In this tutorial I am going to show you how to make a simple reflected text header which you can use in your web design.

Create a new document with a white background. In this example my header is 960px x 200px (you can make it any size that suits your project.)

Double click the background layer to unlock it.

Next apply a gradient effect to this background layer. Click Layer > Layer Style to add a Gradient Overlay blending option to your background layer. Click on the gradient box to edit the color of the gradient (As below)

You can either choose one of the gradients you already have or make your own. To change a color, double-click on its color stop and the color picker will open, allowing you to select a new color. The color I will use for the stop on the left is #a49c6c. The color I will use on the right stop is #4c482c.

Now add your title text. Click on the Text tool. Choose your font and type your title. (I have used the font Trebuchet MS, Bold, 60pt, Color #FFFFFF (white)). The text at this point needs to be somewhere towards the top of the canvas.

Click on the type layer to highlight it.

Now right click on the highlighted layer and click Duplicate Layer.

Click Layer > Layer Properties and rename the original text layer to “reflection”

Make sure you have selected the “reflection” layer and then hit CTRL+T (this selects the transform tool)
Click Edit > Transform > Flip Vertical. Now use your arrow key to move your reflected text like shown below:

Rasterise the “reflection” layer by right clicking on it and selecting “Rasterize Type”
Now select the Rectangular Marquee Tool by hitting “M” or clicking on the tool in the toolbar. Select a feather of 10px.

Now use the marquee tool to make a selection on the “reflection” layer like the one below:

Now hit your backspace key, then CTRL+D to deselect the marquee tool
Make sure the “reflection” layer is still selected and change the opacity of the layer to 40%

Make sure your reflection layer is still selected then hit CTRL+T . Click Edit > Transform > Skew and drag the bottom left and right corners so your header looks like this:

Select the Title type layer and then click Layer > Layer Style > Drop Shadow and add a drop shadow to your title using the settings below:
Blend mode: Multiply
Opacity: 75%
Angle: 120%
Distance: 3px
Spread: 0%
Size: 5px

Make sure that the Title type layer is still selected and then click Layer > Layer Style > Gradient Overlay and add a gradient to your title. Click on the gradient box to edit the color of the gradient The color I will use for the stop on the left is #585757. For the stop on the left use #FFFFFF. Click on the top right stop and change its opacity to 0% as shown below

Click OK then make sure your gradient settings are the same as below before closing:
Blend Mode: Multiply
Opacity: 100%
Style: Linear
Angle :90
Scale 100%

Hold down your Shift Key to select both the reflections layer and your title (text) layer and use your arrow key to move the text down so your finished header looks like this:

If you don’t have Photoshop CS4 you can try Creative Suite 4 Free!

It’s now very easy to change the background gradient colour if you want to change the look.  Here are a few examples below:

For this blue gradient, edit the gradient overlay on the background layer and use #87d1e0 for the left stop and #237c9a for the right stop.

For this pink gradient, edit the gradient overlay on the background layer and use #ff5db3 for the left stop and #ef007c for the right stop.

Tags: Header Design, Photoshop CS4, Tutorials

This entry was posted on Friday, May 29th, 2009 at 2:35 pm and is filed under Photoshop CS4, Tutorials, Website Headers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.