Fast & Easy Way of Creating Hair or Fur Text Effect In Photoshop
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A fur text effect in Photoshop grows real hair out of your letters using a photo of a furry animal and a custom brush.
There is no 3D and no plugin involved. The whole thing is built from a Layer Mask, a brush you make yourself, and the Stroke Path command.
It is a beginner project, and it takes about twenty minutes once you know the order of the steps.
The video was recorded in Photoshop CS6, and every tool it uses still works the same way in the latest version.
For a different take on the same look, try the clever furry text technique, which builds the hair a different way.
Key Takeaways
- The fur comes from a real photo. A Layer Mask built from a text selection hides everything outside the letters.
- Scale the texture, not the mask. Unlink the two so the strands shrink while the letters stay put.
- The Grass Brush leaves hard edges on vertical strokes. A custom brush drawn on all four sides fixes that.
- Stroke Path paints the brush along the edge of the letters for you, so you never trace by hand.
- Scattering and Shape Dynamics are what make the strands uneven. Without them the stroke reads as a straight line.
Table of contents
- What You Will Learn
- Requirements
- Keyboard Shortcuts
- Step 1: Set Up the Text and Fur Photo
- Step 2: Mask the Fur Into Your Text
- Step 3: Scale the Fur Texture to Fit the Text
- Step 4: Make a Custom Brush for Fur Text
- Step 5: Stroke the Path to Grow Fur
- Step 6: Add Depth with Layer Styles
- Step 7: Paint Highlights and Shadows
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Finish Your Fur Text Effect in Photoshop
- Related Links
What You Will Learn
- How to load a selection from a text layer and turn it into a Layer Mask
- How to scale a texture without scaling its mask
- How to build a custom fur brush from the Grass Brush
- How to make a work path and stroke it with a brush
- How to add depth with Bevel and Emboss, Color Overlay, and a Drop Shadow
Requirements
Before you start
- Photoshop CS6 or the latest version
- A photo of a furry animal, such as a cat, a dog, a tiger, or a cheetah
- A font with thick, rounded letters, such as Arial Rounded
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Windows | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Free Transform | Ctrl T | Command T |
| Group the selected layers | Ctrl G | Command G |
| Undo the last step | Ctrl Z | Command Z |
| Load a selection from a thumbnail | Ctrl click | Command click |
| Sample with the Clone Stamp Tool | Alt click | Option click |
| Hide the path overlay | Ctrl H | Command H |
| Fit the image on screen | Ctrl 0 | Command 0 |
| Nudge a layer ten pixels | Shift Arrow key | Shift Arrow key |
Step 1: Set Up the Text and Fur Photo
Start a new document at 1920 pixels by 1080 pixels. That gives the strands room to read at full size.
Grab the Type Tool and set the font to Arial Rounded at 151 points. Type the word Furry and move it to the center of the composition.
Thick, rounded letters matter here. A thin font leaves almost no surface for the fur to show on.
Now bring in the animal photo. Drag its tab down to float the window, then drag the image onto your composition and close the original.
Double-click the new layer name and rename it kitty texture. Naming it now saves confusion later, because you will be clicking between the layer and its mask constantly.
Tip: The photo does not have to be perfect. A snapshot of a pet works, and so does a cheetah, tiger, or dog texture. Any fur gives a convincing result.
Step 2: Mask the Fur Into Your Text
Hold Ctrl (Windows) or Command (macOS) and click the thumbnail of the text layer. Photoshop loads a selection shaped like your letters.
Turn the text layer off. You will not need it again, and the marching ants tell you the selection is still live.
Click the kitty texture layer, then click the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. The fur now fills the letters and disappears everywhere else.
That is the whole trick in one click. Everything after this is refinement.
Note: Loading a selection from a layer thumbnail works exactly the same in current Photoshop as it did in CS6. Nothing about this step has moved or been renamed.
Step 3: Scale the Fur Texture to Fit the Text
The first problem is scale. Straight out of the photo, the strands are far too big to read as fur inside a letter.
You want to shrink the texture without shrinking the mask. Click the small link icon between the layer thumbnail and the mask thumbnail to unlink them.
Click the layer thumbnail itself, not the mask. A white outline around the layer thumbnail confirms you have the right one.
Press CtrlT (Windows) or CommandT (macOS) for Free Transform. Drag the image to reposition it, then hold Shift and pull a corner handle in until the strands look right.
