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Setting Highlight and Shadow

Step 4: Highlight Edge

You'll want to make the type area slightly darker with the brightness/Contrast setting. This reinforces the visual that it is indeed deeper than the front surface. Now to drive home the realism.
      On the light reflecting side of the cuts there'll be a highlight. On the shadow side there will be a slightly darker "lip." We'll want to shop for a very light color.

• Zoom in very close and with the dropper tool
• select a very light color from the existing sign board.
• Now, choose Selection Menu > Reload selection into a new layer
• fill with the light color.
• While still active tweak the highlight DOWN a pixel or two and to the right to give the illustion of a raised edge to the cut-out. For the shadow side we'll do just the opposite.
• Drop the Selection (Cmd/Ctrl D)
• Now, choose Selection Menu > Reload selection
• Invert Selection and
• Delete

Notice we created a highlight

5: Shadow edge:

For the dark shadow area, do the exact same thing only select a darker color (Don't use black)
 

In order to have these new layers be convincing, simply click the dark one up and to the left a pixel or two, and the light one down and to the right a pixel or two. This gives the illusion of the "edge" of the cut opening.
 
Click here to see the finished piece

Voila! Are we done yet? Nope not yet

Now let's take a different point of view This time we move the light edge up and the dark edge down for "raised" lettering... giving the client a choice of how the sign can be cut.

Yet another variation?

Hide the background (the signboard) and you've got cut-out letters on a white background!
 

Now, think about this: The same layers can be reorganized to give the illusion of raised lettering... as if you cut away the background instead of the foreground. It's merely a simple matter of reorganizing the layers. Note that the "Cutout" layer is no longer needed, and a new Gaussian blur layer is required to show the shadow that is cast on the backboard. This time we simply load selection, fill black, blur, and tweak down and to the right.

Now, Polish it off

Now, if that's not enough -- how about offering the client a furniture grade sign??? Tell your client that for another $150.00 you can deliver a furniture quality sign!
 

This time we take our top layer and dig out Black Box (or Eye Candy) again, applying the "Inside Bevel" to the layer. (In Photoshop 6 and 7 this can be a layer style)
 

Voila again -- now our raised wood lettering has been sanded, and coated out with a nice coat of clear, gloss, polyurethane! Whoa! If they don't buy that sign, I'll eat my hat!

To complete the illusion

...hang your sign on a contrasting colored background and provide another Gaussian blur drop shadow to add yet more relief. I liked blue since cooler colors will recede and reinforce the rear-layer effect.
 

This whole operation took less than an hour. Remember: It's not a lot of hokus-pokus. It's an attitude. Look at your layers, decide what you want them to do, then have at it. Don't forget to send a sample, share a tip or ask your questions!

Sidebar:

To get a feeling for this whole story, you can read about sand blasting wood signs, and see a real application of this whole process. The above 4 ft. x 2 ft. sign could bill out for as much as $1,400 or more. We billed ours for just under $1,000, with a raw cost of about $165.00. Since the client went for the raised, unpolished version, it netted us right around $100 per hour ...and the point is: it was sold using this technique as a proposal.

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