The Vampire Blood Technique. PhotoShop 5.x

Step Ten Now we need to remove the background from the 'blood' layer.  Reload channel 'Alpha 1' by choosing Select>Load Selection (Document: blood; Channel: Alpha 1; New Selection).  With the 'blood' layer the active layer and the selection loaded, hit the delete key.  This will remove the dark red background.  Deselect (Ctrl/Command - D) to remove the selection.  Your blood letters will now be on a transparent layer. Next, create a few more highlights by running the Plastic Wrap Filter again.  Choose Filter>Artistic>Plastic Wrap (Highlight Strength: 15; Detail: 8; Smoothness: 8).  You will notice that the effect is a bit extreme.  Fix that by choosing Filter>Fade Plastic Wrap (Opacity: 15; Mode: Normal). < Previous Next >

Fade Filter Tip Sometimes the results of a filter can be a bit extreme no matter how much you tweak the settings.  I find this to be especially true of the Unsharp Mask Filter on low resolution images.  What I do, is run the filter at a slight extreme and the use the Fade Filter Dialog to add just the amount of the effect that I need.  You get a really nice real time preview as you adjust the slider.

Intro / Step One / Step Two / Step Three - Four / Step Five - Six Step Seven / Step Eight - Nine / Step Ten / Step Eleven - Final