Runes
by Coppertop
A cool effect in Photoshop you can create is
a rune effect. There is absolutely nothing like the creepy,
glowing text on a piece of rock that can be used better
suited to adorn some artwork.
The following image
represents what you will have created after completing this
tutorial:
[ runes....
]
Steps to Create Effect
The following steps will help you to create the image effect
you see above:
-
Fire up Photoshop and create a new image. Mine is
500x500px and transparent. Once that's done you will need
a rock texture. Naturally, one is provided for those who
don't wish to make it. Credit to phong.com for the rock
effect.
-
Alright. To turn this rock into a tablet, take the marquee
(selection) tool (press M) and make a selection about the
same size as you want your final tablet to be. Once that's
done, go into the channels panel and create a new channel
("Alpha 1")
-
Press alt+backspace to fill the selection
with white (the foreground colour) and then go
filters | blur | gaussian blur by about 4 pixels.
Press ctrl+d to deselect and then press
ctrl+f to repeat the
last command (gaussian blur). Finally, go image |
adjust | levels and move the sliders around
(close together) until you get a nice smooth, crisp edge.
-
ctrl+click on the channel "Alpha 1" and
go back to the layers tab to bring up the selection. Press
Q to enter QuickMask mode. Go
filters | pixelate | crystallize for the
crystallize filter. Press Q again to
leave quick mask, then ctrl+shift+i to
invert the selection and press delete.

[ how your
pattern's edges should look ]
You should note that all of
the screenshots in this tutorial have been scaled down in
size to maintain clarity and cohesiveness.
-
Cool. Now you have something that looks like a paper
tablet. It needs depth. This part is pretty easy. Double
click on the layer with the tablet-to-be and use the
following:
-
Outer Glow - Blend
mode: Screen,
-
Opacity: 48
-
Noise: 0 Solid Red
(#FF0000),
-
Technique: Softer
-
Spread: 4, Size:
13
-
Contour: Gaussian
(The one like an "S")
-
Range: 50
-
Jitter: 0.
-
Bevel And Emboss -
Style: Inner Bevel
-
Technique: Chisel
Soft
-
Depth: 650
-
Direction: up
-
Size: 15
-
Soften: 3
-
Angle: 135
-
Altitude: 51
-
Gloss Contour:
Ring - Double (two waves)
-
Highlight mode:
Screen (white, #FFFFFF) 75
-
Shadow Mode:
Multiply (Black, #000000) 7
-
Contour - Contour:
Half Round (outward/upward curve) 50.
Your picture should look
like the following:

[ rock
with a glow effect ]
-
Great! You've now got a spooky glowing 3Dish rock. But
that's kinda boring. I added text to mine using the font
found here:
levitated.net called "Levitated Rune".
This font supports only lowercase letters, sadly. Anyway,
type your text over the area, leaving a bit of a border
(5-15px should suffice).

[ tablet
with text ]
-
Ok - engraving time. ctrl+click on the
text layer, and then press ctrl+shift+i
to invert the selection. Press ctrl+alt+d
to bring up the feather box, and feather by 5px. Then,
create a new layer, reset your colours (press D),
and press ctrl+backspace to fill with the
background colour (white). Now, ctrl+click
on the text layer, and nudge the selection right and down
5 px (the same distance you feathered by), then press
ctrl+shift+i and delete.
-
Repeat step 7, except fill with black (alt+backspace)
and nudge the selection up and left instead of down and
right.

[ zoomed in
portion to highlight the engraving effect ]
-
Finally, drag the text layer above the two "engraving"
layers, and the tablet below all the layers. Now, to
finish off apply the following to the text layer:
- Outer Glow
- Opacity: 60, Noise: 0, Solid Red(#FF0000), Technique:
softer, spread: 1, size 40, Contour: Half round
(outward/upward curve), Range: 100, Jitter 0.
- Inner Glow -
Opacity: 24, Noise: 0, Solid Red(#FF0000), Technique:
softer, Source: edge, Choke: 0, Size 3, Contour: Half
round (outward/upward curve), Range: 8, Jitter 0.
- Bevel And Emboss
- Style: Pillow Emboss, Technique: Chisel Hard, Depth:
100, Direction: up, Size: 3, Soften: 0, Angle: 135,
Altitude: 51, Gloss Contour: Linear (plain), Highlight
mode: Screen (light grey, #B2AFAF) 75, Shadow Mode:
Multiply (Dark Grey, #1C1C1C) 75.
- Contour -
Contour: Linear (plain) 100.
- Texture - Bubbly
Texture, Scale: 100, Depth: +100. Satin - Blend Mode:
Multiply (black, #000000), Opacity: 50, Angle: 19,
Distance: 11, Size: 14, Contour: Gaussian (The one like
an "S") Inverted. Colour Overlay - Blend Mode: Normal
(Dark Grey #1B1A1A) Opacity: 100.
There you have it - a brilliant rune
effect. If you need any help, please post in the
Drawing and Design forums.
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