Make a new canvas, we used here #373d40 for backgrounds. Using white color as your primarily color, and Baskerville Old font, type the word you want to render…

Once you are done, duplicate the layer and make it temporarily invisible (click on the eye in layers panel). Get back to the second layer copy, which you have on visible mode and go to Layer >> Layer Style >> Blending Options

Apply the following settings for Inner Shadow, Outer Glow, Satin and Stroke…

Pay attention to the contour you choose, it has to be Rounded Steps otherwise you will get a different result. This Countour comes pre-installed in All Recent Adobe Photoshop versions.

Finally apply a light outside stroke on the text, to give it a nice outlining.  We did 2px but if your text is very big you may want to add a thicker line, or, on the contrary, if you are making a small logo, use 1 pixel outlining.

This is what you should get by now..

With so many ideas and experience I have, I decided it would be a shame if I won’t release a set of actions to help the readers of PSwish.com and LoreleiWebDesign.com, so here is my first release, PSWISH 3 Action (pro). Please note that this action is for personal use one, and cannot be resold or redistributed on other websites.

Instruction:

• The action will work best with LIGHT photos. Any area that is slightly dark will turn black.
• The final result’s color scheme of the photo is determent by your Background and Foreground colors set before you played the action. Play with different variations to see what works best for you. If the results turn to be too dark or too reddish, set both foreground and background colors to lighter hues. Alternatively, hide the dark clouds layer when the action is finished playing (which makes the shot significantly lighter yet keeps the professional touch the action applied).

I use CS3 so I had no chance to test it on CS2 or lower, if anyone does, please drop a comment below so that other users will know if it’s suitable for other versions or not.

What you can do with this Photoshop Action?

This is idea for retouching photos with dull colors, or those that turned to be too light and as a result — uselessly boring. It will help you to turn any ordinary shot into a professional, “old school” photo with very strong contrast, slightly cold colors and grainy texture that is pulled from photo itself, and applied without using any additional grain effect. Like I said, if the result turns to be nearly black, this means your colors were too dark, because if you hide the clouds layer (should be one before last) — you will get good results but without this beautiful dramatic dark grain.

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This tutorial’s purpose is to make an imitation of real painting, made using semi dry brushes.

The final result will be this:

so, lets get started… Make a new canvas, 450*450.

White your colours are set to black and white, go to Filter >> Render >> Clouds and apply the clouds effect (once)

Using the marquee tool, select half of the canvas (or a bit more than half, as this will be out “sky”) and add a lot of Contrast (Image >> Adjustments >> Brightness / Contrast) as shown on the picture below.

While the upper part of the canvas is still selected, go to Image >> Adjustments >> Hue / Saturation and set the following settings to colorize the “sky” and make it bluish. Don’t forget to check the “colorize” box when applying the settings.

After finishing the color process, press Shft + Ctrl + I to inverse the selection.

Now that the lower half of the canvas is selected, go to Filter >> Blur >> Motion Blur and apply the following horizontal blur…

Create a new layer. While half the canvas is still selected, fill it with white (means you will only have white inside the selection).

Go to Filters >> Noise >> Add noise, and apply these “noisy” settings:

Go to Filter >> Blur >> Motion blur and again apply the horizontal blur, only this time upon the noise effect. We are trying to paint the calm water, we need lots of tiny waves and this would be the easiest way to make them)