How to Create a Font Background

This trick is so simple and easy to do, I don't know why I haven't thought of doing it before. If you're wondering what I mean by a font background, have a look at my header. The anchor part of my blog's name was created using this trick.

I used Photoshop CS5 for this, but you will be able to do it on other Photoshop versions too.

1. Pick a pretty picture

Go for a picture that is colourful and isn't one solid colour. It's better to use a picture of an object rather than people. For this example, I am going to use a picture that I took of some very bright yellow flowers.

2. The right font

Now that you have got your picture, open it up on Photoshop. Make sure you copy the background layer before you do the next steps (right click on the background layer to duplicate it).

Next you want to pick a font that you like. I would recommend using a thick font so that the picture will show up clearly. I have chosen to use the font Bebas Neue that I downloaded from dafont.com.

Once your font has been sorted, create a new layer and type over your picture. Then right click on the layer with your text and select 'Rasterize Type'.

Hold Ctrl and select the image inside the box on the text layer. Your text should now be selected.
Then press Ctrl, Shift and I.

Your photo should now look similar to this.
Make sure the background layer is selected and then right click on the text and select ' Layer via Cut'.
Deselect everything by holding Ctrl and D. Hide all the other layers except for the new one to see the finished result.

If you want to use this trick on a long name, it is helpful to put your text into different layers so that the backgrounds of the text are similar. This is handy if you want to use a certain part of your image.
For example if I wanted to have Anchor Road, I'd now make another text layer and repeat the above steps with the word Road.

3. Go crazy with it 

 I've used this idea as my blog header but you could use it on greeting cards, for business cards, make a sign for a room or even use it on promotional images.

Here's how it would look with other images:

Background: Smoothies

Background: Houses sitting on a beach