Photoshop Ink Bleed Effect: Make Your Text Bleed

I have a great method for making a bleed effect in Photoshop that you're going to adore. We'll be completely nondestructive in our approach, and we'll even create a model for you to use as a starting point for applying this impact elsewhere. Okay, let's get down to business. I'll use a text layer, but you're free to use any image you desire.

Forming a group is the first action. On a PC, hit Ctrl G; on a Mac, hit Command G. I've decided to rebrand the team as "Ink Bleed" for the sake of efficiency. As a further step, let's create a new, empty layer underneath the text layer. What I'm about to show you is a sneaky way to... In Windows, you may use the Ctrl key while selecting a layer.

On a Mac, you would press this key to use the Command menu. Then, create a new layer underneath the active one by clicking the Layer icon. The intention is to paint this layer white.

My current backdrop colour is white. So, in order to fill the page with white, click Ctrl and Backspace on Windows (or Command Delete on a Mac).

After that, I'll pick the "Ink Bleed Effect" text layer while holding Shift, click on it, and then right-click and choose "Convert to Smart Object." A smart object is basically a container for several layers that allow for non-destructive editing, distortion, filtering, and transformations. As a filter is about to be applied, the smart object is crucial here.

That filter is only effective in tandem with a backdrop, and we may modify the template by swapping out the contents at a later date. In a minute, we'll go into further detail on that topic. Select your smart object, then go to the filter menu, where you'll find pixelation and the option to pick a certain resolution.

Just a minute ago, I mentioned a filter, and here it is. Having a see-through backdrop will prevent this filter from taking effect. Since I wanted to use this effect, I required a solid backdrop color. Our cell size will decrease from here on out. About eight, and I'm going to confirm that number. It's worth noting that the font size I'm employing makes these numbers significant.

The values won't appear the same if you make the text much bigger or smaller. So, you'll have to try various things out. The principles I hold dear, though, may serve as a guide. The crystallised effect in Photoshop causes the edge to become wonderfully jagged.

But the edges are too sharp, and I'd want to round them out a little. To do this, I'll open the Filter menu and choose the Gaussian Blur filter from the Blur submenu. Get a moderate blur so that you can still make out some of the details. In this scenario, I believe that three pixels will do just fine, and I'm going to confirm that by clicking OK. Finally, we need to hone the rough edges.

Select levels in Image Adjustments to achieve this. It is possible to adjust the level of sharpness by dragging the corresponding sliders on this window. For this, I'll use the mouse to select the black dot and then move it to the right. anywhere close to the age of 70. Once I've done that, I'll use the mouse to shift the white dot to the left. approximately 105 years old. And I must say, I'm impressed. I like that the edges remain rough. I'm going to go ahead and confirm this.

Then, I'm going to show you a nice keyword shortcut for when you want to use the Crystallize filter again. Check out the Layers window. Here you can see all of the intelligent filters that have been implemented thus far. For Windows users, you can replicate these clever filters by pressing and holding the Alt key. On a Mac, you would press the Option key while clicking and dragging in a vertical direction. and I'm simply going to set it above the adjusting level. We can also see that the Crystallize Filter has been used again. Simply double-click the label to make the necessary changes to the modification.

Once again, I'll see the Crystallize window, and this time I'll be able to slightly enlarge my cells. roughly 17 years from now. That seems to be in terrific shape. So I'm going to go ahead and confirm this by clicking OK. Having the option to turn off smart filtering is also a really useful feature. I'll demonstrate my point.

Take a gander at the symbol to the right of each Smart Filter. Here is the appropriate icon. You may reduce the intensity of the effect by using the sliders in the box that appears when you double-click the icon. That is to say, you may adjust the blend mode and opacity of this effect as needed.

With the Blending Mode set to Multiply, I can conceal the light pixels while highlighting the dark ones. Then I'll reduce the transparency to 60% and click the OK button. The ink bleed effect may be achieved by using this method. To make it appear more authentic, I'll replicate it a couple more times.

If you want to move the Smart Filters label above the preceding one, you may do so by clicking and dragging the label (while holding Alt on Windows or Option on a Mac).

The effect is used again, as can be seen. But there are a few tweaks we'd want to make. I'm going to initiate a double-click action on the label's name. To make my cell somewhat bigger, I'm going to increase it to 25. I'm going to go ahead and confirm this. However, neither the blending mode nor the opacity of the

It's fantastic to multiply by two or use a 60% discount. And we're going to do it again. To make a copy of that crystallised filter, I'll hold Alt (or Option on a Mac) and drag upward. in which case I'll just double-click the label to update the numbers. The number of cells per row will be increased to 40. When you are ready, click the OK button.

and I'll adjust the transparency level this time. Just hit this button and dial down the transparency to roughly 40%. I'm going to go ahead and confirm this. As it is, the result is excellent, but the lines are still a little too severe. And we'll use the identical method we just utilized. I'm going to check out the filters now.

Then I'll go to the blur section and choose Gaussian blur. The last attempt with three pixels was successful, so we'll stick with that. I'm going to go ahead and confirm this now. On Windows, I can replicate the Levels Adjustment by pressing Alt, and on macOS, by using Option. The impact is excessive here.

But that's okay, since we can just right-click the label and make it smaller to obtain the desired outcome. So, I'll keep spreading it out till it seems right to me. If this is what it takes, then I'll go ahead and hit the OK button.

The next step is to apply colour and merge this effect with the layer underneath it. Selecting "multiply" from the Blending Mode menu will do this by covering up the white pixels.

There is a wonderful harmony between the many elements. Color has been added now. Hover over the symbol for the new adjustment layer and choose Hue/Saturation from the menu. I'm simply going to remove this layer mask to prove that it's not doing anything. If you don't want to, then you don't have to. Then, you may either use the icon or a keyboard shortcut to clip it to the layer below.

Windows users press Ctrl + Alt + G; Mac users press Command + Option G. This adjustment layer only affects the layer behind it, as shown by the arrow pointing downwards. Make sure the "Colorize" option is checked in the Properties section.

Brighten it up so the colours really pop. Achieve the desired ink colour by increasing the saturation and making hue adjustments. Personally, I really like the way the red writing stands out here.

As expected, tweak the hue and brightness to taste. You can always double-click on it since we're dealing with a smart object. A new window will pop up. We have some leeway in modifying it as well. I may write "PTC," which stands for "Photoshop Training Channel," then centre it on the canvas. Once I've saved the smart object and returned to the main project, you can see that Photoshop has automatically applied the effect to the new text.

A logo, some hand-drawn artwork, a picture, or even more text may be included in this layer.