In Part 1 of our two part text effect rundown we covered some nifty and simple effects, like multiple outlines and modifying fonts, and we even lightly touched on the difference between Photoshop and Illustrator. For Part 2 we will continue to look at simple, yet effective ways to make your text stand out!

We will first start off with yet another technique that is super easy to do in Illustrator. With a few simple and well planned out steps, Illustrator can create what appears to be interlocking characters. Start by generating two overlapping characters on two separate type paths. Convert them to outlines and use the multiple outlines technique that was described in Part 1 to create a colored outline around each of the characters. Select everything with the Selection tool. Now, here is the magic touch. Display the Pathfinder and click the Divide icon to divide all of the overlapping parts into separate paths. Individually select the overlapping areas with the Direct Selection tool. With the Color Sampler tool (the eyedropper), sample the color from the adjacent non-overlapping area to fill the region with similar color.

Illustrator is also the software to use for threading text when you want to flow text from one shape to another or for wrapping type around a shape. You can also use Illustrator to create multiple columns or rows of text, whereas Photoshop does not offer any of these features.

Photoshop has two system for generating type. It can generate type as a layer that produces fully editable, vector-based text. It can also produce type as a type mask that creates a selection marquee in the shape of a type character. Both have their uses, but to create type characters that contain an image, we'll use the Type Mask tool.

Open an image in Photoshop. Chose Select > Select All and then Edit > Copy. This, of course, copies the image onto the Clipboard. Choose the Type Mask tool. In the Options bar, select a typeface and a type size big enough to reveal a good portion of your image. Click on the image and you'll see a blinking insertion point on red translucent mask. Type the text.

To reposition the text press the Command (Mac) Ctrl (PC) key and drag the text into position. To resize the text drag one of the corner points. When the text is set to your liking, click the checkmark in the Options bar. The mask converts to a selection outline.

From the Edit Menu, choose Paste Into, and the image you copied to the clipboard will be pasted into the text. Do note however if the original layer is visible, you will not see any changes unless you click the visibility icon in the Layers panel. This technique produces a layer with a layer mask in the shape of the type that can be scaled and positioned with the move tool.

And there we have it! These are just a few effective tips to help your designs more personable and creative.