In this tutorial we will create a halftone text effect in the style of the works of the artist Roy Lichtenstein. To be inspired, I suggest to look at a selection of posters and leaflets on the GraphicRiver website.
1. Create a new document and add guides.
Step 1
Open Photoshop and go File – New (File – New). We call the new document as you like. Install Width (Width) by 1275 pixels and Height (Height) – by 1650. Later, I will change the unit of measurement to inches. Next, install Resolution (Resolution) 72 pixels / inch. After that we switch ColorMode (Color mode) on Grayscale (Gradation gray) and click OK. Later we will change the mode to two-tone, but for this we need to start working with gray gradation.
Step 2
Press the key combination Ctrl + R to activate the rulers. As mentioned above, for this project I will use inches. If you want to switch to other units, go to the menu Edit – Preferences – Units Rulers (Edit – Settings – Units and rulers). In the window that opens, you can select millimeters, centimeters, pixels, percentages, etc.
Step 3
In the upper part of the workspace, click on the ruler and pull out the guide line. To move the line to a certain distance, hold down the Shift key. In our case, we need to indent one inch on each side of the document. To hide / show guide lines, press the key combination Ctrl + ;.
2. Apply a halftone filter
Step 1
To get a halftone effect, we need to create a document with a gradation of gray, and then switch the mode to monochrome. The halftone effect works only on gradients in CMYK or RGB color modes. Therefore, go to the menu Image – Mode (Image – Mode) and select Duotone (Duplex).
Step 2
As a result, a window with settings will appear. On the menu Type (Type) choose Monotone (Monochromatic). Click on the second square opposite Inc one (1 paint) and choose black. After that, click OK.
Step 3
Take PaintBucketTool
(G) (Fill) and fill the document with the color # a2a2a2.
Step 4
Apply filter Filter – Pixelate – ColorHalftone (Filter – Appearance – Colored halftone).
Step 5
In the window that opens, set the settings as shown below, and click OK.
Step 6
For the desired effect points should be denser. To do this, we duplicate the background layer (Ctrl + J) and invert the copy colors (Ctrl + I). Below is the result before (left) and after (right).
Step 7
To work with color, we must switch to RGB mode. To do this, go to the menu Image – Mode – RgbColor (Image – Mode – RGB).
Step 8
Press Shift + Ctrl + N to create a new layer and call it “Blue Background”. Via PaintBucketTool (G) (Fill) fill it with the color # 0000ff.
Step 9
Switch the blending mode of the blue layer to Screen (Lightening) to see the halftone pattern below.
Step 10
Let’s increase the size of the pattern so that it is more visible. To do this, select the desired layer with a semitone texture, press the key combination Ctrl + T to switch to the free transformation mode, and between the width and height values click on the button MaintainAspectRatio (Keep proportions). Then set the width and height to 130%.
3. Add and edit text.
Step 1
Set the foreground color to black. Activate TypeTool
(T) (Text) and write any text in three lines. The text should completely cover the document horizontally. Each row is added on a separate layer. We divide the word Power into two lines and activate the binding to the right edge for it. To customize the appearance of the text, go to the panel Window – Character (Window – Symbol). Use the font Prompt Black Italic and size 360 pt. For the word Power install Leading (Interlineage) at 280 pt.
Step 2
On the layers panel with the Shift key pressed, select both text layers. Next, we transform them to add dynamism to the work. To do this, activate the transformation (Ctrl + T) and with the Shift key held down, rotate the text by 15 degrees. Or on the top panel set the parameter Rotate (Turn) at -15.00. When finished, press Enter and place the text under the top guide.
On this poster, I want the text to go beyond the boundaries of the document. Thanks to this, the design will look more aesthetically pleasing and interesting.
Step 3
To add texture to the text, we first need to duplicate both text layers. To do this, select them on the layers panel and press Ctrl + J. Via MoveTool
(V) (Move) omit the copies under the original and a little to the right. More on the panel Character (Character) choose a thin outline for duplicates so that the text looks more contrast.
4. Add a halftone texture on the text.
Step 1
In this section we will create the effect of Liechtenstein. Let’s duplicate the text layers and change the colors of the copies. To begin, group the existing text layers so as not to clutter up the layers panel. To do this, select them and press the key combination Ctrl + G.
Step 2
Duplicate (Ctrl + J) group three times. We call each copy by the name of color: black, white, yellow, red.
Step 3
On the panel Character (Symbol) change the color of each copy of the text. The first two are filled with black and white. For yellow, select the shade # ffd200, and for red – # ff3d00. To see all the layers, we need to slightly shift the copies. You can do like me or come up with your location. In this case, there is no right decision! To offset use the arrows on the keyboard. They allow more detailed control of the movement of the object than the mouse.
Step 4
The red color is above all, so we will add texture to it and increase the contrast. Duplicate Layer one (Layer 1) in the Red folder. To expand a group, click the arrow next to the group icon.
Step 5
Select four text layers, click on them with the right mouse button and select RasterizeType (Rasterize the text). Without removing the selection from the layers, again click on them with the right mouse button and select MergeLayers (Merge layers).
Step 6
Do not forget that we perform all the actions in the “Red” group. Hold down the Ctrl key and click on the thumbnail of the merged layer in the layers panel to load its selection.
Step 7
Turn off the visibility of the merged layer and select the layer Layer one copy (Layer 1 copy). This is exactly the halftone texture layer that we copied earlier. Press Shift + Ctrl + I to invert the selection, then take EraserTool
(E) (Eraser) and delete the contents of the selection. As a result, only a portion of the pattern on the letters will remain.
Step 8
We still need to keep the color red to make the text brighter. On the layers panel, turn on the visibility of the red layer and switch its blending mode to Screen (Lightening). Merge the remaining layers in the “Red” group together (Ctrl + E) and switch the blending mode of the resulting layer to Multiply (Multiplication).
Step 9
If desired, you can add an extra shadow. To do this, duplicate the “Black” folder and switch the copy overlay mode to ColorBurn (Lightening the basics) with an opacity of 55%.
5. How to save poster for web
Go to the menu File – SaveforWeb (File – Save for Web) (Shift + Ctrl + Alt + S). In the window that opens, set the quality to maximum or reduce if you plan to upload work to a resource with restrictions on file weight. Below in the menu ImageSize (Image size) set the required width and height. Next, press the button Save (Save), enter the name and click Save again.
Great job! We are done!
In this lesson, you learned how to create a poster with a halftone effect in the style of Roy Lichtenstein. In particular, you have learned:
- Create a typographic poster and apply various effects to the text.
- Use filter HalftoneColor (Colored halftone).
- Apply textures to text.
