In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a Photoshop action to turn a picture into text art. I'll explain everything in so much detail that everyone can create it, even those who have just opened Photoshop for the first time.

Check this Photoshop word art tutorial in video, and remember to follow along with us over on our Envato Tuts+ YouTube channel:

You can discover even more photo art effects to take your Photoshop skills to new levels. And if you want to save hours of work, scroll down after this Photoshop text in picture tutorial to discover some amazing image to text art Photoshop actions.

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  Photoshop Actions
  
  
  25 Best Photo Art Effects in Photoshop (Artistic PSD Actions)
  
  
  Melody Nieves

What You'll Need For This Photoshop Word Art Tutorial

To recreate the text in art design above, you will need the following resources:

• 
  Stock Image
  
  


• Font

1. How to Start Creating an Action

Step 1

To begin your typography portrait in Photoshop, first, open the photo that you want to work with. To open your photo, go to File > Open, choose your photo, and click Open. Now, before we get started, just check a couple of things:

1. Your photo should be in RGB Color mode, 8 Bits/Channel. To check this, go to Image > Mode.


2. For best results, your photo size should be 2000–4000 px wide/high. To check this, go to Image > Image Size.


3. Your photo should be the Background layer. If it is not, go to Layer > New > Background from Layer.

Step 2

Now go to Window > Actions, and in the Actions panel, click on the menu icon in the top right-hand corner, choose New Set to create a new set, and name it Typography. Then, click on the same menu icon again, choose New Action to create a new action, and name it Typography.

2. How to Select the Subject

Step 1

In this section, we are going to create a base that
determines the subject in our photo for the text in art. Choose the Quick Selection Tool (W) and select the background of the photo. Use the Shift-Alt buttons on your keyboard to add or subtract some areas from the selection. After you've made a perfect selection, press Control-Shift-I on your keyboard to invert the selection.

Step 2

Now go to Select > Modify > Smooth and set the Sample Radius to 5 px. Then, go to Select > Modify > Contract and set Contract By to 2 px. After that, go to Select > Modify > Feather and set the Feather Radius to 2 px as shown below:

Step 3

Go to Layer > New > Layer to create a new layer and name it Base.

Step 4

Now set the foreground color to any color that you like. Then, go to Edit > Fill and set Contents to Foreground Color, Mode to Normal, and Opacity to 100%.

Step 5

Press Control-D on your keyboard to deselect the selection and hide the Base layer. Then, select the Background layer, go to Image > Adjustments > Shadows/Highlights and set the Shadows to 35% and the Highlights to 0%.

Step 6

Now Control-click on the Base layer thumbnail to make a selection of this layer. Then, press Control-J on your keyboard to create a new layer using the selection and name this new layer Subject_1.

3. How to Create the Background

Step 1

In this section we are going to create the background for our Photoshop text in picture. Select the Background layer, go to Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color to create a new solid color fill layer, name it Background Color, and choose the color #f2f2f2.

Step 2

Now Right-click on this layer, choose Blending Options, check Gradient Overlay, and use the settings below:

4. How to Create the Text

Step 1

In this section, we are going to create the text for our image in text Photoshop action. Hide the Subject_1 layer and choose the Horizontal Type Tool (T). Then, set the font to Montserrat, font style to Black, font size to 80 px, alignment to Center, and color to #000000. In the Character panel, check the All Caps option. After that, click and drag anywhere inside the canvas to create a text box and go to Type > Paste Lorem Ipsum to paste some random text. Feel free to use your own text and font settings.

Step 2

Now Double-click on this layer thumbnail and transform the Text Box as shown below:

Step 3

Choose the Horizontal Type Tool (T), and click on the end of the paragraph. Go to Type > Paste Lorem Ipsum
and repeat this step until you've covered the whole canvas with text. Again,
you can use your own text—just make sure it covers the whole canvas.

Step 4

Now name this layer Text.

5. How to Create the Subject From the Text

Step 1

In this section, we are going to create the subject from the text in our Photoshop text in picture creation. Hide the Text layer and select and show the Subject_1 layer. Then, press Control-J on your keyboard to duplicate this layer and drag the new layer just below the Subject_1 layer in the Layers panel. Name this layer Subject_2.

Step 2

Now press Control-J on your keyboard to duplicate this layer and drag the new layer just below the Subject_2 layer in the Layers panel. Name this layer Subject_3.

Step 3

Hide all the layers except the Subject_3 layer. Then, press Control-Shift-U on your keyboard to desaturate this layer. After that, go to Image > Auto Tone and then Image > Auto Contrast to make some auto-corrections to the layer's tone and contrast.

Step 4

Now go to Select > Color Range and set Select to Shadows, Fuzziness to 20%, and Range to 65.

Step 5

Go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal Selection to add a layer mask that reveals the selected area of the layer.

Step 6

Now Control-click on this layer thumbnail to make a selection of this layer. Then, select the thumbnail of this layer and set the foreground color to #000000. After that, go to Edit > Fill and set Contents to Foreground Color, Mode to Normal, and Opacity to 100% as shown below:

Step 7

Press Control-D on your keyboard to deselect the selection. Then, change the Opacity of this layer to 50%.

