Click the image above for a larger version.

One thing that Adobe Photoshop offers is an unlimited potential for layer styles. There are times when I relax at my computer just by experimenting with styles alone. I’ve seen warnings that other Photoshop gurus have made about how addictive they can be. It’s true! Every word of it! The really great thing about styles is that you can apply them to anything you type or draw with the click of a button, which of course, leads to more experimenting.

Cake Writing is a layer style I happened upon while experimenting one day. I call it Cake Writing because it looks like the gel that you write on Birthday cakes with. I will try to use mainly mouse commands so that there is no key stroke confusion between Mac and Windows systems. If you know shortcuts, that’s great. There are lots of great books on the market that will help you with them. In the meantime, it’s good if you already know something about Photoshop as I’m not going to do alot of explaining of basics.

To create this layer effect with Photoshop 7 follow the procedure outlined below:

1. Open a new document 800 x 600 pixels 72 pixels/inch. Technically, you can use any size or resolution you want, as you will be able to scale the effects later.

2. Change your foreground color to 50% gray. You can choose 50% gray easily. Open the Color palette by choosing Window, Color. Click on the arrow to the right and choose Grayscale Slider. Slide the arrow to 50% or simply type 50% in the box.

3. Create some text. A relaxed cursive font works best with this effect. I’m using Wendy Medium, which is a little thin for this effect. You can use the Faux Bold effect from the text menu to beef up your text temporarily. To do that open the Character palette by choosing Window, Character from the Menu. Click on the little arrow to the right and choose Faux Bold. You will not be able to use the Warp feature if you use Faux Bold, however. There is another way to beef up the thickness of your font which I will show you later.

4. Open the layer styles dialogue box by double-clicking just to the right of the font name in the layers menu. Change the layer style properties from the default to match below:

Blending Options:

Change Fill Opacity to 65% (Fill Opacity is under Advanced Blending)

Drop Shadow:

Change the opacity to 50%
Change the Distance to 1px
Change the Size to 6px
Choose Gaussian contour (if when you click open the contour menu you don’t see the names, click on the small arrow to the right and choose “Small List”)
Place a check mark in the box next to Anti-aliased

Inner Shadow:

Change the Blend Mode to Color Burn
Change the Opacity to 36%
Change the Distance to 7px
Change the Size to 4 px
Choose the Inverted Cone contour
Place a check mark in the box next to Anti-aliased

Inner Glow:

Change the Blend Mode to Multiply
Change the Opacity to 74%
Change the Color to Red 102, Green 102, Blue 102
Change the Size to 1px
Choose the Cone contour
Change the Range to 100%

Bevel and Emboss:

Leave the Style as Inner Bevel
Change the Technique to Chisel Hard
Change the Depth to 1000%
Change the Size to 35px
Change Soften to 1px
Choose the Double-ring Gloss Contour
Place a check mark in the box next to Anti-aliased
Change the Highlight Mode to Screen
Change the Color to White
Change the Opacity to 74%
Change the Shadow Mode to Color Dodge
Change the Color to White
Change the Opacity to 36%

Bevel and Emboss Contour:

Choose the Inverted Cone Contour
Place a check mark in the box next to Anti-aliased
Change the Range to 100%

5. The layer effect is complete. You may need to scale the effect, but we can do that later. For now, lets add some color to see what we’ve got. The best way to add color is add an adjustment layer. Because this effect is a layer effect, we’ll add a gray clipping mask before we adjust the color to make the color a little brighter. To do this, add a layer above the text layer. Fill the layer with 50% gray. Now choose Layer-Group with Previous from the Menu.

6. Add a Hue/Saturation Mask for color by choosing Layer-New Adjustment Layer-Hue/Saturation. Put a check in the box next to Group with Previous Layer and click OK. Put a check in the box next to Colorize (in the lower right-hand corner) and adjust the hue and saturation until you like the effect. Click OK.

7. You can stop here, or you can add Warp to the text so it will look like it’s been written on a birthday cake. To warp the text you will have to turn off the Faux Bold effect, but we can take care of that later. To warp text, click on the text layer to make it active and choose the text tool. The top menu will change to the text menu. To the right of the color box you will find the Warp command. Click to open the Warp Text dialogue box. Choose Arc from the drop down menu and adjust until you’re happy with the effect.

8. To make the text a little thicker, rasterize the text layer (Layer-Rasterize-Type). Then from the Filter menu choose Other-Minimum and set it to a Radius of 1 pixel.

If the effect doesn’t look just the way you want it to, you can try scaling it. Scaling can make dramatic changes in the appearance of a layer effect. To scale effects choose Layer-Layer Style-Scale Effects from the menu. With preview checked use the slider to adjust the effects until you like what you get with your text size and resolution.

Click the image above for a large version.

