How to Create a Typographic Image

This tutorial will show how to create custom brush. Also you will learn more about selection and Posterize Tool. I'll teach you how to create the image below, using Adobe Photoshop CS3. This is only a simple and easy to follow tutorial and it doesn't require many resources.

Let's start by creating a new 1275 x 1800 document in Photoshop and set the DPI to 300. Set the foreground color: black (#000000). Press Alt+Backspace to fill the background layer with our foreground color.

Open and add an image file you wanted to use for this tutorial. (I'm using an image from http://th03.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2009/344/2/1/Old_man_by_Turtle_poetique.jpg)

Old Man by Turle-poetique

By using the Pen tool, we have to crop away the background areas of the picture. 

Click on the image layer on the Layers tab, then go to Image > Adjustments >Posterize. Set the Levels to 7.

Hide the Image layer and the Background layer for awhile, to do so, click the Eye icon on the left beside the layer.

Press T or the Type tool, select your favorite font and set the color into black (#000000), type some word you wanted to appear on our project. I only type the word, "ALONE" using Impact font for this tutorial.

Now we are going to create a Photoshop brush. To do so, simply make a selection around the word like what I did by using Rectangular Marquee (M) Tool. Go to Edit > Define Brush Preset. There you have it! Do the right-click thing on your blank document and your new brush (ALONE) will appear under your Brush Preset window.

We have not much use for the words layer anymore so you can hide it away. Unhide the Image and Background layers again. This time make a small selection around the black area like what I did on his shirt.

With that selection, go to Select > Similar. This will select all the areas with that particular color.

Before I go on further, try to select the Brush tool (B) and by pressing ([ or ]) to adjust Brush sizes. But to learn further, right-click on any part within the document for it is the shortcut for changing Brush sizes and its type.

Hide the Image layer, leaving the selection loaded. Create a new layer and start to stamp around with the Brushes you created earlier.

Let's add some adjustment on our brush by clicking the Brushes icon on the right side.
Under Brush Presets, click Shape Dynamics>Size Jitter: 71%, Control: Pen Pressure, Minimum Diameter: 3%, Angle Jitter: 25%, Roundness Jitter: 0%, Control: Fade:25, Minimum Roundness: 100%

and Scattering>Scatter: Both Axes> 1000%, Control: Pen Pressure/Count: 12, Count Jitter: 27%, Control: Fade:8.

What you need to take note is to adjust the sizes before you stamp so it fits nicely within the selection. Do a few times with the [ & ]+clicking—size adjusting and stamping. Very soon you will get the hang of it.

Repeat these steps for the other tones of grey color in the Image layer and try to adjust the Brushes Preset of your choice.

Just add more layers and apply additional effects on our design and we are done!

This is roughly how you should get as your finished work.

Although the black-and-white style already looks great for me, you can also add a Hue/Saturation1 and replace the colors to your personal preferences.

Hope you enjoy this tutorial. Have fun!

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