How to Create an inFamous Inspired Text Effect in Adobe Photoshop | How To

Today I will show you how to create a text effect inspired by the game inFamous. In the process you will learn how to create a light streak, two patterns, and two Layer Styles. You’ll use Impact to create an inFamous font effect. So let’s get started.

If you just want the text effect and want to skip the tutorial, you can buy the Gaming Styles complete set over on GraphicRiver.

Tutorial Asset

We’re going to use the following background:

1. How to Create the First Pattern

Step 1

Open Photoshop and create a new 1500 x 1500 px document. After that, double-click the Background layer to convert it into a normal layer. Then change the name to infamous BG.

Step 2

Set the Foreground Color to #000000 and the Background Color to #7c7c7c. Then go to Filter > Render > Clouds.

Step 3

Go to Filter > Filter Gallery… and choose Distort > Glass with these settings:

• Distortion: 18
• Smoothness: 2
• Texture: Frosted
• Scaling: 100%
• Invert: Unchecked

Click OK.

Step 4

Hold Alt-Space and left-click to zoom out until you see the entire image. 

Now make a copy of the layer by pressing Control-J.

Step 5

Press Control-T to activate the Free Transform option. Then right-click the image and choose Flip Horizontal. After that, press Enter and click on the Add Layer Mask icon.

Step 6 

Click on the Layer Mask (the white box in the layer) and press D to reset the Foreground and Background colors to default. Then press X to invert it.

After that, select the Gradient Tool (G) with these settings:

• Gradient: Foreground to Transparent
• Type: Linear Gradient
• Mode: Normal
• Opacity: 100 %
• Reverse: Unchecked
• Dither: Checked
• Transparency: Checked

Step 7

Now with the Gradient Tool selected, left-click on the center of the document and drag the mouse to the right side, to about one quarter of the width of the image.

Step 8

Click on the name of the infamous BG copy layer and go to Layer > Merge Visible. Then make another copy of the layer and repeat Step 5, but choosing Flip Vertical. Now click on the Layer Mask and repeat Step 7, dragging the mouse to the top by about the same distance.

Step 9 

Click on the name of the infamous BG copy 2 layer and go to Layer > Merge Visible. Then go to Edit > Define Pattern… and name it inFamous Pattern and click OK. Then save the document and close it.

2. How to Create the Electric Effect

Step 1

Create a new document with these settings:

• Name: Electric Texture
• Width: 5000 px
• Height: 2000 px
• Resolution: 72 PPI
• Color Mode: RGB Color 8 bit
• Background Contents: #000000

Click OK.

Step 2

Zoom out the document until you see the complete image. Then activate the Rulers by going to View > Rulers. Then right-click the ruler and choose Percent. After that, left-click the ruler and drag the mouse to create four Canvas Guides with these settings:

• First Horizontal Guide Position: 40%
• Second Horizontal Guide Position: 60%
• First Vertical Guide Position: 29%
• Second Vertical Guide Position: 71%

We’re going to use the small narrow part in the center:

Step 3

Double-click the Zoom Tool to reset the zoom to 100%. Now go to Layer > New > Layer… and name it Brush and click OK. Then pick the Brush Tool (B) with these settings:

• Brush: Hard Round
• Size: 6 px
• Hardness: 100%
• Mode: Normal
• Opacity: 100%
• Flow: 100%
• Pen Related Options: Unchecked

Step 4

Start drawing some shaky white lines in the center, drawing all the way from left to right.

Step 5

Now change the brush size to 4 and make some small branches. Don’t worry if you go beyond the guide lines—just don’t go too far.

Step 6

Double-click the Brush layer to add an Outer Glow with these settings:

• Blend Mode: Lighten
• Opacity: 31%
• Noise: 0%
• Color: #4cb8ff
• Technique: Softer
• Spread: 7%
• Size: 46 px
• Contour: Linear
• Anti-Aliased: Unchecked
• Range: 51%
• Jitter: 0%

Click OK.

Step 7

Now make a copy of the Brush layer by pressing Control-J. Then double-click it to edit the Outer Glow with these settings:

• Blend Mode: Color Dodge
• Opacity: 100%
• Noise: 0%
• Color: #30d6ff
• Technique: Softer
• Spread: 15%
• Size: 49 px
• Contour: Linear
• Anti-Aliased: Unchecked
• Range: 100%
• Jitter: 0%

Click OK.

