PS I Love You: Letterpress Effects

I love letterpress. It looks beautiful and it just feels good — I love to run my fingertips over the indented impressions set on thick, luxurious paper.

There are many letterpress-inspired tutorials out there, but the ones I’ve seen simply apply inner shadows to the text. But, inner shadows are just one component of a letterpress look — there’s also the indented, pillowed-look to the paper when it’s been “pressed”. I address this in the tutorial by applying the bevel/emboss layer style to the paper texture, in addition to a few other things.

If you want to follow along, please check out the credits at the end of this post to download the same resources I used. Also, if you have another method for accomplishing the letterpressed look, please share the wealth. :)

I want to thank Allen Coté for contributing more beautiful music to this screencast. Please check out his Facebook Fan Page to learn more about him and to hear more of his music..

Best viewed in HD, fullscreen:

If you like this letterpress tutorial, please stay tuned for my “embossed” stationery tutorial.