Text styles are always a great way to get away from the same solid color on a background and add some flair to the type.

Text style is used to further express the mode of a piece. Chrome could be considered mechanical or cool. This technique can be applied to text, an object or shape to add a cool chrome effect.

Step 1. On a new document created a letter in white on a darker background with a large point size. I am using 287 points and the font is Myriad Pro.

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Step 2. Go to Layer/Rasterize/Type.

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Step 3. Hold down Control and click on the Text Layer. This will select the outline shape of the letter.

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Step 4. Go to the Channels Palette and create a new channel and fill it with White. Now De-select the layer and go to Filter/Blur/Guassian Blur with a Radius of 8.

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Step 5. Repeat the Filter but this time use a setting of 4 for the radius.

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Step 6. Click on the Type layer and go to Filter/Render/Lighting Effects. Use similar settings to the example shown. Be sure to use ‘Alpha 1′ for the Texture Channel.

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Step 7. Go to Image/Adjust/Curves and enter settings close to the one shown or whatever you feel looks best.

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Step 8. With the Chrome in place it is time to add some highlight by going to Filter/Render/Lighting Effects and using a Directional Light. Use the settings in the example.

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Step 9. Just re-size the letter down and add a subtle Drop Shadow and your done!

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