Create a Spilled Jam Text Effect in Photoshop

Text is an integral part of almost any design, the way it's displayed and portrayed can help emphasize the point you're trying to make.

In this tutorial we'll be creating a text effect that replicates the effect of spilled Jam on the kitchen counter. It will be a bit difficult to create this from scratch, so we're going to be using a font to create the bulk of the text, then we're going to warp and skew the letters in order to make it look more organic. We'll then add some layer styles and texture effects to complete the image.

Set up your Canvas

First create a new canvas in Photoshop that's 1500x1000px.

Grab the Donut image (found HERE) and import it into your stage, sitting it in the top left corner of your canvas. Grab the Gradient Tool (G) and on a new layer, make a radial gradient using the colors #ffffff and #e7e7e9

Name your layers appropriately and use a large, soft Eraser brush to blend the edges of the donut photo into your background.

Write your Text

Grab a smooth, simple font like Hobo Std and write out what you want to 'Jamify'. We used Hobo Std set to 200pt and changed its mode to 'Smooth'. Make sure each word is on a different layer.

Select each word you've written and press CTRL/CMD+T and rotate them a little bit.

Start to Modify your text

Grab the Text tool (T) and Right-Click on the text and select 'Create Work Path' from the drop down menu.

Hide the Text Layer from view so you only have the Path in view.

Use the Add and Delete Anchor Point Tools to get rid of pointy edges and exaggerate the outline of the text into a more flowing motion.

Use the Path Selection Tool to select Anchor points along the text and tweak/play around with them until you get the text looking like it's all one piece, which assuming it was made of jam, it would be.

Once you're happy with your paths, Select them all using the Path Selection Tool and Right-Click>Make Selection. Feather the Selection by 1px and make sure that Anti-Aliasing is checked, this will help smooth any leftover hard edges.

Hit Ok and you should have something that looks like this:

Color it and and some Styles

Click the 'Create New Layer' icon in your Layers palette and and fill your selection with #771b22.

Press CTRL/CMD+D to deselect. Right-Click the Layer that we've just filled and select Blending Options. Create a Drop Shadow with the following options: Blend Mode: Overlay, Opacity: 81%, Angle 120 (Use GLobal Light unticked), Distance 31px, Spread 0%, Size 14px.

Next we'll add a Bevel and Emboss with these settings: Style: Inner Bevel, Technique: Smooth, Depth: 271%, Direction: Down, Size: 10px, Soften: 0px, Angle: -20, Altitude: 75. Click on Glass Countour and select 'Cone - Inverted' from the drop down menu, press ok.

Next we'll add some Texture. Tick Texture in the Layer Styles panel and in the pattern drop down menu select 'Grayscale Paper', hit Append.

Now you'll have some new patterns in the panel, if you hover your mouse over them for a bit, you'll see what each one is called, we want the pattern called 'Fibers 1'. Then set the Scale to 501% and Depth to -6%.

Now, select Pattern Overlay and select the same 'Fibers 1' pattern from the list. Set the Blend Mode to Lighter Color, Opacity to 10% and Scale to 358%. These effects will give the text a more uneven 'Jam-like' texture.

Liquify

The text is looking a little bit too uniform to be realistic, real spilled Jam would be messier and not so smooth, so we're going to use Liquify to fix that. With the text layer selected go to Filter>Liquify. Change the brush size to approximately 200px and make sure the Turbulence tool is selected.

Once you've gone over the whole word and you're happy with the results hit ok. You should have something similar to this:

Rinse and Repeat

Repeat these steps for all the words on your canvas. So that you don't have to go through all the styles one by one again, simply Right-Click on the first words layer and select 'Copy Layer Style' then Right-Click on the next words layer and select 'Paste Layer Style'.

Add some Finishing Touches

Now create a new layer, Right-Click it and select 'Paste Layer Style' to paste in the jam style we copied earlier. Next grab the Brush Tool (B). Pick a brush about 60px big and set the hardness to 95%. Open up the Brushes palette (Window>Brushes), select Shape Dynamics and set the Size Jitter to 12% and set Control to Fade.

Draw some Jammy stains around your text, the brush will taper off due to the effects we added in the Brushes palette. Play around until you have some splats that you think look good!

Your final image should look something like this:

As always the PSD for this file is available for download below.