Runes

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:

1. 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.
2. 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")
3. 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.
5. 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.



6. You should note that all of the screenshots in this tutorial have been scaled down in size to maintain clarity and cohesiveness.

7. • 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 ]
   

   

   [ tablet with text ]
   

   

   [ zoomed in portion to highlight the engraving effect ]

9. 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 comments

Thankzzzzzz