Using Photoshop's filters and alpha channels is a great way to create and play around with selections. This tutorial will teach you how to use a simple technique to create droplets, and then style them and add in a couple of textures and adjustment layers to create a raindrops text effect.

Take inspiration from Envato Elements, looking at raindrop stock photography. This may help when you're trying to create realistic-looking raindrops for this style. You can also try one of the cool text effects for Photoshop that's on the creative asset site.

This raindrop effect for Photoshop is one of many layer styles you can download with an Envato Elements subscription.

What You'll Learn in This Photoshop Text Effect Tutorial

How to make the background and raindrop text in Photoshop
How to create the raindrops
How to style the different raindrop layers
How to finish off our background and add realistic textures and colors to the raindrops

What You'll Need

The following assets were used during the production of this Photoshop text effect tutorial:

CoreHumanistSans font
Water on Metal Stock by NGS-stock
Kagami - Texture 06 by taviskaron
Bokeh background
Free Pack 6000 photoshop gradients by Supertuts007 (Load the CSP True Sky Gradients.grd file)

1. How to Create the Background and the Text

Step 1

Create a new 1500 x 875 px document, and fill the Background with Black.

Step 2

Create the text in All Caps using the font CoreHumanistSans. Make sure to set the Color to White, the Size to 350 pt, and the Tracking to -25.

Step 3

Right-click the text layer and choose Convert to Smart Object.

2. How to Apply the Filter

Step 1

Set the Foreground and Background colors to Black and White.

Go to Filter > Filter Gallery > Texture > Stained Glass. Change the Cell Size to 20, the Border Thickness to 7, and the Light Intensity to 3.

Step 2

Each of the cells is going to create a drop, so you can play around with the filter settings to get different sizes.

Step 3

Pick the Magic Wand Tool and uncheck the Contiguous box in the Options bar. Then, click on one of the white cells to create a selection.

3. How to Create the Drops

Step 1

Open the Channels panel (Window > Channels), and click the Create new channel icon at the bottom of the panel.

Step 2

With the Alpha 1 channel selected, pick the Paint Bucket Tool and fill the selection with White, and then go to Select > Deselect.

Step 3

Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur, and change the Radius to 5.

Step 4

Go to Image > Adjustments > Levels. What you'll need to do next is change the Shadows and Highlights sliders until you get defined droplets.

Step 5

Make sure to keep the edges quite smooth, not jagged.

4. How to Load the Selection and Add the Background Image

Step 1

Click the RGB channel, and then go back to the Layers panel.

Make the Drops layer invisible by clicking the eye icon next to it.

Step 2

Go to Select > Load Selection, and choose the Alpha 1 channel from the Channel drop-down menu.

Step 3

Create a new layer, call it Drops 1, fill the selection with White, and then Deselect.

Step 4

Change the Drops 1 layer's Fill value to 0, duplicate it, and rename the copy to Drops 2.

Step 5

You can add in any background image of your choice, but for this tutorial, we're going to use brushed metal with raindrops.

So add the Water on Metal Stock image on top of the Background layer and resize it to fit within the document.

5. How to Style the Drops 1 Layer

Double-click the Drops 1 layer to apply the following Layer Style:

Step 1

Add a Bevel and Emboss with these settings:

Size: 7
Uncheck the Use Global Light box
Angle: 180
Altitude: 53
Check the Anti-aliased box
Highlight Mode: Vivid Light
Opacity: 50%
Shadow Mode - Opacity: 15%

Step 2

Add a Contour with these settings:

Contour: Cone - Asymmetrical
Check the Anti-aliased box

Step 3

Add a Drop Shadow with these settings:

Opacity: 5%
Distance: 3
Size: 5

This will style the first layer of drops.

6. How to Style the Drops 2 Layer

Double-click the Drops 2 layer to apply the following Layer Style:

Step 1

Add a Bevel and Emboss with these settings:

Size: 16
Uncheck the Use Global Light box
Angle: 27
Altitude: 53
Check the Anti-aliased box
Highlight Mode: Vivid Light
Opacity: 50%
Shadow Mode - Opacity: 5%

Make sure to change the Angle and Altitude values to match the lighting of the drops on the background image you're using.

