Milky Text in Pixelmator

Milky Text in Pixelmator

In this tutorial, I will show you how to mix text with stock photos to create groovy effects—like text made up of images of milk. We will play with various image adjustments to match the text with the photos.

Step 1

Open Pixelmator and create a new document; I am using a resolution of 1920×1200 pixels. Now type the word “milk.” Since the font I used was created in Illustrator, you may want to download the file to continue the tutorial. Or just choose a blocky font similar to this one.

Step 2

For the letter M, let’s use an image from Shutterstock, which you can download from shutterstock.com/pic-2196881-milk-in-a-glass-splashing.html (scroll down that Web page to view the image). Insert the photo in the document and go to Image>Levels in the Pixelmator menu. Increase the Black Input as shown in the image below.

Step 3

With the Magic Wand Tool (W), select the black background of the photo, then delete it.

Step 4

Go to Edit>Transform>Scale and resize the photo to match the width of the M. With the Eraser Tool, delete the bottom of the image. Also, with the Clone Stamp Tool (S), paint over the glass that was visible in the photo—selecting a milk area for reference, so that you will retain just the milk splash.

Step 5

With the Eraser Tool (E), delete the top right corner of the M.

Step 6

For the “I,” I used another image, which you can download from shutterstock.com/pic-12058783-splash-in-a-milk-glass.html. Let’s repeat what we did for the M and match the image with the character. Use the image below for reference.

Step 7

With the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M), select and delete the part of the photo in which the glass is visible. Then use the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) to select the bottom part of the image, and go to Edit>Transform>Scale. Rescale the height of the image as in the image below.

Step 8

Select the Eraser Tool (E), and with a big and soft brush scrub area from the photo so that it will have a smoother transition with the character.

Step 9

Repeat the previous steps to add another splash, this time onto the letter L. The photo I used can be downloaded from shutterstock.com/pic-10532656-milk-splash-against-dark-background.html. Don’t worry about the color difference; we will adjust the whole image in the end.

Step 10

For the letter K, let’s again use a stock photo, which you can download from shutterstock.com/pic-15459070-milk-splash-on-a-blue-background.html. This one, however, has a blue background. So the first thing to do is go to Image>Desaturate. Then go to Image>Levels and increase the Black Input until you have created a totally black background.

Step 11

With the Magic Wand Tool (W), select the black background and delete it.

Step 12

Move the splash over the K and then, with the Eraser Tool (E), shape the layer until you have a result like the image below. Make sure to use a small brush to delete areas close to the edges of the K. Pay careful attention here to ensure that the effect is as realistic as possible.

Step 13

Again, using the Eraser Tool (E), delete the top right corner of the character as you did with the M.

Step 14

To create the depth-of-field effect, just copy an area with some drops from the image used in Step 11. Then go to Edit>Transform>Scale and make the drops much bigger. Next go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 20 for the Radius and change the Blending to Screen.

Step 15

Select all layers and go to Layer>Merge Layers. Then go to Image>Hue and Saturation. Change the Saturation to -40 so that all the splash colors will match.

Step 16

Duplicate the merged layer and go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 20 for the Radius and press OK. Then change the Blending to Screen.

Conclusion

Now simply take your logo or a text you want to use and drop it in with the image, and the effect is done. You may wish to add more splashes or experiment with different colors, perhaps brown to simulate a hot chocolate or black for coffee. In any case, I hope you now see how easy is to play with photos and vectors in Pixelmator to create stylish effects.