Engraved Text

I've been asked how I make my engraved text. So, here is a tutorial for those who are curious.

1. Choose item to engrave and type a letter on it. Make sure that the text is a floating selection. I chose a gold star. The font color does not matter. I chose black because it was easy to see. The floating selection is important because I type the letter, click ok, then move the letter to a better position.



2. De-float the selection (Ctrl+D) or promote the selection to a layer (Ctrl + Shift + P). Either will work. I usually promote the selection.



3. Apply the Cutout Effect (Effects > Text Effects > Cutout).

Vertical = 2
Horizontal = 2
Opacity = 80
Blur = 10
Shadow Color = Black
Fill interior with color = unchecked


4. Apply a Drop Shadow to make the text really look like it was cut into the object (Effects > Text Effects > Drop Shadow).


Vertical = 1
Horizontal = 1
Opacity = 80
Blur = 10
Color = White

In this case, I chose a light shade of my primary object, but white works for almost any situation. It is important to make the vertical and horizontal offset for the drop shadow 1 pixel less than the vertical and horizontal offset in the cutout.


The example that I used for this tutorial is the day 15 Advent Alpha.