Build a Sign in Photoshop With 3D Light-Bulbs
Build the sign base
Begin this project by creating a solid grey rectangle in a new layer. In a new layer, create a single bulb using a small circle marquee. Fill this circle with grey and create a pattern (select a rectangular marquee with a 1px padding, so that the circle pattern will have space between them, then choose Edit > Define Pattern). Fill your entire canvas with the bulb pattern in an empty layer, then apply clipping so the bulbs are contained within the grey rectangle base.
Add styling to the bulbs
To give the bulbs some depth and style, add a Drop Shadow, Inner Glow (dark), and Satin via Layer Styles.
Create letters
Add a bold, block style type in a new layer using a bright color, such as green. This layer should lay on top of the bulbs. Clip the type layer to the bulbs, and it will make the bulbs appear green, but not lit up. To make the letters fill the right bulbs, rasterize the type and use your brush to manually fill or remove in any necessary green areas.
Add bright light to the bulbs
Duplicate the type layer and remove the clip. This will appear pretty messy, but applying a mask of the bulbs will clean it up nicely. There will still be some extra green areas outside of the bulbs, so use the eraser tool to manually clean the letters up. Apply an Outer Glow and Inner Glow in Layer Styles to create the effect of light.
Add light reflection to the non-light bulbs
Finally, add a realistic reflection effect by applying an Outer Glow (bright green, soft technique, high opacity) to the originally clipped type layer.
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Highlights
rectangle
(
3:19, 3:19
)
bulbs
(
4:39, 5:41, 5:49, 4:39, 5:41, 5:49
)
rectangular marquee
(
4:12, 4:12
)
rectangle
(
3:19, 3:19
)
bulbs
(
4:39, 5:41, 5:49, 4:39, 5:41, 5:49
)
rectangular marquee
(
4:12, 4:12
)
Automatically Generated Transcript(may not be 100% accurate) ( more )
" Wow."
" This episode pixel perfect you've brought you by Netflix and godaddy.com."
" It's."
" This is -- would be -- monitor show where all kinds of things happen. On today's show -- show you a nice little ticker sign waited at all is a little lightbulbs to be a lot of things involved there are so. Pay close attention how you use that is up to you. Now today background right here this background goes with that to be by. Alex -- bit ski but this thing."
" If you feel like a wanna -- the poor over here. Anyway. We've started we've got to thank our sponsors. Godaddy.com. You wanna make an impact online godaddy.com. Has what you need. Dot com names start for as low as a dollar and 99 plus will class hosting fast and easy web site builders and much more. Plus if you enter the code pixels to go to casinos being when you check out you'll save an additional five dollars off any order of thirty dollars. Some restrictions apply see this site for details and get your piece of the Internet at godaddy.com. Also want to -- Netflix for sponsoring pixel perfect. -- Netflix you can rent over 90000. Titles online including lots of Blu-ray titles with free shipping both ways to your home. They now have over forty shipping centers so almost all deliveries happen in just one business day. The Netflix plans start from four dollars and 99 cents an as a new member you can get a no risk two week free trial membership. Check out at www. Netflix.com. But -- splash. Pixel perfect and remember you do have that type in that WWW. When using this code. Now on today's show. Now what I'm gonna do today is a fairly simple process okay it it it it does appear odd kinds of little signs that go across like on times square. On the screen right here. I had the current version of flow of times Greer and if we zoom way over to the site that's got a lot of dissent here. And come way over the decide way over here very few to those signed going across the top here. Now this is somewhat simple little gonna do today even more complex this right here this is just -- positions already has but the one I want to create has little. Highlights and all kinds of cool stuff happening that's gonna make make it look a lot nicer. So I'm gonna do here I'm gonna start a whole new file. And done right here grow and create the magic. Now in in the -- because remember we do everything in the layer select a nice big rectangle here. And this is where our sign is going to appear it's -- not succeed. And pick a color that the in kind of like a warm. Dark gray here like this like that -- good -- later. There you go now to go ahead and fill that area with that cult. Right so now. I'm gonna select the little circle here and it's a circle is gonna be. Basically a ball. Obama should get a get a perfect circle that political circle rot but like that. Not come in real close real close. Liberals would like that and let's just see just that little circle with turn -- the background. Turn this off and and a new later. I'm gonna go ahead and fill that little circle. Right so now there's my circle I'm not gonna create. -- pattern. So using my rectangular marquee tool and I'm gonna select. And you can see that I'm selecting -- have a pixel above below and on sides that's gonna make this guy. Two pixels. Away from its neighbors above and below and on the side. And how would that background transparent -- out of the circle selected centered inside maverick and I'm gonna -- news state defined pattern. And we'll call this were -- bulbs. But the main thing that way you know you -- and how we have. Now it can be selected let's pull back on -- percent here. Turn on these other guys and in that later that they that I just created their. I'm gonna go ahead and fill that. With that pattern and select the pattern. And right here at the bottom. There's our little circle site click on that click okay there is my little pattern of a little circles. Not black might be a little too intense Cisco and then changed it -- Now I'm they would black originally so that I could not have a nice solid thing that could change at any time that's going to with a slightly later great. Moloch the transparencies only two holes going to be filled up and so that with a light are great for now we see him right in the I'm gonna go ahead and clip it. I hold down my option key alt happiest thing on -- put between these -- my little ball the trapped inside that box right in this seat. That's the area where might. Little bulbs are. Now I'm gonna go into those little -- in real close we see was gonna happen now. Analytical layer. Of the bulbs I'm gonna bring up the later stuff fort. And just a little more dimensional going to go in there and will give them a little. Little drop shadow. That's been dead -- federal smaller so we'll make it through and two -- this is little hint of a drop shadow underneath it right in there like that. And let it give it a little inner glow. Inner glow except that off they're not turned on so what I'm doing I'm gonna switch does to a black. And then set the the -- to multiply so then now we see these little dark eyes and if I'm gonna bring it down a little -- about three tonight at the."