Step 8

Go to Edit > Define Pattern… to save the pattern. Then name it Electric Pattern and click OK.

Your image should look like this:

Save the document and close it.

3. How to Create the Light Streak

Step 1

Create a new document with these settings:

• Name: Light Streak
• Width: 2200 px
• Height: 600 px
• Resolution: 72 PPI
• Color Mode: RGB Color 8 bit
• Background Contents: #191919

Click OK.

Step 2

Pick the Line Tool (U) with these settings:

• Type: Pixels
• Mode: Normal
• Opacity: 100%
• Anti-Aliased: Checked
• Weight: 4 px
• Color: #ffffff

Step 3

Go to Layer > New > Layer… and name the new layer Light Line. After that, hold down the Shift key and draw a horizontal line of about 2050 px in the center of the document.

Step 4

Now left-click the ruler and drag the mouse to create three Canvas Guides with these settings:

• First Vertical Guide Position: 7%
• Second Vertical Guide Position: 50%
• Third Vertical Guide Position: 93%

Step 5

Press D to reset the Foreground and Background colors to default, and then press X to invert it. Then select the Gradient Tool (G) with these settings:

• Gradient: Foreground to Transparent
• Type: Linear Gradient
• Mode: Normal
• Opacity: 100 %
• Reverse: Unchecked
• Dither: Checked
• Transparency: Checked

Step 6

Add a new layer mask by clicking on the Add Layer Mask icon. Then with the Gradient Tool selected, click and drag the mouse from the first Canvas Guide (7%) to the second Canvas Guide (50%). Do the same thing on the other side, starting from the third Canvas Guide (93%) and going to the second (50%).

The arrows in the image below represent the Gradient Tool being dragged. Note that the Layer Mask is selected.

Step 7

Right-click the Light Line layer and choose Blending Options to add an Outer Glow with these settings:

• Blend Mode: Screen
• Opacity: 100%
• Noise: 0%
• Color: #004eff
• Technique: Softer
• Spread: 0%
• Size: 16 px
• Contour: Linear
• Anti-Aliased: Unchecked
• Range: 9%
• Jitter: 0%

Click OK.

Step 8

Make a copy of the Light Line layer by pressing Control-J. Then press Control-T to resize it, choose to resize to 70% on the horizontal scale, and then press Enter twice.

Step 9

Now with the Light Line copy layer selected, pick the Move Tool (V), hold down the Shift key and press the Up Arrow key once.

Step 10

Make a copy of the Light line copy layer. Then press Control-T and choose to resize to 700% on the Vertical scale. After that, press Enter twice. 

Pick the Move Tool (V) and press the Down Arrow key six times (without the Shift key).

Step 11

Right-click the layer Light Line copy 2 and choose Blending Options to edit the Outer Glow with these settings:

• Blend Mode: Color Dodge
• Opacity: 100%
• Noise: 0%
• Color: #75c6ff
• Technique: Softer
• Spread: 0%
• Size: 65 px
• Contour: Linear
• Anti-Aliased: Unchecked
• Range: 22%
• Jitter: 0%

Click OK.

Step 12

Select all the Light Line layers. To do so, hold down the Shift key and click on the Light Line layer, keep Shift pressed and click on the Light Line copy layer and then the Light Line Copy 2 layer. After that, release Shift and right-click on one of the layers to choose Convert to Smart Object. Then save the document and keep it opened.

4. How to Create the Layer Styles

Step 1

Go to File > Open… and open the background image that you downloaded at the start of this tutorial.

Step 2

Pick the Type Tool (T) and write inFAMOUS using the font Impact. Then go to Window > Character and set these settings:

• Size: 140 pt 
• Tracking: -40
• Faux Bold: Checked
• Faux Italic: Checked
• Anti-Aliasing: Smooth

Step 3

Right-click the text layer and choose Blending Options to create the Layer Style.

Let’s start with

• Style: Inner Bevel
• Technique: Smooth
• Depth: 100%
• Direction: Up
• Size: 3 px
• Soften: 0 px
• Use Global Light: Unchecked
• Angle: 30º
• Altitude: 30º
• Gloss Contour: Linear
• Anti-Aliased: Unchecked
• Highlight Mode: Screen
• Highlight Opacity: 50%
• Highlight Color: #ffffff
• Shadow Mode: Multiply
• Shadow Opacity: 50%
• Shadow Color: #000000

Step 4

Now add a Stroke. 

