
1.) Open the background image you wish to use, or create a new file and fill it with a background pattern. This effect works best with a fairly pale background.

2.) Set the foreground color to white. Select the type tool
and type your text.

3.) In the layers palette, select the SeeThru layer, right-click, and choose duplicate layer. (If you typed something other than "SeeThru" your layer name will be different.)

4.) On the SeeThru copy layer, right click, choose effects, and apply the drop shadow effect.


5.) With the SeeThru copy layer selected, go to Layer -> Effects-> Create Layer. This separates the drop shadow from the text.
6.) Ctrl-click on the SeeThru layer, switch to the drop shadow layer, and hit delete. This trims away the portions of the drop shadow that don't extend beyond the text. Hide the other layers by clicking the eye icon on the layers palette to see the results, it should look like the image below. Deselect.

7.) Now right-click the SeeThru copy layer in the layers palette. Choose Effects, and apply an inner shadow.


8.) Again go to Layer -> Effects-> Create Layer to separate the inner shadow effect from the text.
9.) Click the SeeThru copy layer and set the blend mode to "multiply".

10.) Now adjust the opacity of the drop shadow and inner shadow layers to tweak the effect. You should still have your original SeeThru layer hidden; if desired, make it visible and drop the opacity down to about 20% to give the text a frosted look. My opacity settings for each layer are shown below in red. You may need to vary them depending on your background.

11.) Here's the final image and a couple of variations.



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