Photoshop tutorial: How to Make an Effective NEON Sign

ASR: en

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hi this is Marty from Blue Lightning TV

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I'm going to show you how to make an

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outdoor neon sign and then show you how

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to easily change its colors this is an

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update to neon tutorials that I've done

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on earlier versions of Photoshop open

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the photo I provided so you can follow

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along it's link is located in the video

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description or project files open your

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horizontal type tool and choose a

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relatively thick font for your main neon

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sign i'm using astrid regular if you'd

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like to use it I provided that link as

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well for this font I'll choose a size of

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a hundred ten points smooth and center

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alignment click the color box and pick

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white click on your document and type

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out your text if you want to move some

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of the characters closer together click

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between them hold down alt or option and

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press the left arrow key on your

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keyboard to reposition your line of text

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open your move tool and move it go to

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layer rasterize and type ctrl-click or

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command click on the thumbnail of your

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text layer to make a selection of the

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texts shape go to select modify and

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contract contract it by three pixels

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notice the selection has contracted

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around each character press the Delete

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key on your keyboard to delete inside

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those areas to deselect it press ctrl or

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command D we're left with an outline of

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each character which will make in two

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tubes of neon double-click the thumbnail

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of your text to open its layer style

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window

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click outer glow and a color box pick a

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color for your main neon sign I've

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already picked a color I like it's

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alphanumeric number is zero 8b 6 FF to

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save your color on to your clipboard

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highlight the number and press ctrl or

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command C to copy it then click OK

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change the blend mode to normal increase

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the opacity to a hundred percent and

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make the size 9 pixels click inner glow

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the color box and press ctrl or command

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V to paste the colors alphanumeric

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number into the field then click OK

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change the blend mode to normal make the

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opacity a hundred percent and make the

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size two pixels then click OK next we'll

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increase the glow and add a subtle drop

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shadow behind the sign to add dimension

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first click the icon at the upper right

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corner of the layers panel and click

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convert to smart object now we can click

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the FX icon and add another outer glow

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to the same layer when the layer style

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window opens click the color box and

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press ctrl or command V to paste the

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number of your color into the field then

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click OK change the blend mode to normal

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make the opacity sixty percent and the

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size 50 pixels click drop shadow

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increase the opacity to a hundred

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percent and change the angle to minus 15

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degrees make the distance 11 pixels and

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keep the size 5 pixels then click OK to

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enhance the glow effect will blur the

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neon slightly go to filter blur and

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Gaussian blur blur it point 3 pixels

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next we'll arch the sign

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press ctrl or command T to open your

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transform tool and if you see this

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warning click OK it just tells us that

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the Smart Filters will be temporarily

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turned off click the warp mode icon and

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open the custom warp presets for this

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example I'll choose arch but feel free

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to experiment with the other presets to

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decrease the bend type in a lower

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percentage I'll type in twenty five

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percent then click the checkmark or

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press Enter or return to brighten the

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sign make a copy of it by pressing ctrl

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or command J let's place these two

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layers into its own folder to do this

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shift-click on the thumbnail of the

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original sign to highlight both layers

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then press ctrl or command G name it

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whatever your sign says next we'll add

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the secondary neon sign open your type

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tool and choose another font I'm using

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air conditioner regular if you'd like to

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use it I provided its link for this font

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I'll choose a size of 26 points click on

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your document and type out your text if

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you want to Center it under your other

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sign open your move tool shift click on

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the folder to highlight both layers and

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then click the align horizontal centers

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icon click the large t next to your main

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neon text to make it active click the FX

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icon and choose outer glow click the

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color box and pick a color for your

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secondary neon sign I'm picking a bright

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green 0 0 FF 9 0 as before save it onto

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your clipboard by highlighting it and

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pressing ctrl or command C then click OK

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change the blend mode to normal make the

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opacity a hundred percent and because

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the font size is small I'll make the

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outer glow size 7 pixels click inner

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glow and the color box press ctrl or

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command V to paste the number of your

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color into the field then click OK

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change the blend mode to normal the

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opacity a hundred percent and the size

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three pixels then click OK next we'll

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make the secondary neon sign brighter

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convert the layer into a smart object

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and open the folder of your main neon

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sign place your cursor on the effects

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and hold down alt or option as you drag

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a copy of the effects to the secondary

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neon layer close the folder and

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double-click on outer glow to see it in

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the layer style window click the color

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box and press ctrl or command V to paste

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the color of your secondary neon sign

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into the field then click OK on both

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windows in the next few steps we'll

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place our entire sign in perspective on

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the exterior wall to save space let's

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collapse the effects click off the

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eyeball of the background to temporarily

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hide the layer make a composite snapshot

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of your neon sign by pressing ctrl shift

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alt e on windows or command shift option

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e on a mac hide these two layers by

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clicking off their eyeballs the next few

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steps will be to prepare the neon sign

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for the vanishing point filter which

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will place the sign into perspective

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press ctrl or command a to select your

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sign and ctrl or command C to copy it

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deselect it by pressing ctrl or command

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D hide the sign and make the background

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visible and active

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to place your sign correctly onto the

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wall we need to brighten the photo to do

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this make a copy of it by pressing ctrl

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or command J and open the levels window

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by pressing ctrl or command L drag the

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input white to the left until the wall

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that the sign will go on to is bright

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enough to see then click ok click the

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new layer icon to make a new layer go to

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filter and vanishing points the

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vanishing point window will open it

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defaults to the create plane tool click

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on a corner of the grid that shows the

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walls perspective release your cursor

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and click on another corner continue

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until you've clicked on four corners

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that show the perspective of the wall

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when you see a blue grid appear you can

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extend each side by going to the middle

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of the side and when you see a straight

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double-arrow pull it out the grid

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follows its perspective continue to

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extend each side of the grid then press

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ctrl or command V to paste the sign into

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the window as soon as you drag it into

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the vanishing point grid it snaps into

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the perspective of the grid position it

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on the wall and then click OK next I'll

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show you how to quickly change the

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colors of your neon sign first hide the

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bright background copy click the

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adjustment layer icon and click

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hue/saturation click the clip to layer

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icon this restricts the adjustment layer

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to effect just the one layer beneath it

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if we don't click it the entire image

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would change colors now slide the hue to

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the left or right

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this is Marty from Blue Lightning TV

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thanks for watching