Note that you may have to lower some values if you are using a smaller font-size.

The first and hardest step about this tutorial is to create a custom "Gloss Contour" in the Bevel & Emboss settings. You can either try to create one similar to mine using your mouse and dragging the points to the right spots or you can also make it super precise by adding the exact values for the points. You can conceive the Glass contour window as a coordinate system where Input is the x-value and Output the y-value.

As we continue it gets easier again :

When you have done everything correctly so far you should be looking at something like this :

5.) Almost done : The last step is to change the bleding mode to Overlay or Soft light ( I use Overlay ) and change the opacity to a value that you think looks the best (I figured 80% looks good).

And this is the final result : 

You could either let it like this or add another nice touch. 

Optional : 

6.) Duplicate the Background Layer by selecting it and hitting CTRL+J. 

7.) CTRL+LeftClick the Textlayer Picture in order to create a selection around the text. You will notice if you hold CTRL and hover above the text layer , your cursor will change. 

8.) When you got the selection with the background copy selected, go to Filter -> Distort -> Twirl and apply the filter with the standard values. This adds a nice touch and makes it look even more realistic as the background is a little distorted behind the glass letters.

Tip : If you use a smaller font as mentioned above, you will get something like this when using these settings: 

Looks ugly nothing like the nice glass effect shown above. The problem can be solved very easily : Go to the Bevel & Emboss settings of your text-layer and lower the size in the "Structure" Group Box in the Bevel & Emboss window ( I used 9px for font-size 500px, so for a smaller font use 3 to 1px )