Per Gustafsson on how to use Photoshop's Transform tools to
manipulate perspective and add text to tricky surfaces
We’ll employ some basic text, give it a little perspective, place it
into our image (an abstract composition in this case, but the techniques
involved are universally applicable) and apply some effects to add
depth and a sense of movement. To avoid complicating the process, we’ll
do this all without using Photoshop’s 3D tools.
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01 First open the background image or create your
own – we’re just using a light texture with some clouds here. To give
the image some depth and add a focal point, go to Filters>
Distort>Pinch, and do this a few times to create some light beams
flying out of the centre of the image.
02 To create perspective, mark an abstract shape
with the Polygonal Lasso tool, holding Shift to keep all angles at 45 or
90 degrees. Working from the centre, add lines parallel to the edges of
the selection with the Pen tool. Create some boxes with the same
angles, duplicate the layer, add a Difference blending mode and move the
duplicate a little.
03 To enhance the angles, add some objects coming
out from the centre of the image, like transparent tiles. Fill your
tiles with a solid white using the Pen tool. I’ve added motion blur and
lowered the opacity. Duplicate the layers and use the Transform tool to
place them as though they are walls coming out from the centre area of
light.
04 To increase the subtle feeling that these are
walls and the light source is at the centre point, add some vertical
lines at a different opacity. Duplicate the layers and play with the
opacity after moving the lines. Stronger lines closer to the light
source make for better depth.
05 To make the composition stronger, add circular
elements to the focal point using the Elliptical Marquee tool, and a
Color Overlay (from the Layer Style dialog) effect to help make the
composition more consistent.
