How to Create a Realistic “Neon” Sign Text Effect

In this tutorial I will be teaching you how to create a realistic “Neon” sign text effect in Photoshop. In just a few steps we’ll be learning lots of tricks how to make this Neon sign look not only realistic but visibly stunning as well. The skills for being able to finish up this tutorial is just the knowledge of how to use the most basic tools in Photoshop. Everything else will be explained in detail so even if you are a beginner you are more then likely to be able to follow this tutorial through and accomplish the very same result as we have at the end of this tutorial.
It’s somewhat easy to use textures and other Masking techniques to create a truly realistic result. This time I want to take you through the process without any of those trick and really show you the true power of Photoshop. The tools and features that Photoshop packs is more then powerful so why not use them to it’s full extent.

Step 1

We will start by creating a work area that measures: Width: 500 and Height: 350. make the background Black (#000000). Create a new layer above the “Background” layer and name it “Panel“. In this layer we will create a panel for our neon sign to be attached to.
Now, create a rectangle using the “Rectangular Marquee Tool” with the measures Width: 400 and Height: 150. Fill the rectangle using the “Paint Bucket Tool” and use the color Dark Gray/Blue (#17181c).
Center the whole thing vertically and horizontally using the “Layer” -> “Align Layers To Selection” – “Vertical Centers” & “Horizontal Centers“. Later we will be adding some reflection to the surface of this panel but for now we are only going to add a little bit more detail to it.
Right click the “Panel” layer and select “Blending Options…” In the menu to your left choose “Bevel and Emboss” and insert the following settings:

Our panel is done for now. As said we are going to add a little more details to it later in the process. You should now have something looking like this:

Step 2

Alright, let’s add the text. Pick the “Type Tool” and select “Harlow Solid Italic” font and type whatever you like. Use the font size 100px. Also use the color Neon Blue (#00b4ff). Just make sure you are staying at least 20 pixel inside the panel on each side.
Position your text in the dead center of the Panel. Now, select your newly created “Text” layer and right click it. In the list select “Blending Options…” In the menu to your left again select “Bevel and Emboss” and insert the following settings:

We also need to add some other effects so go ahead and select “Drop Shadow” in the left menu and add the following settings:

We also need to add some inner shadowing to the whole thing. Pick “Inner Shadow” in the left menu and insert the following settings:

Now let’s create the little glow around the text before we continue. In the list to your left select “Outer Glow” and insert the following settings:

Ok, so our text is now complete and we can concentrate on making up the details to make it look more realistic. If all your settings are correctly setup you should now have something looking like this:

Step 3

Let’s create the attachment points for the Neon tube now. Create a new layer underneath the “Text” layer and name it “Attachments“. With the “Elliptical Marquee Tool” create circles measuring Width: 13 and Height: 13. Fill the circle using the “Paint Bucket Tool” and use the color Black (#000000).
Put the attachments where you would feel the Neon Tube would need to be attached to the “Panel“. This will require you to repeat the step several times.
When you are done positioning your attachment points select all of them and right click the “Attachments” layer at the bottom and select “Merge Visible“. All your attachment points should now reside in one single layer.
Time to add some effects to the “Attachments” layer. Right click the layer and select “Blending Options…” In the list to your left select “Bevel and Emboss” and add the following settings:

We also need to add some shadowing to these attachments. In the menu to your left go ahead and click “Drop Shadow” and insert the following settings:

Now, with all your settings in place you should now have something looking like this:

There, we are now done with the mounting of the Neon text. Time to move on to the detailing of the panel behind it.

Step 4

First thing we are going to do is to add some reflections to our panel. For this we need to go through a rather complex process. Not so much technically, just for the beginners to understand. I’ll walk you through it.
Ok, create a layer underneath the “Text” layer. No need to name it for now. Select the “Text” layer above it and choose “Layer” -> “Merge Down“. With all our effects now fixated in one layer (our new layer) select the whole work area and copy the contents of the new layer by pressing “CTRL” and “c“.
Now, we have our fixated layer all in our clipboard so we can go ahead and undo our layer merge by pressing “CTRL“, “ALT” and “z” twice. There, our “Text” layer is now back with all it’s effects intact and editable.
Now, select our newly created (now again empty) layer and press “CTRL” and “v“. Kaching! Our copied merged layer is now present in our new layer underneath the text layer. name the layer “Reflection“.
We now need to position the “Reflection” a bit underneath the real Neon text. First, move the “Reflection” layer underneath the “Attachments” layer. When you have done that choose the “Move Tool” and by using the arrow keys move the “Reflection” 6 pixels vertically underneath the real neon text.
After moving it you should have something looking like this:

We need to work a little with the “Opacity” of our “Reflection” layer so go ahead and change it to “16%“.
We also need to fix some outer glow on the reflection to simulate a nice light effect on the panel. Right click the “Reflection” layer and select “Blending Options…” In the menu to your left select “Outer Glow” and insert the following settings:

With that done we also need to make sure that the glow doesn’t exceed the outer rim of the “Panel“. So, go ahead and right click the “Reflection” layer and select “Create Clipping Mask“. This makes our reflection layer only show its content where the panel is. With all of these settings inserted and the Clipping Mask in place you should now have something looking like this:

Alright, all done with the reflection. However we also need some reflection on the actual panel and that is what we will be doing next.

Step 5

We need to fixate the “Panel” layer to be able to add a little bit more detailing to it. Create a new layer underneath the “Panel” layer. Right click the “Reflection” layer and select “Release Clipping Mask” for now (If we don’t the “Reflection” layer will be merged with the “Panel” layer). With the “Panel” layer selected choose “Layer” -> “Merge Down“. Our “Panel” layer is fixated. Go ahead and name the new layer “Panel” once again.
Now, go ahead and right click the “Reflection” layer once again and choose “Create Clipping Mask“. All back to normal again.
Select the “Panel” layer and right click it. Choose “Blending Option…” and then click “Bevel and Emboss” in the menu to your left and insert the following settings:

We also need to add some shine to the sides and bottom edges of the panel so go ahead and click the “Stroke” option in the left menu and insert the following settings:

With all the settings in place you should now have something that looks like this:

Round Up

OK, so we are done with our “Neon” sign text effect and it only took as some easy 5 steps to get it done. There is a myriad of different ways to create a believable “Neon” text and this is just one of them. However, without believable details not many of them will come through as realistic and eye catching.
Some creativity from yourself and I am sure you can come up with some clever and really interesting designs for this tutorial. Color and design is quite important in this tutorial. You don’t necessarily have to use a font to utilize this tutorial. Create a symbol or a logo with it and there you go. Something unique and interesting.
I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial as much as I did creating it. I am off to write a new one and I am hoping to see you around here often. If you have any requests for a tutorial please feel free to send them to my using the contact form here in Minervity.com
Thanks!

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