Step 2

Add a Contour with these settings:

Contour: Cone
Check the Anti-aliased box.
Range: 100%

Step 3

Add an Inner Shadow with these settings:

Opacity: 50%
Distance: 0
Size: 13

Step 4

This will style the second drops layer. You can adjust your values as needed.

7. How to Modify the Background

Step 1

As you can see, the text does not look good with the drops all over the background image. They overlap, have different sizes, and overwhelm the text.

So what we'll do next is remove some of those drops to enhance the final result. To do so, pick the Spot Healing Brush Tool, and choose a soft round brush with a drop-like size.

Then, paint over each drop you want to remove. You can go over the same area a couple of times until it looks clean.

Step 2

The Spot Healing Brush Tool should work just fine, but feel free to use any other tools you like to get the result you want.

Step 3

Continue working on the background image until you get a result that you like.

8. How to Add More Textures

Step 1

Now, we're going to add a blurred texture to adjust the lighting of the drops and make them look more realistic.

So add the Kagami - Texture 06 image on top of all layers and call it Drops Texture. Resize it to cover the text, then change its layer's Blend Mode to Soft Light and its Opacity to 30%.

Step 2

Command-click the Drops layer's thumbnail to create a selection. Then select the Drops Texture layer and click the Add layer mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel.

Step 3

Bokeh textures are a great addition to make a design pop a bit more.

Add the bokeh texture image on top of all layers, resize it as needed, and rename its layer to Bokeh Texture. Change its Blend Mode to Soft Light and its Opacity to 35%.

9. How to Add Some Coloring

Step 1

Click the Create new fill or adjustment layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Gradient Map.

Step 2

Choose the gradient fill below, check the Dither box, and change the adjustment layer's Blend Mode to Linear Burn and its Opacity to 20%.

Step 3

This will add a nice blue coloring to the final raindrop effect in Photoshop. And this is how it should look:

Congratulations! You're Done

In this Photoshop text effect tutorial, we created some white text on a black background, and we used a couple of filters with an alpha channel to turn the text into little droplets.

Then we styled the drops and added a background image. After that, we modified the background image to get a better and cleaner outcome.

Finally, we added some more textures and an adjustment layer to enhance the coloring of the final raindrop effect in Photoshop.

Awesome Photoshop Text Effects From Envato Elements

Learning how to make raindrops in Photoshop is a great skill to have, and the more you practice, the easier it gets. But if you want to save yourself some trouble in the meantime, you can use some of these awesome Photoshop text effects from Envato Elements.

1. Grass Editable PSD Text Effect (PSD)

The grass 3D text effect for Photoshop continues on the nature theme of the above tutorial. The text style download has Smart Object replacement for your text, so you can quickly apply the grass effect. It's high resolution too, so you can see the quality behind every blade.

2. Liquid Text Effects Collection (PSD)

There aren't many cool text effects for Photoshop that will liquify your words like this one. Your text oozes off the page, and it can do so in any color since it's customizable. You'll find 15 Photoshop text effects in this set, so turn your creativity loose.

3. Editable Flame Photoshop Text Effect (PSD, JPG)

We're going from a raindrop effect for Photoshop to a fiery flame. This text style gives off light and warmth, and you can use it with any font you want. Since it works with Smart Object layers, it won't take long to figure out how to add 3D effects to text in Photoshop with this download.

4. Ghost Text Effect (PSD)

There's nothing ghastly about the macabre Ghost. It's one of the cool text effects for Photoshop that have been created with a lot of quality. While this is perfect for a Halloween-themed project, this editable Photoshop text effect has a smoky aesthetic that's really versatile.

5. Editable 3D Wood Text Effect for Photoshop (PSD, JPG)

This 3D wood download is the last of the cool text effects for Photoshop we're featuring. The wood grain pattern is realistic and fitting for a project with an outdoors feel. Once you've downloaded it, go ahead and try this with your fonts. It might even work well with the raindrop effect you made in Photoshop from the above text effect tutorial.

Learn More With Photoshop Text Effect Tutorials From Envato Tuts+

If you liked learning how to make raindrop text effects in Photoshop, then stick right here on Envato Tuts+. Our instructors have created a host of tutorials you can use to create stunning text effects for your personal and professional projects.

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