Gradient text outline with wind effect in Adobe Photoshop

Published on January 20, 2023

Transparent text with gradient outline

In this blog I’ll show you how to create a transparent text and a gradient outline with a wind or speed effect in Adobe Photoshop.

Rather watch the video with instructions? Click here or scroll down to the end of this page!

Step 1: Create file and text

Create a new file. My file is 1600×900 pixels. If your file has a different size, the wind effect might look different. Make the background of your new file black.

Select the horizontal type tool, pick a font and make the text color white. Type your text.

Then press CTRL+A to select the text. Increase the tracking (I increase it to 50). The letters shouldn’t be too close to eachother, because you need space to add the wind effect.

When you’re done, click on the ✓ icon.

Press CTRL+T to activate free transform. You can now adjust the size and position of the text. When you’re done, click on the ✓ icon again (or press ENTER).

Then press CTRL+J to duplicate the text layer. This new text layer should have the same color as the background, so make it black. This way the text will look transparent, without actually being transparent.

Step 2: Wind text outline

Select the bottom text layer. Then navigate to ‘Filter > Stylize > Wind‘. Photoshop will show you a notification that the layer has to be rasterized or converted to a smart object before proceeding. Select ‘convert to smart object‘.

Method: Wind
Direction: From the left

Navigate to ‘Filter > Stylize > Wind’ again. This time select ‘from the right‘ and click OK. Then navigate to ‘Filter > Stylize > Wind’ one last time (or press ALT+CTRL+F to repeat the last action). Again select ‘from the right‘.

The wind effect is now finished.

Step 3: Gradient text outline

Select the text layer with the wind effect. Click on the fx icon below your layers and select ‘gradient overlay‘.

You can find the settings I used in the image below.

Click on the gradient to change the colors. You can select one of the presets, but you can also create your own gradient. I’ve created my own gradient.

When you’re done, click OK to apply the gradient. To make the outline brighter, select the layer with the gradient overlay and the wind effect. Then press CTRL+J to duplicate this layer. You can also duplicate it multiple times (press CTRL+J multiple times) to make the effect even brighter.

And that’s how you create this gradient text outline with a wind or speed effect in Adobe Photoshop!