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Polished Chrome Effect

Photoshop Tutorial

Summary:
Applying a polished chrome style effect to text is great for adding style and interest to a graphic design project. In this tutorial, we'll learn how to create text that has this shiny appearance.

Step-By-Step Instructions:
1. Create new RGB document and call it "chrome"

2. Insert reflecting image into your document and place it above background layer.

3. Go to Channel palette, create new channel and call it "type mask". Select text tool and type word PHOTOSHOP. Press Ctrl+D to deselect.

4. In the Channels palette drag the "type mask" layer on to the icon "create new channel" to make new copy and name it "blur type". Go to Filters > Blur > Gaussian Blur and apply with radius 4px.

5. Copy "blur type" and name new channel and name it "masked blur". Go to Select > Load Selection, check Invert and fill the selection with black fill:

6. Save "masked blur" channel in new document and name it "displacement_map" (Ctrl+A to Select All, Ctrl+C to Copy, File>New Document, Ctrl+V to paste).

7. Press Ctrl+D to deselect. Click on RGB channel to see the image of sky you loaded in the beginning. Go to Filter>Distort>Glass and use Distortion=20 and Smoothness=10. Use displacement_map for texture

8. In Layers pallete create new layer, name it "emboss" and fill it with white color. Go to Filter>Render>Lighting Effects. Use channel "masked blur" for texture channel, check "White is High" and experiment with properties:

9. Change blend mode for "emboss" to "Overlay" to make text even shinier.

10. Go to Select>Load Selection > "masked type". Check "inverse" and press Delete to remove everything outside from the type:

11. Double click on the emboss layer to call up the layer's properties dialog and check "Drop Shadow" and "Stroke". Change the stroke color to black. Experiment around with Bevel and other settings:

(Add a backdrop for emphasis.)