Press Enter to commit. The texture is now the right size, but it only covers part of the word.
Fill the rest with the Clone Stamp Tool. Hold Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) and click a good patch of fur, then paint into the empty letters.
Clone out the couch, the blanket, and any whiskers that crept into the letters. If your photo has a busy background, the same skills apply when you cut out fur from busy backgrounds.
Warning: Check which thumbnail is selected before you clone. Painting on the mask by mistake erases the fur instead of cloning it.
Step 4: Make a Custom Brush for Fur Text
Right now the letters have hard edges. Real fur has loose strands sticking out past the outline.
You could paint them with the Grass Brush on the mask, but that brush only points one way. Drag it down a vertical edge and you get a blunt, flat end that gives the trick away.
So build a brush with no hard edges at all. Think of it as a small ball of fur.
Go to File > New and make a document 200 pixels wide by 200 pixels high. Keep the Grass Brush selected and set its size to about 60 pixels.
On a new layer, drag back and forth horizontally to lay down a band of strands. Duplicate that layer, go to Edit > Transform > Flip Vertical, and nudge it down slightly.
Go to Image > Image Rotation > 90 Degrees Clockwise, add a new layer, and draw the strands for that side. Then go to Image > Image Rotation > Flip Canvas Vertical, add one more layer, and draw the last side.
Hold Shift, select all four layers, and press CtrlG (Windows) or CommandG (macOS) to group them. Press CtrlT (Windows) or CommandT (macOS) and scale the group down until it reads as a ball rather than a rectangle.
Go to Edit > Define Brush Preset, name it kitty fur, and click OK. The same method builds any textured brush, which is how you would create a crayon custom brush too.
Note: The Grass Brush and Edit > Define Brush Preset are both still in current Photoshop, in the same place and under the same names.
Step 5: Stroke the Path to Grow Fur
Back in your composition, pick the kitty fur brush and drop its size to around 70 pixels. Hover over a brush thumbnail to see its name.
You could paint the strands by hand on the mask, and it would look fine. It would also take forever, so let Photoshop trace the letters for you.
Hold Ctrl (Windows) or Command (macOS) and click the Layer Mask thumbnail to load the letters as a selection.
Open the Paths panel from Window > Paths. Click the panel menu on the right side of the tab and choose Make Work Path. Leave the tolerance at 2.0 and click OK.
Set your foreground color to white, select the work path, right-click it, and choose Stroke Path. Make sure Brush is the chosen tool, then click OK.
Photoshop paints your fur brush along the entire outline in one pass. It looks better already, but every strand is the same length.
Undo with CtrlZ (Windows) or CommandZ (macOS) and open the brush settings. Set angle jitter to about 10 percent, roundness jitter to about 50 percent, Scattering Count to 5, and Spacing to about 15.
Stroke the path again. Now some strands stand higher than others, which is exactly how real fur behaves.
Hide the path with CtrlH (Windows) or CommandH (macOS), then clone away anything that still looks wrong. The same jitter settings drive realistic strands when you create realistic facial hair in Photoshop.
Note: The video calls this panel Brush Presets. Current Photoshop calls it Brush Settings. Shape Dynamics, Scattering, Brush Tip Shape, and the jitter sliders all live there under the same names.
Step 6: Add Depth with Layer Styles
Flat fur still reads as a sticker. Duplicate the texture layer so you have two copies to work with.
On the top copy, add a Bevel and Emboss layer style. Push the Size up to 62 to 65 pixels so the shading spreads across the whole letter.
Set the highlight mode to Overlay at about 55 percent, and bring the shadow Multiply down to about 40 percent.
Uncheck Use Global Light and move the light so it comes from the top. Match whatever direction the light travels in your background.
Now work on the lower copy. Double-click it, add a Color Overlay in a dark gray, set the blend mode to Multiply, and set the opacity to around 70 percent.
Hold Shift and tap the arrow keys to offset that layer a few nudges down and to the side. That shifted dark copy is what gives the letters thickness.
Finish with a Drop Shadow. Uncheck Use Global Light again, set the angle to 90 degrees, and raise the Size to about 27 pixels so the edge stays soft.
Set it to Multiply at 75 percent and sample the darkest color in your background for the shadow color. Borrowed background color always beats plain black.
Step 7: Paint Highlights and Shadows
Add a new layer above everything else. Ask yourself where the light would actually land on a furry object.
