Hello there! The thoughts of bubble tea make me excited! But I need to drink less, so I try to cut down on bubble tea. You should too! I only allow myself to drink bubble tea on weekends. For bubble tea lovers out there, here’s a sweet treat for you. This Bubble Tea text effect is easy to make, costs RM0, you don’t have to line up for it and you also learn a new trick in Photoshop. If you can’t drink it, you create it in Photoshop… hah. Though you need a certain amount of time to learn, it is fun! Follow this Bubble Tea Text Effect Tutorial below and you will have your text of Bubble Tea.
Open a document
Open a document (CTRL + N) with the size of your choice. The size of my document is 1300*760 px.
Background Colour
Once you have your artboard open, fill the background with some colours using the Paint Bucket Tool (G). As for my background, I want to stick to a colour similar to milk tea hence I chose #fbf1e4.
Bubble Tea Text Effect
Using the Type Tool (T), find a font similar to mine – as long as it is bold and you think your bubbles can fit the inside of the font. I am using Helvetica LT Black. With this font, I have ample space to put as many pearls as I like! But of course, with moderation.
To add some colour to my text, right-click the text layer (normally at the right side of the screen) and select Blending Options…
To get the Bubble Tea text effect, once you are in Blending Options, check the Gradient Overlay and play around with the colours. I have 3 colours for the font mainly #fbf1e4, #edc878 and #b25a00. It is light (milk) to dark (brown sugar). After you are done, click ‘OK’. With this step, you will see your original black font turn to the gradient effect you just did.
So far so good? If you have any questions, do not hesitate to leave a comment at the comment section!
Milk Effect
Next, for the milk effect, create a new layer (CTRL + Shift + N) and fill it white #fffffff with the Paint Bucket Tool (G). At the top of the bar click Filter > Render > Difference Clouds. Repeat the step a second time and you will achieve a darker effect similar to mine.
On the same layer, click Image > Adjustments > Equalize. It should look something like the below.
Next, click Image > Adjustments > Levels and use the small handles to adjust the levels until it looks like this.
After achieving this effect, select the layer and select the Blend Mode as Screen. You will end up with the effect below, where the layer blends into the text. Duplicate and rotate as you want. What is shown here is just to show you an idea on how to create the milk effect.
Hang on! We are almost there.
Duplicate the text layer (ALT + drag your cursor slightly up / right-click the layer and select Duplicate). You will end up with 2 layers of text. See the eye icon beside each layer? Click the eye on one of the text layers. This way, you are hiding the layer. As for the text layer that is not hidden, right-click the layer and select Rasterize Layer Style. If you notice, the thumbnail of the layer will change and it means you’re on the right track.
Select the ‘Milk’ layer + ALT (make sure your cursor is in between the ‘Milk’ layer and the text layer you just rasterized) and click.
Perfect!
Now that we have this, feel free to repeat the steps according to your preference on how you want your bubble tea to look like. Moving on, let’s add some pearls into it.
Creating the Pearls
To create the pearls, create a new layer and then select the Elliptical Marquee Tool. Your pearls can look however you want, be it a circle or slightly oval. If you want a perfect circle, hold Shift and drag your mouse to create one. After you are done creating the shape, fill the selection with Paint Bucket Tool (G) with black/dark brown. Right-click to deselect. To achieve the 3D effect of the pearl, right-click on Pearl’s layout and select Blending Options…
Next, check Bevel & Emboss. Play around with the structure and shading to achieve your desired pearl. Below is how I set mine.
Next, select the Pearl layer and drag it down below the Milk layer.
You will see that the Pearl appears solid inside the drink. To solve this problem, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. The radius of it you can set around 2-6 but it depends on the size of your canvas as well. The blurrier it is, the pearl will appear further from you. Repeat the steps. Use different levels of Gaussian blur and different pearl sizes for the natural look. Hide most of the pearl’s Bevel & Emboss effect as well.
The milk at the bottom appears harsh too. Hence, click on the Milk layer and select the Eraser Tool (E). Use a soft round brush and lower the opacity so you can control the eraser better while you remove some parts of the milk.
Use button [ and ] to change the size of your eraser/brush tool. I erased most of the bottom part of the milk.
Add another layer above the Rasterized Layer Style (Text) and using the Brush Tool (B), brush it over the bottom.
Last but not least, Duplicate the Rasterized Layer Style (Text) and bring the layer to the above. You will see a gradient text again similar to the first few steps. Worry not, here you can play around with the Blend Mode. I chose Linear Burn and set opacity as 70% and fill as 100%.
3D Cup Effect (Optional)
Duplicate another layer of the Rasterized Layer Style (Text) and roughly follow my layer style below.
The finished look of the Bubble Tea Text Effect!
Lastly, change your background as you wish to see which one fits your bubble tea text the best.
Did you have fun with this tutorial? Create yours today! Once you are done, you can sell your art print too. Convert them to apparel and merchandises!
