Step 1:

Ok, let’s say for example, you have all of the different text boxes like in this image, and you want to change all of the, sizes, and fonts, and colors to match the text box on the bottom right. In that case, step 1 would be to fine tune your text formatting in the bottom right text box and get it exactly the way you want it.

Step 2:

Shift + Select all of the text boxes except for the one you want to match.

Step 3:

Select your Eyedropper Tool, or hit (I).

Step 4:

Click your Eyedropper Tool on the text box on the bottom right. (The one you want to copy, font and size, etc. from) and it applies the formatting from that text box to all of the other selected text boxes! And Done :) It won’t change the actual TEXT in the boxes, only the font, color, and size, etc. Basically, anything you can control in the Type Panel, including letter spacing, leading, etc. Styles (effects) must be applied manually, which you can do easily by Shift + Selecting and then applying a graphic style, or drop shadow, or whatever you need.

Alternate Method:

Shift + Select all of the text boxes and the adjust your settings in the Type (Character Panel). It’s as simple as that.

Preview:

We’ll be creating three separate kinds of text styles:

• Creating Letterpress Text
• Overlaying Patterns on Text
• Creating Retro Type using the Stroke Tool

1.) How to create letterpress text.

Letterpress style text has been a staple of web design for a number of years now, and for good reason… it’s slick, stylish, and easy to create.

Step 1

Create a new document sized 485px x 350px and fill it with the color #205175. Add some noise to the background using Filter > Noise > Add Noise using the settings below.

Step 2

Add a white radial gradient to the background before adding your text. Here I’ve use the font Bitstream Serif and the color is #554639.

Step 3

Now it’s time to start styling the text. Open up the Layer Styles window by double clicking on your text layer. Firstly we’ll add a black to white gradient with an opacity of 47% and a the blend mode set to Soft Light.

Step 4

Next we’ll start on the letterpress look by adding an inner shadow. Set the distance to 2px and the size to 4px.

Step 5

To finish off the text we’ll add a light drop shadow that helps complete the letterpress feeling by adding a highlight. Here I’ve used the color #95bcd6, set the distance to 1 pixel, and used an opacity of 78%. And that’s it! See how easy it is to make good looking text?

2.) Overlaying patterns on text.

Overlaying patterns and textures on top of your text can help give some extra visual style to your work and helps to draw the reader in.

Step 1

I’ve created a new document and imported one of these paper textures to use as a background. The font used here is called ChunkFive set to 18pt.

Step 2

Open up the Layer Styles window and select Pattern Overlay. With this tool you can overlay and seamless patterns or textures on top of your text. Here I’ve chosen a seamless wood texture.

Step 3

Next we’ll add a small gradient overlay to the text to help give it a bit more of a three dimensional look. Set the blend mode to overlay and the opacity to 34%.

Step 4

Next we’ll add a drop shadow with a distance of 2px and a size of 2px, with an opacity of 53%.

Step 5

Adding a 1px white inner shadow helps give the text a small highlist and really makes it pop.

Step 6

Lastly we’ll use the Bevel and Emboss tool. I know a lot of designers look down on this particular tool, but I think if it’s used subtly enough it looks pretty good… just don’t overdo it. I’ve set the depth to 1%, the size to 3px, and the shading angle to 90*.

And that completes the wood text! See how easy it is? Hopefully you’re getting the hang of it now.

3.) Creating retro type using the stroke tool.

For the last part of this tut we’ll combine a number of different layer style tools to create text that has a nice retro feel to it.

Step 1

I’ve create a new document, added a simple striped pattern and gradient to the background. The font used here is ABTS Milk and is available through Jay’s FontDeals. The color is #9feef5.

Step 2

Next open up the Layer Styles window and we’ll start off by adding a gradient stroke to the text. Set the size of the stroke to 5px and use a gradient similar to below.

Here is a preview of the gradient that I’ve used:

Step 3

Next we’ll add a subtle gradient to the text. I’ve set the opacity to 70% with a blending mode of screen.

Step 4

Next we’ll use the Inner Glow tool to add a little more detail. I’ve set the color to #eef3ff, the size to 2px, and an opacity of 79%.

