Create a Subtle Title

Subtle Title By Syndee Rogers

Master the minimalist style with a subtle title using the Type tool.

For this tutorial you will need:

• • Photoshop Elements or Adobe Photoshop
  • Large Photo Mask (Suggested product list at the end of the tutorial)
  • Large photo (one that fills most of the page works best)

Step One: Add a Photo to the Mask

• Create a new 12×12″ document at 300 ppi with a white background.
• Open a large photo (File > Open).
• Open a photo mask.
• Activate the photo mask document, click and drag over to your new document.
• On the photo document, click and drag over on top of the photo mask of your document.
• In the Menu bar, choose Layer > Create Clipping Mask, or use the shortcut Alt Ctrl G (Mac: Opt Cmd G).
• Click inside the Bounding Box and position your photo if necessary.

Step Three: Add the Title Base

• Get the Horizontal Type tool.
• In the Tool Options, open the Font Picker and choose a sans serif style Font. I’m using Caviar Dreams. Set the Size to 278, set the Leading to Auto, and the Tracking to 0. Click on the Left Alignment icon. (PS: click on the Character icon to open the Character panel and set the Leading to Auto, and the Tracking to 0. Click on the Left Alignment icon.)
• Click on the Foreground Color Chip to open the Color Picker. 
• In the Color Picker, enter Hex #6a6a6a and click OK. (PS: Click OK to close the Color Picker.)
• On your document, click to place the cursor in the upper left corner of the document.
• Type a word that extends across the entire page. I’ve typed the word “Beautiful”.
• To reposition the word, hold down the Ctrl key (Mac: Cmd Key) and click and drag inside the bounding box.
• Click the checkmark to commit.

• In the Layers panel, change the Blend Mode to Hard Light.
• Lower the Opacity to 17%.

Step Four: Duplicate the Title Base

• Press Ctrl J (Mac: Cmd J) to duplicate the type layer.
• Click on the Foreground Color Chip to open the Color Picker and choose white. Click OK.
• In the Layers panel, change the Blend Mode to Normal.
• Change the Opacity to 100%.

Step Five: Add a Drop Shadow

Normally. it’s not recommended to add shadows to type (especially for painted artistic style fonts and word art). While this ‘rule’ is still in place, there are times when artistic license can be used. Which is the case for this tutorial. The shadow style is what actually makes the title. Without it, the title would almost disappear. So in this instance we’re going to break the rules!

Step Six: Position the Title Base

• Get the Move tool.
• In the Tool Options make sure Auto Select layer is unchecked.
• In the Layers panel, activate the title base layer. 
• On the document, click on the title base and move slightly to the right and slightly down. 

We want it to be clearly visible and give us an almost 3D effect.

Step Five: Complete the Page

• Add additional elements and journaling.(I’ve left mine as is)
• Save the completed page (File > Save As) in an easy-to-find location.

I hope you have fun with this tutorial! Next month we’ll add a cool effect to a photo and add it to this page.

Suggested Products:

(Click on the images below to be taken to the product page)