How to Create a Quick Mirrored Landscape Text Effect in Adobe Photoshop

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

This tutorial will show you how to use an image texture, with clipping and layer masks as well as simple brushes and filters, to create a mirrored landscape text effect. Let's get started!

This text effect was inspired by the many Layer Styles available on GraphicRiver.

Tutorial Assets

The following assets were used during the production of this tutorial:

• Sumac Typeface font
• Foggy Germany by Christian Grab
• UNRESTRICTED - Real Smoke Brushes by frozenstocks

1. How to Create the Background and Text Layers

Step 1

Choosing the right image is essential for this effect to work. A good image will have two contrasting areas that can be mirrored to achieve the effect, and one of those areas should have little to no detail.

Open the Foggy Germany image, or any other image you choose, in Photoshop. The image is quite big, so you can adjust its dimensions by going to Image > Image Size, and use any values you like.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Step 2

Create the text using the font Sumac Typeface, press the Command-T keys to enter Free Transform Mode, and change the text's size to fit it within the document.

Hit the Return key to commit the changes.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

2. How to Clip a Texture to Text

Step 1

Duplicate the Background layer, drag the copy on top of the text layer, right-click it, and choose Create Clipping Mask.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Step 2

Go to Edit > Transform > Flip Vertical, and Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Step 3

Pick the Move Tool, and use the Arrow Keys to slightly nudge the texture until you like how it looks inside the text.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

3. How to Create a Gradient Layer Mask

Step 1

Select the copy texture layer, and click the Add layer mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Step 2

Pick the Gradient Tool, choose the Black, White fill in the Options bar, and click the Linear Gradient icon.

Select the layer mask's thumbnail, and click-drag from a point close to the outside of the text's bottom edge to a point close to its inside. 

This will slightly fade the lower part of the text.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

4. How to Add the Finishing Touches

Step 1

Create a new layer on top of all layers, name it Brush, and pick the Brush Tool.

Set the Foreground Color to White, and use the UNRESTRICTED - Real Smoke Brushes brush tips to add some smoke around the text so that it blends a bit more with the background.

An important part of this step is using different Opacity values for the Brush layer itself and for the Brush tip in the Options bar.

Here, I changed the layer's Opacity value to 50%, and used different Brush Opacity values in the Options bar for the brush tips I added.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Step 2

Create another new layer on top of all layers, name it Noise, and go to Edit > Fill. Change the Contents to 50% Gray and click OK.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Step 3

Right-click the Noise layer, choose Convert to Smart Object, and change its Blend Mode to Soft Light.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Step 4

Set the Foreground and Background Colors to Black and White, and go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise.

Change the Amount to 15 and the Distribution to Uniform, and check the Monochromatic box. You can use other Amount values, especially if you changed the texture's Image Size.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Congratulations! You're Done

In this tutorial, we used an image texture, with clipping and layer masks as well as simple brushes and filters, to create a mirrored landscape text effect.

Please feel free to leave your comments, suggestions, and outcomes below.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.