Photoshop Text Effects Tutorial: Using Text To Shadow Itself

In this Photoshop text tutorial, we're going to see how easy it is to add some visual interest to text in Photoshop by using a copy of the exact same text to shadow itself.

Step 1: Create A New Document

First, create a new Photoshop document, either by going up to the File Menu at the top of the screen and choosing "New...", or by using the keyboard shortcut, "Ctrl+N" (Win) or "Command+N" (Mac). Both methods will bring up the New Document dialog box. I'm going to choose 500x500 pixels for my document size, but feel free to choose whatever size you like for your document.

Step 2: Select The Horizontal Type Tool

Next, select the Horizontal Type Tool from the Tools palette, or use the faster keyboard shortcut, "T".

Step 3: Select A Font And A Color For Your Text

With the Horizontal Type Tool selected, go up to the Options Bar at the top of the screen and select a font. Any font will do.

Then, click on the text color selection box in the Options Bar.

This will bring up Photoshop's Color Picker dialog box. Select a nice, bright color for your text. I'll choose a bright red color. Once you've selected your color, press "OK" in the top right corner of the dialog box to exit out of it.

Step 4: Add Your Text

With the font and text color chosen, click inside the document window and add your text. I'll type the word "SHADOW".

Once you've added your text, your Layers palette will show the text on its own layer directly above the Background layer.

Step 5: Duplicate The Text Layer

We're going to use the exact same text to shadow itself, and to do that, we need a copy of the text, which means we need to duplicate our text layer. The easiest way to do that is to use the keyboard shortcut, "Ctrl+J" (Win) or "Command+J" (Mac), which will add a duplicate copy of the text layer above the original text layer (make sure the text layer is selected first in the Layers palette, which it should be at this point, otherwise you'll duplicate the wrong layer).

Step 6: Select The Original Text Layer

Since our original text layer is below the copy, we'll use the original text layer for our shadow effect. Click on the original text layer in the Layers palette to select it.

Step 7: Choose A Darker Version Of The Text Color To Use As The Shadow

With the original text layer selected in the Layers palette and the Horizontal Type Tool still selected, go back to the text color selection box in the Options Bar at the top of screen and click on it to bring back the Color Picker. This time, choose a darker version of the color to use as the shadow. It doesn't have to be black, just a darker version of the same color.

Click "OK" in the Color Picker to accept your new color. It won't look like much has happened in your document window just yet because the copied text layer is over top of the original text layer and hiding it from view, but we're going to fix that in the next step.

Step 8: Select The Move Tool

In order to create our shadow effect, we need to offset the original text layer from the copied text layer so that part of it is visible. We're going to move it slightly downward and to the right. To move the original text layer, first select the Move tool from the Tools palette, or use the keyboard shortcut, "V".

Step 8: Use The Arrow Keys On The Keyboard To Nudge The Original Text Layer Down And To The Right

With the Move tool selected and the original text layer still selected in the Layers palette, use the arrow keys on the keyboard to nudge the original text layer down and to the right. This will create our shadow effect. I'm going to nudge my original text layer down 4 pixels and to the right 4 pixels, first by pressing my "Down" arrow key 4 times, and then pressing my "Right" arrow key 4 times.

Here's my result:

If you want, you can create a second shadow simply by following the same steps. Press "Ctrl+J" (Win) or "Command+J" (Mac) once again on the original text layer to duplicate it, then click on the original text layer in the Layers palette to re-select it. Switch back to the Horizontal Type Tool (since the Move tool is currently selected), and then go back to the Color Picker and choose an even darker color for the text. Select the Move tool once again and, with the original text layer selected in the Layers palette, use the arrow keys on the keyboard to nudge it down and to the right.

Here's my text after following the steps to add a second shadow effect:

And that's how easy it is to use text as a shadow of itself and create an interesting effect in Photoshop.