Creative Effects Challenge No. 180 - Neon Sign Effect

[Tom]

How You Can Make Neon Text

This tutorial has several steps that might be instructive but are not relevant to the tutorial, so don't worry overly much about duplicating every little detail.

Remarkably easy way to Create a Neon Effect in Photoshop

Neon Effect Photoshop Tutorial

Possible Backgrounds

Brick wall & chairs

Window in wall

Suggested Fonts

Neon Tubes 2

That's Font Folks!

1. Load a background for your neon text (brick or stone works well)
   
2. Duplicate the background (Ctrl-J) and change the blend mode to darken it (Multiply, Linear Burn, etc)
   
3. Add a vignette to darken the corners: Filter | Correct Camera Distortion (I set the Amount to -90, Midpoint to +40)
   
4. other stuff?

Creating the Neon text

1. Add a new layer at the top and select the text tool
   
2. Select a thick font and set the size to 120 and the color to FFE1FF
   
3. Type in your text, then resize, reposition and rotate as desired
   
4. Once you are satisfied, right-click and choose Simplify Layer
   
5. Select the text (control-click the text layer)
   
6. On the main menu, Select | Modify | Contract... and choose 10 pixels
7. Copy the selection to a new layer (Ctrl-J)
8. On the main menu, Filter | Blur | Gaussian Blur... and chose about 4 pixels
9. Hide that layer, select the text in the layer below and change its color to FD4AFF
10. On the main menu, Layer | Layer Style | Style Settings... and click Glow and Outer Glow
11. Set the Size to 43, Opacity to 80 and change the color to FD4AFF
12. Unhide the top layer to reveal the bright glow
13. Select the text on the second layer  and on the main menu, Select | |Modify | Expand... and choose 40 pixels
14. Create a new layer below the text, in the color picker change to C102C3 and then use the Paint Bucket Tool to fill the expanded region
15. Apply a Gaussian Blur of 60 to this shadow layer and change the blend mode to Linear Light
    

[Tom]

This is a fun and instructive Neon Sign effect.  The following video tutorial for Photoshop Elements will show you how create it.  I have also written out the steps for you, but you probably should watch the video at least once.  One caution though, it does have steps that are not relevant to the actual effect, so don't worry overly much about duplicating every little detail.

Video tutorial: How You Can Make Neon Text

The instructions for making the Neon Effect begin about 5 minutes into the video. The first 5 minutes are about making the background layer. The neon effect is more striking if the background is dark.  Here are the suggested steps:

1. Choose a suitable background image (a stone or brick wall are good choices)
   
2. Duplicate your background (Ctrl-J) and change the blend mode to Multiply or Linear Burn
   
3. On the main menu, Layer | New Fill Layer | Solid Color... and choose black (000000 in the bottom box of the Color Picker)
   
4. Reduce the Opacity to 40% to reveal the background
   
5. Add a vignette to darken the corners: Filter | Correct Camera Distortion (I set the Amount to -90, Midpoint to +40)

Some Fonts you might like to use:

That's Font Folks! (used in the video)

Neon Tubes 2

40 Neon Fonts

FYI: The numbers suggested in the steps below may need to be adjusted depending on the resolution of your file.

1. Create a new layer at the top of the layer stack
2. In the Color Picker set the foreground color to FFE1FF
   
3. Select a thick font, set the color to white, size 80 pt, leading 100 pt
   
4. Type in your text, then resize, reposition and rotate it as desired
5. Once you are satisfied, right-click and choose Simplify Layer
6. Select the text (control-click on the text layer)
7. On the main menu, Select | Modify | Contract... and choose 7 pixels
8. Copy the selection to a new layer (Ctrl-J) and name it Highlight
   
9. On the main menu, Filter | Blur | Gaussian Blur... and chose about 2 pixels
10. Hide the Highlight layer and select the text layer
    
11. Set the foreground color to FD4AFF and change the text color using the Paint Bucket Tool
    
12. On the main menu, Layer | Layer Style | Style Settings... and click Glow then Outer
    
13. Set the glow Size to 43, the Opacity to 80 and change the color of the glow to FD4AFF
14. Unhide the Highlight layer
15. Select the text (control-click on the text layer)
16. On the main menu, Select | Modify | Expand... and choose 34 pixels
17. Make a new layer below the text layer and name it Shadow
    
18. Set the foreground color to C102C3 and use the Paint Bucket Tool to fill the expanded text region
19. Apply a Gaussian Blur of 60 to the Shadow layer and change the blend mode to Linear Light
    

Here is my result:

Here is the layer stack

[Tom]

Neon Sign Text Effect