Photoshop Tutorial: How to Make a PORTRAIT made only of TEXT!

Photoshop tutorial showing how to create a portrait made of editable text layers.

Lincoln face file:
http://bltvfiles.com/files/Lincoln.gif

Revised tutorial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FatJUqlTqr4

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Closed Caption:

hi this is Marty from Blue Lightning TV
i'm going to show you what i think is
the best way to make a portrait of texts
all the examples I've seen on the
internet just gray out the words in the
mid tones like this version however in
this image all the words are black
including in the mid-tone areas and not
only that you can also mix fonts and
sizes
while maintaining all the correct tonal
values of the portrait
I'm even going to show you how to add
color
so let's begin the image size i'm
working on is 800 x 800 pixels with a
resolution of 300 pixels per inch
if you're starting with a color photo
desaturate the color by pressing control
you or command you on a Mac when the
hue/saturation window opens
just slide the saturation 20 then you're
good to go
this text effect generally works best
with white around the portrait
so I would make a selection around the
head cut it out from its background and
place it on its own layer
I won't be covering the steps to do that
in this tutorial in order to save time
the first thing we'll do is go to select
and choose color range
the color range window will open click
on the arrow next to sample colors and
shadows
press ok and then click on the new layer
icon
we want to fill the selection with black
suppress all delete or option to lead on
a Mac will rename this layer shadows
now click on the photo of aid to make it
active and then go back to select and
choose color range again this time
choose mid-tones click on the new layer
icon and then press alt delete or option
to lead on a mac to fill the new layer
with black will rename this layer
mid-tone
we're going to start setting our type
now
so high the ABE layers and click on the
bottom layer to make it active
we're going to make a text block which
can find the text to an area we
determine so click on the text button go
up to one corner of our document and
click down with your mouse or pen and
drag down to the opposite corner by
doing this
we're telling photoshop to fill this
entire area with our texts in the
example were doing today
I'll be filling the area with a bunch of
jumbled texts this kind of text is
called lorem ipsum i'm using a website
that generates this kind of text so i'll
open up my browser and I've already
typed in the address of course you can
always create your own block of
meaningful texts that associates the
person in your portrait
you just have to type in your text
inside a text block in the words field
i'm going to type in two thousand and
click generate then i'll click on the
select all button then press ctrl c or
command C on a mac to copy the text to
choose your font and size
open your text dialog box you should
choose a font that has at least two
different weights for my shadow layer
i'm using aerial black at a four point
size in the paragraphs tab click on the
last box which ensures the text to be
justified on both sides
click anywhere inside the text box and
press ctrl v or command key on a Mac to
paste the text in to accept it press on
the little arrow at the top or just
press Enter or return on a Mac will
rename this text block shadows will make
a copy of its will drag it to the new
layer icon then we'll hide the bottom
text block by pressing on the i bowl
we're going to choose our text for the
mid-tones now because mid tones are
lighter than shadows will choose Arial
regular since it's a lighter weight than
Arial black will rename our mid tone
text block mid-tone since we don't need
the photo of Abe anymore we'll move it
down to the bottom will press the
eyeball back on the mid-tone portrait
and will hide the mid-tone text will
click back on the mid-tone portrait to
make it active
press ctrl or command a and then ctrl or
command C to copy it
we're going to apply the mid-tone
portrait to the mid-tone text press on
the eyeball of the mid-tone portrait to
hide it and then make the mid-tone text
active
click on the layer mask icon and then
hold down on alt or option on a Mac and
click on the layer mask
press ctrl-v or command-v on a mac to
paste the mid-tone portrait on to the
layer mask will get rid of the selection
press ctrl or command D we need to
invert the layer mask so press ctrl ir
command on a Mac now this is where the
magic begins once you press on the
eyeball
you can now see the text through the
white areas of its layer mask which are
the mid-tones of AIDS portrait we're
going to repeat the process for the
shadows make the shadows layer of AIDS
portrait active press ctrl or command a
to select it and then ctrl or command C
to copy it
hide the layer and then click on the
shadows text will make a layer mask to
this text block so click on the layer
mask button and then press and hold alt
or option on a Mac as you click on the
layer mask to paste the shadow areas of
AIDS portrait into this layer mask
press ctrl or command the press ctrl or
command D to get rid of the selection
once again we need to invert the layer
ask to do this press ctrl I or command I
on a mac
once you make the text visible by
pressing on the eyeball
you'll be able to see the shadows as
text
so what we have are two separate live
fully editable text layers and we can
change each of them independently of
each other we can change any aspect of
the texts including the font itself for
example let's just change the point size
26 points instantly we see the text
block reflect that change i'll press
ctrl Z to undo it will click on the
mid-tone text block to change that will
go to the character box and change the
point size from 4 points23 the mid-tones
appear a bit lighter now since we reduce
the size of the font
i'm going to show you now how you can
add color to your portrait
we need to take a composite snapshot of
a bit as we see him
so press ctrl shift all e or command
shift option key on a Mac to place them
on a new layer press B for your brush
tool and then go to mode where you
change it from normal to color click on
the foreground color box and let's
choose red using color mode will allow
you to change black to any color you
want without affecting the white areas
you could also change the colors of the
portrait by using gradients
click on the gradient button on the left
then click on the gradient box at the
top and that'll open up the gradient
editor let's choose this ultra colorful
gradient so you can see that all colors
will show up perfectly
as long as they're in color mode if it's
on any other mode go up to mode and
change it to color with your mouse or
pen
go to the top of the image click down
drag it to the bottom of the image and
release
have fun making your own portraits made
up of texts that you write this is Marty
from Blue Lightning TV
thanks for watching