Outline text in Photoshop Photoshop Tutorial
How to make outline text in Photoshop
Newer method for Photoshop CC here 
(JUST ADDED: See the bottom of this tutorial for a PSD and a layerstyle that works in Photoshop CS6 and CC)
Step 1
Start with a blank layer and some text, this will work for shapes too.
Step 2
Right click/Cmd click on the layer name in the layers pallette. Select rasterize layer. Ctrl/Cmd click on the layer thumbnail to select the type.
Step 3
Create a new blank layer.
Edit>stroke. I added a 6 pixel stroke here. Make the location center.
Click ok.
Ctrl/Cmd click on the layer thumbnail to select the new stroke.
Step 4
In the layer palette, turn off the bottom layer, you should see the outline now.
Using the gradient tool: foreground to background linear – Black to white. apply a gradient to the selection.
Step 5
Now apply the stroke again, this time 1 Pixel and set to outside.
Step 6
To make the gradient look like metal, use our favorate curves trick.
Image>adjust>curves, use a similar curve to what is shown here.
Step 7
Now display the bottom layer again and fill with a color or a gradient to get this result.
Step 8
For a little extra depth apply a layer style to the outline, use a dropshadow.
Step 9
Here is the result.
Step 10
Another variation is to hide the fill and just use the outline with a dropshadow.
Step 11
Here is yet another variation. This is just the previous image inverted. Ctrl/Cmd+I Note for this to work, you must flatten the image first.
Step 12
Here is another variation. Play around with this effect and have fun.
See you in a week with another new tutorial.
Beveled outline text with a Layer style
Here is a newer versions of the effect that I have created with a layer style
Also see the tutorial on creating a metal wire text effect as shown here
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10 thoughts on “Outline text in Photoshop Photoshop Tutorial”
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Why thankye kindly. This was well laid out and extremely helpful.
Sounds like a lot to do for a simple outlining of text. Seems like a rather large oversight for PS to not have something so simple
How hard is it to download an apply a preset? Pretty simple to me.
What would be easier is if PS has a stroke feature in the text tool box. I have since found a simpler way to do it than explained here, but I don’t see why it couldn’t be implemented into a toolbox before rasterizing the layer.
That is how Paint Shop Pro always used to do it. It’s a headache to do it with PS.
Don’t forget this is the old way, they new way is here http://photoshopcafe.com/wire-text-photoshop-tutorial
Why does this look like it’s from Windows 2000? I don’t think the version of photoshop around in 2016 is compatible with anything older than Windows 7 so why was this out of date tutorial posted?
Because I made this tutorial a million years ago, we have been around since 2000 😉
Why not delete or update this page since the info is over ten years out of date? Seriously.
There is a link at the top to the CC version. Many people are on older versions and still find this tutorial very relevant, that’s why.