How to make a paint drip effect in Adobe Photoshop

Take a one-minute look at our technique; the steps are written out below.

1 Catch the drips.

Select the Object Selection tool and draw a rectangular marquee around the drip you'd like to use as your brush.

2 Brush on.

Choose Edit > Define Brush Preset. Name your brush and click OK to save the new custom brush to your brush palette. Repeat these steps to create brushes from the other drips you like.

3 Start with color.

Create a new document with a colored background, we used #5BB4C0. Click the foreground color and select the color you will use for your text in the next step, we used #E5F469.

4 Type it out.

Choose the Type tool and type your phrase. We used the font Corner Store JF from Adobe Fonts. With the type layer selected, change the Rotation in the Properties panel (Window > Properties).

5 Make it drip.

Create a new layer. Select the brush tool and use your new drip brushes to stamp a variety of drip styles onto the letters, focusing on the lower edges of the text. Use the Eraser tool wherever necessary to remove excess drips.

6 Rough it up.

Let’s use a brush to add texture. First, group the text and drip layers — Control + G (Windows) or Command + G (macOS) — and add a mask. With the mask thumbnail selected, find a brush — we liked Kyle’s Spatter Brushes - Pressure Control 02 — and paint with black to mask, or hide, parts of the text color to create a new effect.

7 Splatter paint.

Create a new layer. Then, with the same brush, in the same color as your text, paint in more splatters to add texture.

8 Keep on truckin'.

Experiment with different brushes, textures, and effects to master your perfectly elegant grunge type.