You want this extra large text/l

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You want this extra large text/logo layer to bridge the gap between fantasy and reality. Already we’re looking very good, but just go ahead and take some time in the layer styles to get just the right effect that you feel is right. Develop your senses to ‘know’ what works and what doesn’t.

Above I’m adding a copper gradient stroke (gradient instead of fill under ‘fill type’). Note how perfectly this works with the design. If you can, use similar color elements when you can...Note that the intentional border that is left around the girl is a copper/maroonish color from the original document (could be there from a right click feather of 1 or 2 that I forget to tell you about to create a soft edge).

Can you get the feeling that adding a copper gradient on the text layer should just make a perfect and very subtle yet effective complement to this border around her?! I didn’t even plan this out, it just seemed like the right thing to do when I was capturing the tutorial...You can create great beauty in the details and making minor improvements/enhancements like this. Someone please tell me at which University they teach this at?!

Try out some different options if you want. Here I’m trying a rainbow gradient overlay...

Here are the exact settings I used for the rest of the superlarge text/vector/fantasy shape layer.

Here you can see that I’ve duplicated the dragon icon layer after layer masking it and note how it retains the layer mask on the duplicate. Now you can change the blending modes to find something that suits you (on the top layer).

Go to your Brushes palette and choose the flowerlei brush that we’ve created in another tutorial. You must be on the Brush tool (‘B’) in order to access the brushes palette. Here you can change the brush dynamics. You can also choose the brush from the options bar menu. Download some cool, free brushes @ my new website PSDownloads.com here.

Now let’s add a little more vector balance to this design to top it off even more. This is just taking it to the next level. Can you feel the balance of bitmap (ie. photo) and vector (ie. text, shape)? In graphic design you want to create feelings and emotion that synergize with your target audience. These are created in a visual manner but can trigger internal emotions and (hopefully) positive references or associations from a person’s internal state. Ok, I got an “A” in psychology at U of Hawaii Manoa.