Step 8

Now hide this layer, and select and show the Subject_2 layer. Then, press Control-Shift-U on your keyboard to desaturate this layer. After that, go to Image > Auto Tone and then Image > Auto Contrast to make some auto-corrections to the layer's tone and contrast.

Step 9

Go to Select > Color Range and set Select to Midtones, Fuzziness to 40%, and Range to 105 and 150.

Step 10

Now go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal Selection to add a layer mask that reveals the selected area of the layer.

Step 11

Now Control-click on the layer thumbnail to make a
selection of this layer. Then, select the thumbnail of this layer and set
the foreground color to #000000. After that, go to Edit > Fill and set Contents to Foreground Color, Mode to Normal, and Opacity to 100% as shown below:

Step 12

Change the Opacity of this layer to 10%.

Step 13

Now hide this layer, and select and show the Subject_3 layer. Then, press
Control-Shift-U on your keyboard to desaturate this layer. After that,
go to Image > Auto Tone and then Image > Auto Contrast to make some auto-corrections to the layer's tone and contrast.

Step 14

Go to Filter > Other > High Pass and set the Radius to 30 px.

Step 15

Now change the Blending Mode of this layer to Hard Light. Then, show the Subject_2, Subject_3, Background Color, and Background layers.

Step 16

Select the Text layer, and go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All to add a layer mask that reveals the whole layer. Then, go to Image > Apply Image and use the settings below:

Step 17

Now press Control-I on your keyboard to invert the layer mask. Then, show the Text layer and hide the Subject_1, Subject_2, and Subject_3 layers.

Step 18

Choose the Horizontal Type Tool (T) and click anywhere over the text. Then, press Control-A on your keyboard to select all text and, on the Character panel, set the Leading to 60 and the Tracking to -60.

6. How to Make the Final Adjustments

Step 1

In this section, we are going to make some final adjustments to the image to text art design. Select the Background layer and press Control-J on your keyboard to duplicate it. Then, drag this new layer just above the Text layer in the Layers panel.

Step 2

Now Control-click on the Text layer thumbnail to make a selection of this layer. Then, go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal Selection to add a layer mask that reveals the selected area of the text in art layer.

Step 3

Change the Blending Mode of this layer to Color and name it Text Color.

Step 4

Now press D on your keyboard to reset the swatches. Then, go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map to create a new gradient map adjustment layer and name it Overall Contrast.

Step 5

Change the Blending Mode of this layer to Soft Light.

Step 6

Now press Control-Alt-Shift-E on your keyboard to make a screenshot, and then press Control-Shift-U to desaturate this layer. Then, go to Filter > Other > High Pass and set the Radius to 2 px.

Step 7

Change the Blending Mode of this layer to Hard Light and name it Overall Sharpening.

Your Picture to Text Art Is Done!

Congratulations, you have
succeeded! You've now learned how to create a typography photo effect Photoshop action to make an amazing typography portrait in Photoshop. Here is our final
result:

5 Photo to Art Text Effect Photoshop Actions

You've learned how to turn a picture into text art step by step using Photoshop. But if you'd like to save some time while creating awesome pictures made out of text, try a photo to art text effect Photoshop action.

All of these are available in Envato Elements. If you're a graphic designer and need the best Photoshop actions and presets, you can enjoy unlimited downloads with your subscription!

1. Portrait Typography Photoshop Action (ATN)

Easily create an amazing typography portrait in Photoshop with this action. You only need to open your image, brush over your subject, and play the action!

This photo to art text effect Photoshop action is easy to use and customize, and includes four text layouts.

2. Print Typography Photoshop Action (ATN, ABR, PAT, PSD)

This photo to art text effect Photoshop action is professionally designed to give your images a print typography effect. 

It's very easy to use: you can choose your own text and fonts, and it includes 20 color looks to create stunning pictures made out of text.

3. Newspaper Print Photoshop Action (ATN, PAT)

If you're a fan of newspaper print, you'll like this photo to art text effect Photoshop action. The action comes with four print styles and lets you use custom paper textures. The result will be a fully customizable Photoshop word art.

4. Dispersion Typography Photoshop Action (ATN, ABR, PAT)

Do you want to create truly unique pictures made out of text? This picture to text art combines typography and dispersion effects. The action will also create ten color looks that you can choose from.

The image to text art action is also made so that every time you play it, you’ll get unique results, even if you use the same brushed area. The Photoshop word art action will always create a dispersion variation!

5. 3D Typography Photoshop Action (ATN, PAT)

This picture to text art Photoshop action will give your images a 3D look. Turn a picture into text art and obtain a unique, eye-catching result.

The image in text Photoshop action includes nine text layouts, each of them available in ten different fonts, which means you'll get 90 unique text layouts to create typography portraits in Photoshop.

Discover More Design Tutorials and Inspiration

I hope you've enjoyed this image in text Photoshop tutorial and the list of Photoshop text in picture actions. 

You may also want to check out these tutorials on creating typography dispersion image effects, typography Photoshop portrait actions, a logo with text design, a GTA text effect action, or maybe on creating some other Photoshop text effects, fun filters, Photoshop photo filters, and photo art effects. Here is a good start:

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