Expert: Scott Valentine - 7/18/2008

Question
Hi Scott

You helped me in the past and I appreciated it.  I've seen your
name on the web associated with plugins among other things
and hope you can give me some direction here.
 
I'm an English Second Language teacher who make
lessons with CS3 by embedding  text in full size
photographs. Then, I insert the jpegs with the embedded
text in Powerpoint as a background. The result is sort of a
Photoshop slideshow lesson with 6 to 12 lines of text
in each of the 12 jor so peg slides. (Powerpoint presents it
and that is all I want Powerpoint to do.)

What I'm looking for is a Photoshop plugin that would
make the text 3D or jump out at the student a bit.
(I've used so called 3D fonts with some success - but
then I'm limited to a small group of typefaces.)
If no PS plugin is available and you know of another
utility that may do it, please comment.

I know there are longer, sequenced processes to make
3D items in PS, but due to time limitations, I was seeking
a simple, quicker way to do it for text. (I teach all my
lessons in multimedia and already spend much much
more time than my colleagues for lesson planning.)

Any thoughts on how to get a raised or 3D like effect
in a short period of time would be appreciated.

Frank  

Answer
Thanks for coming back, Frank :)

The good news is that there are several plugins to get 3D effects on virtually anything you have in Photoshop. One of the most popular and powerful for 3D is from Strata:

http://www.strata.com/strata3d_ps_plugins.asp

This only works with the 3D elements in Photoshop CS3 Extended, not the standard version.

Another one I like is Swift3D from ElectricRain:

http://erain.com/Products/swift3d/

This is a stand alone product that is meant for animation, but it has some great, fast text effects that you can 'render' out and put into your Photoshop file. I don't know if this will save you time, but it certainly will give you tons of control.

However, the better news is that there are very quick ways to get your text to pop right in Photoshop. I know you are thinking that I'm going to give you long, detailed instructions... Well, I'm not. On your text layer, double click in an empty are of the layer panel icon. You'll get the layer styles. Check out Bevel and Emboss, and Outer Glow. Outer glow will help offset your text from the background, and Bevel/Emboss will give you a raised, 3D look (though not as acute as a rotated object).

Once you find a few variations that you like, you can create Layer Styles (check the help files). From there, it's just a single click to get the look you want on any text you have in your document. While this won't give you huge type that looks like it's attacking you, it will give you a wide range of looks very quickly, and without spending any more money.

I think you'll find that the plugin route for your needs may actually slow you down. But please do check out Strata and others before you decide. Here are some other applications and plugins to consider:

http://www.ulead.com/cool3d/runme.htm

http://www.neuber.com/twister/

http://www.swishzone.com/index.php

http://site.xara.com/products/xara3d/

http://www.arcsoft.com/en/products/3dtextfactory/

http://www.serif.com/3dplus/3dplus3/

That should give you plenty of choices. Please take note that some are stand alone, and some are plugins. There may be some that don't work with your version of Photoshop, so please read through them before buying.

If you would like more information on the layer styles I mentioned, please ask!

I hope this helps =)

-Scott