Take the Brush Tool and paint white across the tops of the letters, following that light direction.
Change the layer blending mode to Overlay and drop the opacity to about 50 percent. The white turns into a soft sheen instead of paint.
Hold Ctrl (Windows) or Command (macOS) and click the Layer Mask again, then mask the highlight layer with that same selection. The glow now stops at the edge of the letters.
Load the selection once more and add a Curves adjustment layer. Pull the shadows down and the highlights up into a gentle S curve for extra contrast.
If any highlight spills onto the background, paint it out with black on that layer’s mask.
Press Ctrl0 (Windows) or Command0 (macOS) to fit the image on screen and look at the whole effect. Strands stick out, highlights sit on top, and the shadow grounds the word.
Frequently Asked Questions
Type your word, drag a photo of a furry animal above it, then load a selection from the text and turn it into a Layer Mask on the photo. Scale the texture down so the strands read at letter size. Then build a custom fur brush and use Stroke Path to grow strands along the outline.
Start with the built-in Grass Brush, which ships with Photoshop. Paint it on all four sides of a 200 by 200 pixel document, group the layers, and scale them into a small ball. Save that with Edit > Define Brush Preset and you have a fur brush with no flat edge.
The Grass Brush tip points in one direction only. Drag it along a vertical edge and the blunt base of every blade shows. A custom brush drawn on all four sides has strands facing outward everywhere, so no flat side is ever exposed.
Load a selection, open the Paths panel from Window > Paths, and choose Make Work Path from the panel menu at a tolerance of 2.0. Select the work path, right-click it, and choose Stroke Path with Brush as the tool. Photoshop paints the current brush along the entire path.
The photo is at full resolution and the letters are much smaller than the animal was. Unlink the layer from its Layer Mask, click the layer thumbnail, and use Free Transform to shrink the texture. The mask stays put, so the letters keep their shape while the strands get finer.
Yes. Cat, dog, tiger, and cheetah textures all produce a convincing result. The photo does not need to be sharp or well lit, because only the areas inside the letters ever show.
Yes. The Grass Brush, Edit > Define Brush Preset, Make Work Path, and Stroke Path are all unchanged. The one difference is the panel name, since Brush Presets is now called Brush Settings.
Finish Your Fur Text Effect in Photoshop
A photo, a mask, and a brush you made yourself. That is the entire fur text effect in Photoshop.
The pieces transfer, too. Stroke Path along a selection is how you add hair, grass, sparks, or stitching to almost anything.
Watch the full tutorial above to see every step in real time, and comment on the video if you get stuck.
Selections and Masking Mastery
Complete course includes 2.5 hours of step-by-step lessons, 6 structured modules, downloadable practice files, and custom Photoshop brushes. Everything you need to master selections and masks in one place.
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Next, learn how to use Layer Styles like a pro on a Black Panther text effect.
Awesome text tutorial,
I’ll try it with my dog!
Lol John C, Wanna see what will happen
Gr8 tutorial !!! Thx man !!!! I will try it now !!!!
=)
Thanks!
Please send me free download file…..
This one had me going. The stroke path was always grayed out. Every time I selected the path, the layer would deselect. It was unseen, so it took a while to find the problem. What would cause it to do that? Yours didn’t.
You forgotten to add the background wood image to the down loadable lesson files,
Michael, I did not forget. It’s not my image so I can’t share it. But you can use any other background you like!
Thanks for watching!
Although it’s good to know how to make a custom brush, there is another way(!) … to rotate the brush.
Select the “Dune Grass” or “Grass” brush. Go to the Brush window, and then to Shape Dynamics.
Set the Control of the Angle Jitter to Direction (the bottom one in the drop-down menu).
Note: click and drag the brush (your mouse) clockwise.
(If you go counter clockwise you’ll get the bottom part of the brush on the outside.)
Just play around with it and have fun! 🙂
There is always another way to do everything!
Thanks for sharing it!
It’s great!!! Thank you! the tutorial is nice and everything clear and easy I definitely will use it in my flyers!
Thanks Jesús!!! Excellent as usual. My cat is named Kitty and she looks like your cat Charito!
Awesome! Thanks, Johnny!
In my Photoshop the hair style icon is not coming what we should do plz anyone say
hi first thanks for the tutorial .
it works really good.
second i want to know how can i do it with curly hair inside a text
i tried to create a hair brush … maybe you have some options to help me?
thanks.