Web Development: How to Create a Colorful and Shiny Text Effect in Adobe Photoshop

How to Create a Colorful and Shiny Text Effect in Adobe Photoshop

Final product image — What You'll Be Creating

If you want to learn how to make glossy text in Photoshop, in this tutorial I'll show you how to make use of the Layer Style panel to create shiny letters. You don't need a special shiny font—just follow these steps!

And if you want to save time, you can use Envato Elements to find other shiny effects, for example this one:

What You'll Learn in This Glossy Text Tutorial

How to make shiny letters in Photoshop
How to create a shine text logo without a shiny font
How to make the text look 3D
How to make something look shiny with layer styles

Follow along with us over on our Envato Tuts+ YouTube channel:

Tutorial Assets

The following assets were used during this tutorial:

Font: Lobster 1.4
Background and Contour inside the zip file attached to this tutorial

1. How to Add a Shine Effect in Photoshop

Step 1

Go to File > Open, and open the background image.

Step 2

Pick the Horizontal Type Tool (T) with these settings:

Font: Lobster 1.4
Size: 210 pt
Anti-Aliasing mode: Sharp
Color: White #ffffff

Step 3

Write "Shiny" and place it in the center of the document.

To center a layer, press Control-A to select the document, and then pick the Move Tool (V) and click on the Align Vertical Center and Align Horizontal Center icons.

Step 4

Double-click the Shiny layer to open the Layer Style window.

Feel free to turn on and off the following effects to see what's changed. Let's start with the Gradient Overlay; this way you will be able to see better what is happening.

Add a Gradient Overlay with these settings:

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

Click on the Gradient Bar and make a gradient with these settings:

First Stop Color: #ffc600
First Stop Position: 0%
Second Stop Color: #f8e45f
Second Stop Position: 100%

Step 5

Add a Bevel & Emboss with these settings:

Style: Emboss
Technique: Smooth
Depth: 286%
Direction: Up
Size: 10 px
Soften: 0 px
Use Global Light: Unchecked
Angle: 96º
Altitude: 16º
Gloss Contour: Click on the Contour box and load the file Shiny Contour.shc (zip file)
Anti-Aliased: Checked
Highlight Mode: Screen
Highlight Mode Color: #ffee93
Highlight Mode Opacity: 67%
Shadow Mode: Normal
Shadow Mode Color: #190a20
Shadow Mode Opacity: 9%

Step 6

Add a Stroke with these settings:

Size: 4 px
Position: Outside
Blend Mode: Normal
Opacity: 100%
Overprint: Unchecked
Fill Type: Color
Color: #7344ac

Step 7

Add a Drop Shadow with these settings:

Blend Mode: Normal
Color: #ae00f6
Opacity: 100%
Use Global Light: Unchecked
Angle: 120º
Distance: 5 px
Spread: 100%
Size: 5 px
Contour: Linear
Anti-Aliased: Unchecked
Noise: 0%
Layer Knocks Out Drop Shadow: Checked

Your image should look like this:

Step 8

Select the Shiny layer and press Control-J to duplicate it. Then right-click and choose to rename it to Shiny TOP.

Step 9

Right-click the Shiny TOP layer and choose Clear Layer Style. Then double-click the layer to open the Layer Style window.

Add a Bevel & Emboss with these settings:

Style: Inner Bevel
Technique: Smooth
Depth: 551%
Direction: Up
Size: 16 px
Soften: 0 px
Use Global Light: Unchecked
Angle: 96º
Altitude: 16º
Gloss Contour: Cove - Shallow
Highlight Mode: Screen
Highlight Mode Color: #ffee93
Highlight Mode Opacity: 67%
Shadow Mode: Normal
Shadow Mode Color: #190a20
Shadow Mode Opacity: 9%

Step 10

Add an Inner Shadow with these settings:

Blend Mode: Multiply
Color: #bf8c01
Opacity: 21%
Use Global Light: Unchecked
Angle: -45º
Distance: 5 px
Choke: 0%
Size: 5 px
Contour: Linear
Anti-Aliased: Unchecked
Noise: 0%

Step 11

Add a Gradient Overlay with these settings:

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

Click on the Gradient Bar and make a gradient with these settings:

First Stop Color: #a5a5a5
First Stop Position: 4%
Second Stop Color: #ffffff
Second Stop Position: 27%
Third Stop Color: #e2e2e2
Third Stop Position: 74%
Fourth Stop Color: #b2b2b2
Fourth Stop Position: 100%

Step 12

Add an Outer Glow with these settings:

Blend Mode: Screen
Opacity: 75%
Noise: 0%
Color: #eac919
Technique: Softer
Spread: 0%
Size: 0 px
Contour: Linear
Anti-Aliased: Unchecked
Range: 50%
Jitter: 0%

Step 13

Add a Drop Shadow with these settings:

Blend Mode: Exclusion
Color: #1eff00
Opacity: 100%
Use Global Light: Unchecked
Angle: 120º
Distance: 3 px
Spread: 100%
Size: 3 px
Contour: Linear
Anti-Aliased: Checked
Noise: 0%
Layer Knocks Out Drop Shadow: Checked

After that, click OK

Step 14

Now hold Control and click on the Shiny and Shiny TOP layers to select both. Then press Control-G to group the layers.

Step 15

Double-click the group layer to open the Layer Style window.

Add a Drop Shadow with these settings:

Blend Mode: Normal
Color: #000000
Opacity: 30%
Use Global Light: Unchecked
Angle: 120º
Distance: 3 px
Spread: 39 %
Size: 5 px
Contour: Linear
Anti-Aliased: Checked
Noise: 0%
Layer Knocks Out Drop Shadow: Checked

After that, click OK.

And the result is:

Congratulations, You're Now Done!

In this tutorial, you learned how to create a colorful and shiny text effect in Adobe Photoshop. We started out by creating a layer style, and then we added another layer style on top of that to complement the effect. And now you know how to make a glossy effect in Photoshop!

Don't forget to save the styles, so you can use them for other projects!

Other Shiny Letter Text Effects

There are many ways to make shiny letters in Photoshop, so if you want a different effect, here are a couple of propositions available on Envato Elements:

Blue Shine Text Effect (PSD)

This effect is quite similar to the one we've been creating in the tutorial—the letters seem 3D, and they have nice shiny edges. To use this effect, you just need to replace the text with your own!

Ultra Realistic Reflective Text Effect III (PSD)

If you need real shine, this advanced effect will make your text look unique! You don't need a special shiny font—just use any font you like and replace the text with your own.

3D Chrome Generator (ATN, PSD, PDF)

If you want to add a beautiful shine to your text logo, this action will give you the most realistic effect possible—like real chrome, your letters will reflect the colors of the environment (that is, the background you use!). It's customizable and very easy to use, but if you need extra help, use the attached video instructions.

Holographic Glass Text Effect (PSD)

You don't have to know how to make something glossy in Photoshop to achieve an effect like this—just replace the text in this file and you'll get a colorful, sparkling text effect in seconds!

7 Shiny Photoshop Styles 2 (PSD, ASL)

And if you want the same effect as we've created in this tutorial, this set on GraphicRiver contains seven shiny styles in different colors—perfect for every occasion!