Here’s how to do make shiny plastic text like what you might find on an iMac. Get a new file open and the layers dialog (Ctrl-L). Give yourself a new transparent layer and use the text tool in the image window. I pick a nice blue shade and write my text in the closest font I have to what I want. You’ll want to make it big for this trick.

Use the magic wand to select the whole inside of the letter. Now Right-Click->Select->Shrink. Set the shrink dialog to about 5 pixels in. Now, with the area still selected, create a new layer in the layer dialog. Fill the selection with pure white using the paint bucket tool and keep it selected. In the image, Right-Click->Filter->Blur->Gaussian Blur, setting the blur radius to a generous 10.0. Now deselect it (by clicking outside the selected boundary with any selection tool). Set the mode of your top image layer to “overlay” in the layer dialog. Duplicate the middle layer and then select the top layer and merge it down.

Now in the layer dialog turn off the eyeball next to the top layer so it’s hidden. Select the second layer down. Use either the color select or the magic wand to select outside the shape of your letter. Use the paint bucket fill to color everything outside the shape black. Then Right-Click->Select->Invert and color everything inside the letter shape white. Deselect it. Do another Gaussian blur on it, also with a value of about 10. Now Right-Click->Filters->Light Effects->Lighting Effects to get the full lighting tools dialog.

In the layer dialog turn on the eyeball next to the top layer and keep it the active, selected layer. Two things to do here in the lighting effects dialog, one click the “bump map” tab and check bump mapping on, select the middle layer for “bumpmap Image”, set the curve to “Spherical”, and maximum height to 30.0 or so. In the “light” tab of the dialog, grab the light in the preview with your mouse and drag it closer to your letter and increase the light intensity by a few clicks. Apply these all at once. If you try to apply bump map and light separately, it won’t have the same effect.

Now in the layer dialog, select that middle black layer and throw it away in the trash can. Right-Click->Merge Down to flatten the image for suitable .jpg storage. You’re done, and you have a nice, shiny plastic letter!

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