Here we’re going to use the Electric Pattern that we created:

• Size: 250 px
• Position: Outside
• Blend Mode: Lighten
• Opacity: 100%
• Overprint: Unchecked
• Fill Type: Pattern
• Pattern: Electric Pattern
• Scale: 25%
• Link With Layer: Checked

Step 5

Drag the Layer Style window to the side and look at the document; your Electric Pattern may be in the wrong place. To fix that, left-click anywhere on the document and drag the mouse. Place the Electric Pattern just below the text.

Step 6

Add a Gradient Overlay. Then click on the Gradient Bar to create a new preset with these settings:

• First stop Color: #c9c9c9 and Location 11%
• Second stop Color: #639dbb and Location 24%
• Third stop Color: #356d8a and Location 38%
• Fourth stop Color: #d9d9d9 and Location 47%
• Fifth stop Color: #979797 and Location 71%
• Sixth stop Color: #dedede and Location 82%
• Seventh stop Color: #2b2b2b and Location 95%

Click on the New button and then click OK to go back to the Layer Style window.

Step 7

Complete the Gradient Overlay with these settings:

• Blend Mode: Color Dodge
• Dither: Unchecked
• Opacity: 100%
• Reverse: Unchecked
• Style: Linear 
• Align with Layer: Checked
• Angle: 90º
• Scale: 100%

Step 8

Add a Pattern Overlay with the first pattern that we created (inFamous Pattern) with these settings:

• Blend Mode: Normal
• Opacity: 100%
• Pattern: inFamous Pattern
• Scale: 50%
• Link with Layer: Checked

Now you can drag the pattern with the mouse again to place it in a better position. After that, click on the New Style… button to save the style. Then name it inFamous Style and click OK.

Step 9

Make a copy of the inFAMOUS layer by pressing Control-J. Then right-click it and choose Clear Layer Style.

Step 10

Change the Fill of the inFAMOUS copy layer to 0%.

Step 11

Right-click the inFAMOUS copy layer and choose Blending Options... to add a with these settings:

• Style: Inner Bevel
• Technique: Smooth
• Depth: 715%
• Direction: Up
• Size: 3 px
• Soften: 0 px
• Use Global Light: Unchecked
• Angle: 120º
• Altitude: 30º
• Gloss Contour: Ring – Double
• Highlight Mode: Screen
• Highlight Opacity: 75%
• Highlight Color: #ffffff
• Shadow Mode: Anything
• Shadow Opacity: 0%
• Shadow Color: Anything

Step 12

Add an Inner Glow with these settings:

• Blend Mode: Color Dodge
• Opacity: 75%
• Noise: 0%
• Color: #abe4ff
• Technique: Softer
• Source: Edge
• Choke: 0%
• Size: 4%
• Contour: Linear
• Anti-Aliased: Unchecked
• Range: 50%
• Jitter: 0%

Step 13

Add a Pattern Overlay with the Electric Pattern and these settings:

• Blend Mode: Lighten
• Opacity: 100%
• Pattern: Electric Pattern
• Scale: 25%
• Link with Layer: Checked

Now you can drag the pattern to the same position as the first Electric Pattern, but now it will be inside the text. After that, click on the New Style button and name it inFamous Style TOP (because this one has to be on the top of the first Layer Style). After that, click OK.

Step 14

We are almost done. We just need to add the Light Streak that we created earlier.

Go back to the Light Streak document, and drag its tab to unmaximize it. Then drag the Light Line copy 2 layer to our main document. After that, close the Light Streak document.

Step 15

Go back to the main document, and we’re going to resize the Light Streak now. 

Press Control-T and resize it to 40% on the Horizontal and Vertical scale. Then press Enter twice.

Step 16

Pick the Move Tool (V) and drag the Light Streak to the top of the text. Then change the Layer Mode to Screen.

Step 17

Make a copy of the Light Line copy 2 layer by pressing Control-J. Then place it on the bottom of the text.

And the result is:

Congratulations, You’re Now Done!

In this tutorial, you learned how to create an electric text effect in Adobe Photoshop. We started out by creating the patterns, then we created a light streak, and finally the two Layer Styles. I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial, and feel free to leave your comments below.

This text effect that we just created is part of Gaming Styles.