" Wow."
" This episode pixel perfect you've brought you by Netflix and godaddy.com."
" It's."
" This is -- would be -- monitor show where all kinds of things happen. On today's show -- show you a nice little ticker sign waited at all is a little lightbulbs to be a lot of things involved there are so. Pay close attention how you use that is up to you. Now today background right here this background goes with that to be by. Alex -- bit ski but this thing."
" If you feel like a wanna -- the poor over here. Anyway. We've started we've got to thank our sponsors. Godaddy.com. You wanna make an impact online godaddy.com. Has what you need. Dot com names start for as low as a dollar and 99 plus will class hosting fast and easy web site builders and much more. Plus if you enter the code pixels to go to casinos being when you check out you'll save an additional five dollars off any order of thirty dollars. Some restrictions apply see this site for details and get your piece of the Internet at godaddy.com. Also want to -- Netflix for sponsoring pixel perfect. -- Netflix you can rent over 90000. Titles online including lots of Blu-ray titles with free shipping both ways to your home. They now have over forty shipping centers so almost all deliveries happen in just one business day. The Netflix plans start from four dollars and 99 cents an as a new member you can get a no risk two week free trial membership. Check out at www. Netflix.com. But -- splash. Pixel perfect and remember you do have that type in that WWW. When using this code. Now on today's show. Now what I'm gonna do today is a fairly simple process okay it it it it does appear odd kinds of little signs that go across like on times square. On the screen right here. I had the current version of flow of times Greer and if we zoom way over to the site that's got a lot of dissent here. And come way over the decide way over here very few to those signed going across the top here. Now this is somewhat simple little gonna do today even more complex this right here this is just -- positions already has but the one I want to create has little. Highlights and all kinds of cool stuff happening that's gonna make make it look a lot nicer. So I'm gonna do here I'm gonna start a whole new file. And done right here grow and create the magic. Now in in the -- because remember we do everything in the layer select a nice big rectangle here. And this is where our sign is going to appear it's -- not succeed. And pick a color that the in kind of like a warm. Dark gray here like this like that -- good -- later. There you go now to go ahead and fill that area with that cult. Right so now. I'm gonna select the little circle here and it's a circle is gonna be. Basically a ball. Obama should get a get a perfect circle that political circle rot but like that. Not come in real close real close. Liberals would like that and let's just see just that little circle with turn -- the background. Turn this off and and a new later. I'm gonna go ahead and fill that little circle. Right so now there's my circle I'm not gonna create. -- pattern. So using my rectangular marquee tool and I'm gonna select. And you can see that I'm selecting -- have a pixel above below and on sides that's gonna make this guy. Two pixels. Away from its neighbors above and below and on the side. And how would that background transparent -- out of the circle selected centered inside maverick and I'm gonna -- news state defined pattern. And we'll call this were -- bulbs. But the main thing that way you know you -- and how we have. Now it can be selected let's pull back on -- percent here. Turn on these other guys and in that later that they that I just created their. I'm gonna go ahead and fill that. With that pattern and select the pattern. And right here at the bottom. There's our little circle site click on that click okay there is my little pattern of a little circles. Not black might be a little too intense Cisco and then changed it -- Now I'm they would black originally so that I could not have a nice solid thing that could change at any time that's going to with a slightly later great. Moloch the transparencies only two holes going to be filled up and so that with a light are great for now we see him right in the I'm gonna go ahead and clip it. I hold down my option key alt happiest thing on -- put between these -- my little ball the trapped inside that box right in this seat. That's the area where might. Little bulbs are. Now I'm gonna go into those little -- in real close we see was gonna happen now. Analytical layer. Of the bulbs I'm gonna bring up the later stuff fort. And just a little more dimensional going to go in there and will give them a little. Little drop shadow. That's been dead -- federal smaller so we'll make it through and two -- this is little hint of a drop shadow underneath it right in there like that. And let it give it a little inner glow. Inner glow except that off they're not turned on so what I'm doing I'm gonna switch does to a black. And then set the the -- to multiply so then now we see these little dark eyes and if I'm gonna bring it down a little -- about three tonight at the."
Started discussion: March 16, 2009 @ 8:46am GMT
Episode 117 - Your Name in Lights! [Discussion]
Learn how to create a sign made of lit bulbs using Adobe Photoshop - a simple process involving layer styles, type, masks, and clipping paths.
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