Luxury Gold Text Effect

1. This tutorial is going to cover a gold text effect that is different from other gold text effects out there. This was hugely inspired by the luxurious look Las Vegas hotels have on their hotel names. The above screenshot is the final result we are going to achieve.

2. We are first going to start off with the background color. Although this not mandatory, but it sets the mood for the tutorial. So, I first create a background using the radial gradient effect using layer effects with a bluish green and black background. I created a nice spotlight effect.

3. Now we are going to create a text layer above the background. Try to choose a Serif font (i.e Times New Roman, Garamond, Caslon, etc…) as it works best with this tutorial. Lay the text layer down with white text.

4. You should have two layers like the screenshot above.

5. Now lets apply the first gold effect onto the type layer. Try to mimic the screenshot above in terms of settings. The gradient color is achieved using 4 different color swatches. We are going to try to layout the gold blend evenly on the top of the text and bottom.

6. This is the result you should have so far.

7. Now go back to the text layer effect window and click on the STROKE option. We are going to apply a unique settings to this layer effect. Again, try to mimic the screenshot above on your settings. Notice the fill option has a gradient selection applied. Make sure to do this on your version.

8. Now we are going to apply a lot of details here. Try to copy the screenshot above in your gradient selection of your STROKE option of your layer effects window. You might have to play around with the palette placement for your gradient based on the size of your text, font, and spacing. Keep practicing!

9. Try to mimic the screenshot above yet again. We are now applying a bevel to your text. Again, this may take a few tries depending on the font, size, and other things that you chose.

10. We are now going to apply a faint drop shadow to our text. These settings can be different yet again for you, but it shouldn’t be that different drastically.

11. This is my result so far. We are going to apply some glow and bells and whistles.

12. Now make a new layer and name it “glow”.

13. Now we are going to choose an appropriate size brush with no hardness around the edges. We are going to make some glowing balls around the text like you see on the above screenshot.

14. Now make a new layer called “sparkle”. We are going to create some sparkles inside the glowing balls. First thing first, choose a brush size of “1″ with blurry edges. Look at the screenshot above of the brushes palette for the settings I have. After you make the new layer, get the pen tool and draw a diagonal line like the screenshot above.

15. After you do all that, right click on the path you just drew and hit STROKE PATH in the right pop up menu.

16. After you do choose that option, a window should pop up with options. Mimic my screen shot 100%. You want to “simulate brush pressure”.

17. Now duplicate the layer you just created by right clicking on the “sparkle” layer and selecting “duplicate layer”. We are going to take that layer and EDIT > TRANSFORM > FLIP HORIZONTAL. Your sparkle should now look like a star, if not, cross the sparkle line together to make it look like a cross.

18. Merge the layers together once you feel like you have the best looking sparkly star. Once you merge the layers, you should be able to resize, rotate, and move them around together as one single unit like you see on the screenshot above.

19. Apply a Gaussian Blur after you composed all the sparkles where you want it to be. This makes the sparkle look more brighter.

OPTIONAL: You can create a duplicate layer of each sparkle and stack it exactly on top of each other. Then blur one sparkle that is UNDERNEATH the top sparkle layer to create a more brighter effect. This usually depends on how your composition is put together.

Final result.