Aqua Text

Ok, so we all have seen just about every “Aqua” tutorial out there. Why am I doing another one? Simple. Because not many people are doing it the easy way. The advantages to this tutorial are:

  1. Unique look, different from a lot of other “Aqua” tutorials.
  2. The text remains editible.
  3. Scalable type.
  4. Only one layer used.
  5. This effect is a great starting point for a lot of other aqua effects.
  1. 1.

    Ok, to begin this process, all we do is create a new document with a white background, about 400 pixels square.

    Type in the text that you want to apply the “Aqua Text” effect to. I chose a rounded font (Cooper Black, in this case) for my application of it, because liquids tend not to have sharp corners. It doesn't really matter at the moment, because we can change the font later if we want.

    Color also doesn't matter at this point, because we will be changing that later, too.

  2. 2.

    Now we have our letter, but it doesn't look like much. That will change very quickly, so don't worry. Make sure your layers pallette is open, and double-click on the text layer. Up pops the Layer Styles menu.

    On the left-hand side of the palette shows all the different effects you can add to a layer. We will be using most of them, but let's start with Bevel and Emboss. We are going to be changing many of the settings, so follow the settings shown here carefully.

    Without closing the Layer Styles dialog, go to step 3.

  3. 3.

    Right under the Bevel and Emboss tab is a Contour tab. Click there. We are adding a little bit more definition and roundness to our bevel, so adjust these settings to the ones shown here.

    Proceed to step 4 without closing the dialog box.

  4. 4.

    This step looks like we take a step backwards. Not really, we are just deleting the color of the letter that we typed, in order to make our effects transparent. We will be adding the color back in later.

    On the top of the list of options is a Blending Options: Custom tab. Highlight it and perform one simple step. Under Advanced Blending, change the Fill Opacity to 0%. The options will look like this.

  5. 5.

    Now for the color. Click on the Color Overlay tab to bring up those options. Pick a nice blue, change the blending mode to Multiply and bring the opacity down to around 60%. The options I used are here.

    Once again, don't close the Layer Style dialog, and proceed to step 6.

  6. 6.

    The drop shadow is a matter of taste. You may even be able to get away with no drop shadow at all. No big deal here, you can pretty much choose whatever you want, just to add some depth. Click on the thumbnail to the left for the settings I used.

  7. 7.

    Here is where things really start happening. In the Layer Styles box, click on the Satin tab. This is where we are going to be adding some reflections to our text to give it a little bit more variety and texture.

    This step is also a matter of taste, you can do lots of different things, depending on the look that you want. I played around until I found something that I liked, and came up with the settings to the left.

  8. 8.

    To add a little more definition to the sides, go to the Inner Glow tab. You can use the settings that I used, or create your own, just to add more depth and contrast to the letter.

    Now you can finally click OK on the Layer Style dialog box, and look at what you just made.

Additional Ideas

This text is transparent, so different backgrounds look really good. More complex shadows, or added reflections all make something really sharp. Check out my example. (Yes, the text is still editable.)

In regards to step 6, some things to remember about shadows: they are never truely black, so pick a color that is used somewhere else in the picture, preferably. Also, we are just adding a drop shadow. In order to get a more realistic look, a cast shadow could be created by hand.