Step 5

Use the Bevel and Emboss tool too add a little more depth to the text. I’ve set the size to 2px, depth to 1%, and shading angle to 160*.

Step 6

Lastly we’ll add a heavy drop shadow to help the entire thing “pop” from the background a little bit. Set the distance to 9px, size to 16px, and opacity to 21%.

And that’s it! Now you have a nice looking, basic retro logo that can be made in less than 5 minutes.

Conclusion

This tutorial was intended to touch on just the basics of what you can do with Layer Styles. If you enjoyed it and felt like you learned something new please let me know. I’d love to make some more in depth tutorials about modifying text in Photoshop in the near future.

Illustrator: Edit Multiple Text Boxes at Once from Jay Hilgert on Vimeo.

Here is the goal of today’s tutorial.

We are going to be working on a Burberry theamed type. First you’ll need to create the pattern. You could do a quick google image search and find the pattern. Here is a link to the file I created based on those images. Its daunting at first glance, but once you get your head wrapped around it, you can do some amazing stuff (examples are at the end of the tutorial). Ok lets get started.

Step 01

Open the .AI file in our trusty Illustrator and open up the swatches pallet. Here you’ll just drag and drop the vector pattern to create a patterned swatch.

Step 02

Type out some text. Here i’m using the font Arno Pro with the Caption style set at 215.7 points.

Next open up your Appearance Pallet, this is where the magic happens.

Step 03

Add a new fill and add the Burberry swatch to it.

Next make sure your transform is set to Pattern Only.

Click in the Width dialog box then using your arrow key, press down till the pattern is scaled right with in the text.

Step 04

Add another fill, and fill it with the Cream/Off White swatch from the pallet.

Then move it below the patterned fill, by dragging it downward like you would a layer in photoshop.

Select the that fill and add an Offset Path from the Effect menu.

Set your Off Set to 2 px.

This makes this fill 2 pixels wider than the patterned fill. Its hard to see because the color is light.

Step 05

Now select Transform, again from the Effects menu

Then set the Vertical Move to -0.5 px.

This bumps that fill down a tad.

Step 06

Now grab that fill in your Appearance Pallet and duplicate it by dragging it down to the New icon.

Make a new swatch and use the colors: C=39 M=77 Y=44 K=70. Now apply it to the new fill.

Again go to Effect -> Path -> Offset Path, and set it to 4 px.

Next transform that fill with the Effect -> Distort & Transform -> Transform. Give it a -3.0 in the Vertical Move field.

This is where you should be at:

Step 07

Now were going to give a little more depth showing some lighting effects.

Create a new fill and fill it with white, move it below the stroke.

Open your Transparency Pallet and set the fill to Multiply.

Now apply a gradient to it.

Due to the lengthy tail in the lowercase "y" we are going to make this all caps. In your Character Pallet click the fly out in the top right and select "All Caps".

Grab the dark red swatch we created last and drop it on the right end of the gradient.

Set the gradient Mid Point Slider to 87%,

and the White slider around 69%.

Go to your Offset Path in the Effects menu again and set this gradient fill to 4 px.

Here is what your appearance pallet should look like:

Step 08

Lets add a highlight now. Add yet another fill.

Apply the a gradient to it.

Set the first Slider to White at 6%,

the Mid Point Slider to 64%

and the last slide at 30% with a black fill.

Next open your transparency pallet and set the Layer Mode to Soft Light.

And there you have it a nice Burberry text that also has a sense of depth. Tweak each fill till you like it, then save the graphic style so you can use it later on other text.

Now take your text tool and click on the text and just start typing.

Imagine getting a post card in the mail with your first and last name printed like this! Pretty impressive. Oh and here are some examples of Dynamic editable type.

(Last tip: To save your style for later use, or to apply to other text, by opening your Graphic Styles pallet and and click on New Graphic Style.)

About the Author:

Hello, my name is Gautch (Josh). I’ve been working in Illustrator since version 7 (pre-bounding box, and floating pallets) and in Photoshop since version 3, when we got layers and tabbed palettes. I’m a successful designer (for print, motion, and web) working out of Southern Oregon for an in house design department that does 75 to 115 ads a week. Yes you read that right, 115 per week.