November's Guest Tutorial Video: Making Watery Text

[Rik]

Thanks, Maya.

Having another go at it.
It seems to me, that it works better with a thicker text.
A text that has a lot of body to it.

What do you think?

[Crow Haven]

Hey, yeah! I like the way that looks, Rik. The water looks more beaded up (if that's a way to put it?) in this image.

I had a chance to play with how editable the text is by putting it to a curved line when starting out the tute -- yep, you can then change the form of the line and the text follows it, you can kern the text or anything you want! Clone the entire text soft group and put it anywhere, then reshape it over and over. It's fantastic to work with! The image I made below uses the font called "Psychedelic Smoke" and though not a really good one for water fx I liked the tilt to it anyway.

[angelize]

Great works from all of you, I love to see the experimentation with different fonts etc.

Here is another thing that you can do with this, remember that the enhance transparency allows you to use the photo tools and if you use the hue tool, the photo temperature tool or the saturation tool, or a combination of any of those three you can give the water a coloured tint!

[stygg2003]

@Rik - That looks good using a heavier text Rik, I like that.

@Maya - Like that image alot Maya. I think Francis as come up with a real popular Guest tut. and as many uses, would have looked well I think used in a halloween image.

Stygg

[Crow Haven]

Great idea for coloring the watery text, Frances!

Thanks Stygg! After looking at the colored text Frances posted I agree it could have been really fun to use for a Halloween-theme image too.

[Gare]

First of all Frances, and all—

I really dislike it when someone barges into a tutorial thread and says, "Oh, I didn't do it like the tutorial, but here's my work anyway."

I'm not doing that here. I'd just like to show a tiny enhancement that makes the watery text look more like water. At the point at which the lighting source (let's call it the sun) is strongest, it acts like a reflective magnifying glass and you get a specular reflection (a highlight).

All you need to do in Xara is draw a shape just inside your watery text, and give it a linear transparency so it fades off into the text.



I didn't go get the typeface you recommended, so I did your tutorial by hand and no, the text obviously isn't editable. That's not the point, though. If you add these sort of specular reflections sparingly, you might find the text pops out at you a little more and will get you wet.

File's attached, and again, pardon me for crashing your tutorial, Frances. I've studied and been drawing chrome and water since before there were computers. It was called an airbrush

My Best,

Gary

[Crow Haven]

Good idea Gare!

Well, I experimented with a bird font (thanks Gare!) and used the hummingbird letters to do the tute with this time. Cloned the bird text reversed it, stretched and rotated. Also made some small text with the "Abracadabra" font, stacked it on its side, and ran it through the tute.

[stygg2003]

Thanks for that Gary, what a difference that air brushing makes to the text.

Stygg

[stygg2003]

That's a lovely image Maya, the air brushing works well in it.

Stygg

[Veeness]

Hi Angelize)) I loved the watery text tutorial. I' need to practice as I don't see the reflection in the text properly? are they line edges? or shape of whole letter.

I did however manage to make drippy whitish wax raised and rounded and pottery slip sludge sort of style that looks like someone drew it on with a finger it has a slight depression in the middle of text. I think I'm doing a transparency and layer thing wrong as I don't see layers made on my right panel.