Letter Banner with the Horizontal Type Tool
by Jenifer Juris

Give your digital project a custom letter banner. All it takes is the Horizontal Type tool to create this paper die-cut effect.

For this tutorial you’ll need:

• Photoshop Elements or Adobe Photohop
• Arimo Font Family

Step One: Download the Font Family

• Go to Font Squirrel .com and search for “Arimo.”
• Click on the purple Download TTF button to download the font family. See the image below.
• Unzip folder, then install the Arimo Regular and Arimo Bold fonts. If you need help installing font, the Font Squirrel website contains help.

Step Two: Prepare the Workspace

• Create a new document (File > New > Blank File) that is 5×2 inches at 300 ppi with a white background. (PS: Choose File > New.)
• Press the letter D to reset the Color Chips to the default of black over white.

Step Two: Create the Line

• Get the Horizontal Type tool.
• In the Tool Options, open the Font Picker and choose Arimo Bold.

NOTE: You can try other fonts but not every font will give you the size and connected line you need to make this tutorial work.

• In the Tool Options, set the Size to 100, the Alignment to Center, the Tracking to 0, and the Style to None. The Color Chip should be black, if it’s not, click on the Color Chip and choose black. (PS: Click on the Color Chip, choose black, and click OK.)
• On the document, click once and type five underscore lines in a row. To create an underscore, press Shift Hyphen (Dash).
• Click the checkmark to commit.
• Get the Move tool. In the Tool Options, uncheck Auto Select Layer.
• Press Ctrl A (Mac: Cmd A) to Select All.
• In the Tool Options, click on the Align Horizontal Centers (Middle) icon.
• Press Ctrl D (Mac: Cmd D) to deselect.
• On the document, hold down the Shift key and click and drag the line to the top part of the document. See the image below.

• Get the Horizontal Type tool.
• In the Tool Options, click on the Warp Text icon.
• In the dialog box, set the Style to Arc and click on Horizontal. Set the Bend to -20, the Horizontal Distortion to 0, and the Vertical Distortion to 0. Click OK.

Step Three: Create the Type

• In the Layers panel, click on the Create a New Layer icon.
• Get the Horizontal Type tool.
• In the Tool Options, open the Font Picker and choose Arimo Regular. Set the Size to 60pts and the Tracking to 150.

NOTE: Tracking was first introduced into Photoshop Elements in version 2019. If you do not have the Tracking option, add one space between each letter and then change the font size of just those spaces to 30pts. You do this by selecting the space and changing the font size of it in the Tool Options, (so you’ll change each space one at a time for four times total). Doing this will be very close to the spacing the Tracking setting of 150 provides.

• On the document, hold down the Shift key and click to place your cursor in the center of the document. Type a word or phrase in all capital letters. I’m using the word LOVED.
• Click the checkmark to commit.

NOTE: Lowercase letters will not work for this tutorial. You need the letters to be the exact same height in order for this tutorial to work so stick with all caps for this.

• Get the Horizontal Type tool.
• In the Tool Options, click on the Warp Text icon.
• In the dialog box, set the Style to Arc and click on Horizontal. Set the Bend to -15, the Horizontal Distortion to 0, and the Vertical Distortion to 0. Click OK.
• Get the Move tool.
• Press Ctrl A (Mac: Cmd A) to Select All.
• In the Tool Options, click on the Align Horizontal Centers (Middle) icon.
• Press Ctrl D (Mac: Cmd D) to deselect.
• With the Move tool still active, press the Up Arrow key until your letters connect to the curved line.

Step Four: Save As

• In the Layers panel, click on the Visibility icon of the Background layer to hide it.
• Save the document (File > Save As) as a PNG file with a unique name.
• If you wish to save this PSD layered file so that you can change the word and reuse it for other projects, save the layered document (File > Save As) as a layered PSD file with a unique name.

Step Five: Finishing Touches

When you use this letter banner in a project, here are couple of things I recommend doing to make this look it’s best:

• Clip a solid background paper to the letter banner layer.
• Add a custom drop shadow to the letter banner.

Here is how I used my letter banner in a project:

Credits:
Page: Jenifer Juris
Photo: Jesica Johannes (sister)
Tutorial: Letter Banner by Jenifer Juris
Kit: Hopscotch by One Little Bird
Fonts: Arimo, April Blossom, Archers Grotesque

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Author: Jenifer Juris | Contact Us
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