When I first started working with Photoshop I loved to look at every technique book I could find. I found wonderful carved text effects that were created with channels, but they were a little hard to follow, and worst of all, if you decided you wanted to change the font, or you spelled something wrong you had to rebuild the entire effect all over again. Well, Photoshop’s layer effects have come a long way since then and there are lots of versions of recessed text made this way. None of the ones I had found so far did exactly what I wanted, so I developed one of my own and here it is.

To create this layer effect with Photoshop 7 or above follow the procedure outlined below:

1. Open a new document 800 x 600 pixels 72 pixels/inch. Technically, you can use any size or resolution you want, as you will be able to scale the effects later.

2. Change your foreground color to black.

3. Create some text. For this effect, use a chiseled looking font with a serif. I’m using Felix Titling.

4. Open the layer styles dialogue box by double-clicking just to the right of the font name in the layers menu. Change the layer style properties from the default to match below:

Blending Options:

Change Opacity to 100%

Drop Shadow:

Change the Blend Mode to screen
Change the Color to white
Change the opacity to 78%
Change the Distance to 1px

Inner Shadow:

Change the Blend Mode to Multiply
Change the Opacity to 70%
Change the Distance to 3px
Change the Size to 2px

Inner Glow:

Change the Blend Mode to Multiply
Change the Opacity to 95%
Change the Color to black
Change the Size to 6px
Choose the Cove-deep contour
Change the Range to 61%

Bevel and Emboss:

Change the Style to Emboss
Change the Technique to Smooth
Change the Direction to Down
Change the Depth to 30%%
Change the Size to 0px
Change Soften to 0px
Change the Highlight Mode to Screen
Change the Color to White
Change the Opacity to 100%
Change the Shadow Mode to Multiply
Change the Color to black
Change the Opacity to 55%

5. The layer effect is complete. You may need to scale the effect, but before we do that we need a stone pattern to help us see what we’ve got. For my pattern I chose a marble effect. Any stone pattern or texture will do. Fill the background layer below the text layer with a stone texture or pattern. Copy this layer and move the copy above the text layer. Name this layer Inside Texture. Clip the Inside Texture layer to the text layer by choosing Layer-Group with Previous. The stone texture should now appear in the recessed areas of the text. (If you don’t want to use a clipping group you can change the Fill Opacity of the text layer to 0 so that the background layer shows through. The clipping groups allows you to have more control over the color and contrast of the inner stone texture.) If you are using a marble background, it’s nice to add a little more depth to the text. You can do this by adding an adjustment layer above the Inside Texture layer. Choose Layer-New Adjustment Layer-Brightness/Contrast and place a check in the box next to Group with Previous Layer. Now lower the brightness and raise the contrast until you like the effect.

That’s it! Recessed text!

After my mother died I suddenly wanted to crochet things. I’m not the type to sit and crochet, I’m simply not patient enough! My mother was though, and she used to make us hats and scarves every year and sometimes blankets. At the time I began to develop a sudden interest in all things colorful. No more all-black clothes for me! I wanted color! So I started to crochet my own hats and scarves and I had a ball picking out different colored yarn at the craft store. As far as making anything much more complicated than that, again, no patience, but I did try. One of the first things I learned how to make were the little stuffed rabbits you see above. For the faces, I just winged it. But I think they came out kinda cute. Anyway, if such a thing interests you, the pattern is free and can be found here.

2 egg whites
1 tbsp onion powder
1/4 cup chopped onion
Salt and pepper to taste
Italian bread or bagel
Ketchup

In a small bowl, combine egg whites, onion, onion powder, salt and pepper. Whisk until ingredients are blended and egg white shows foam. Spray a small non-stick frying pan with PAM or other non-stick spray. Fry the egg, covered, on medium heat for about 2 minutes. Check to see if edges are brown and top has begun to turn white. When the edges are brown and pulling away from the sides of the pan, flip the egg. Cook for about 1 minute. Serve with ketchup on toasted Italian bread or a bagel.

Time to prepare: About 10 minutes

1 lb tri-color veggie rotini
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 balsamic vinegar
1 small red onion quartered and sliced
4 medium ripe tomatoes, peeled
1 can sliced black olives, drained
2 pkgs Il Villagio mozzarella cheese, cubed
Dried italian seasoning to taste
Fresh Basil

Cook pasta until aldente, drain, and place in a large bowl Add olive oil and vinegar and toss to coat Add onions, tomatoes, olives, mozzarella and seasoning. Chill. When ready to serve, add fresh basil and toss.

Time to prepare: About 20 minutes, chill overnight.

1/2 English cucumber
2 tbsp sour cream
3/4 cup fresh dill chopped
1 3oz package (or can, drained) Albacore tuna
1 slice chopped vidalia onion
cherry tomatoes
crumbled extra sharp cheddar cheese (I like Yancey’s Fancy)
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients, mix well, and enjoy.

Time to prepare: About 10 minutes.