How to Create Ink and Smoke Lettering

Create the text and convert it to a shape

1. Open Online PS, choose File > New (Ctrl+N) and set the canvas size — for example 2000 × 800 px, 300 ppi, transparent background.
2. Pick the Type tool (T) in the toolbar on the left, click on the canvas and type your text.
3. In the options bar on the right, switch the font to a brush script or running-hand style (or any traditional-looking face), raise the size (around 200 pt) and centre the text.
4. Right-click the type layer and choose Convert to Shape (Convert to Shape), or press Ctrl+Shift+Alt+S.

Refine the outline with the Pen tool

Once the text is a vector shape it is still a machine-made path. Give it a little character:

1. Choose the Pen tool (P) in the toolbar on the left.
2. Make sure the tool mode is Path, not Shape.
3. Click or drag the existing anchor points — add, delete or move them — and give the ends of the strokes a slight wobble.
4. When you are happy, right-click the path → Make Selection (Ctrl+Enter), then Layer > New > Layer via Copy so the edited vector path stays available.

Inking — break up the texture with a brush and a mask

Turning the clean shape into a broken, inky one takes two passes:

1. Build the base ink layer

1. Add a blank layer above the shape layer and name it “Ink texture”.
2. Select it and click Add Mask at the bottom of the Layers panel (the mask button beside the rectangle icon).
3. Make sure the mask is active (white border), then in the Brush Presets choose a brush or ink brush — Ink Splatter and Water Brush both work — set Spacing to 10% and keep the colour black.
4. Paint a few loose strokes so the brush scrapes part of the shape away at the edges of the letters — in practice you are building black-and-white opacity differences in the mask.

2. Tune the brush settings for the broken look

• Spacing: raise it to 150%~200% and each stroke starts to break into fragments.
• Opacity: paint randomly between 30% and 70%.
• Flow: keep it between 30% and 50%.
• Angle: the [ and ] keys nudge the rotation each time, so the strokes hug the letterforms better.

Keep working over the mask with different opacity, flow and angle until the layers of texture read the way you want.

Add brush detail on the ink layer

The base texture is in place. Now add a few strokes on top of it so the ink has some depth.

1. Add a blank layer above “Ink texture” and name it “Ink detail”.
2. Stay on the Brush tool and pick a finer ink brush, such as Ink Brush Soft.
3. Set Opacity to 20%~40% and Flow to 15%~30%.
4. Dab at specific spots — where strokes cross, at the tips of strokes — to build a semi-transparent ink-splash effect.

Where it gets too dense, brush lightly with white on that layer's mask to thin the ink out.

Paint or import the smoke

With the ink lettering done, a wisp of smoke sets the mood.

1. Use the smoke brushes built into Photoshop

1. Add a layer and name it “Smoke”.
2. In the Brush Presets click the “+” button and import a downloaded smoke brush pack (.abr/.json), or use the built-in “Soft Airbrush”.
3. Set Opacity to 10%~25% and Flow to 15%~30%.
4. Paint a few strokes to the left, right and below the letters so the smoke drifts outward. A low spacing (5%) plus a rotated brush gives it the sense of movement.

2. Import an external PNG smoke asset (optional)

1. If you already have a good PNG smoke asset, use File > Open and Place (Ctrl+O) or simply drag it onto the canvas.
2. Use Free Transform (Ctrl+T) to resize and tilt it so it wraps around the text naturally.
3. Add Layer Style > Color Overlay to the smoke layer in dark grey (#2c3e50) or deep red (#8b2a2b) — nothing bright.
4. Add a mask to the smoke layer and fade the edges with a soft round white brush so it blends in.

Composite and fine-tune

1. Check the layer order (top to bottom):
   • Text shape (the original — hide it if you do not need it)
   • Ink texture
   • Ink detail
   • Smoke
   • Background (optional)
2. For more dimension, add Layer Style > Drop Shadow to the Ink texture layer (opacity 20%, Y offset 10 px, spread 5 px) or an Inner Shadow.
3. Adjust the whole thing with Levels (Ctrl+L) or Curves (Ctrl+M) so the blacks get denser and the greys softer.
4. To put aged-paper texture underneath, place that layer at the very bottom, set its blending mode to Overlay or Soft Light and drop the opacity to 30%~50%.

Export and reuse

1. When it is finished, use File > Export As PNG (32-bit) to keep transparency, or File > Export As JPG for the web.
2. If it will go into video or animation later, export as PSD (.psd) or a Photoshop project file (.pz) so you can re-edit it at any time.
3. Save two copies:
   • An editable version with masks and layers (.psd/.pz) for later changes.
   • A flattened working version (PNG/JPG) for social media, covers, posters and so on.

That is your ink-textured, smoke-wrapped lettering finished. It works for posters, video subtitles, covers, social posts and plenty of other places.