Step 1Open Photoshop and create a new document. I'm using a Letter format with

72DPI only for this tutorial, but I suggest that you do at least 300DPI. Make

sure the background is black too.

Step 2In order to recreate the poster I needed to find the right image. After searching

on stock photos sites I didn't find any image that had the same birds eye view.

Then I tweeted about it and @janinetoro sent the link

to Pixelacase. Pixelcase simply has the most amazing aerial photos ever. So

I sent an email to them asking permission to use one of the images in this

tutorial. They were kind enough and allowed me to do that :)

With the image I wanted, I placed it in my design.

Step 3With the Horizontal Type Tool (T) I add the text DREAM using Futura Condensed for the font. I also stretched the word a little bit so the letters

would have sort of match the size of the blocks in the photo. Then just rotate

the text to match the photo as well.

Step 4With the text selected go to 3D>Repousse. Use the default preset but

change the Depth to 2.4.

Step 5

Go to Window>3D to show the 3D panel in Photoshop. Click on the

DREAM object and then select theDREAM Extrusion Material to change

the material of the extrusion. We will use some windows for it. To do that click

on the little folder next to the Diffuse Color and select New Texture. After

that click on the icon again and choose edit texture to open it in a new

document.

Step 6This is an image of a building I found on Google Images and placed on the

texture file. After that I just saved it and Photoshop automatically updated the

original design with withe windows.

Step 7Do the same thing for the Bump, use the same image but convert it to black

and white and increase the contrast. Save it and change the Bump to 8.

Step 8For both the Difuse and Bump, click on the texture icon and select Texture Properties. Use 8 for the U Scale and 2 for the V Scale.

Step 9Here is the design you got so far.

Step 10Duplicate the city photo layer and rearrange it so it will be on top of the other

layers. Then create a marquee selection of the top of the 3D object, the word

DREAM. Go to Layer>Layer Mask>Reveall Selection.

Step 11Go to Layer>Layer Style>Stroke. Use 1 for the Size and 25% for the Opacity.

Step 12Select Inner Glow and use Multiply for the Blend Mode, 100% for the Opacity, 30% for the Choke and 5 pixels for the Size.

Step 13As you can see now, we have the buildings with the windows on their sides

and the top is the original one from the aerial photo. However it is still not

looking very clear.

Step 14Select the aerial photo that is beneath the other layers and go

to Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal All. Then with the Brush Tool (B) and a

very soft brush (0 Hardness) with black for the color, start painting the areas

beneath the word to delete the city so we sort of isolate the DREAM word as

real buildings. You can also create a vignette effect by painting the corners of

the layer.

Step 15In order to render the 3D object for the final design, go to the 3D panel and

select the Scene, then, over Render Settings, change the Quality to Ray Traced Final. The render process might take some time, like minutes I think,

but it depends on the machine you have, so wait until it's done.

Step 16Select the layer on top of the others and then go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Hue and Saturation.Mark Colorize and then for the Hue use 200, for the Saturation 40 and keep 0 for the Lightness.

ConclusionYou can add another Adjustment Layer, to increase the brightness and

contrast, but the process is finished. I also tweaked the lights a little bit trying

to match the photo. The technique is quite simple and you can use it with

different images. If you have a photo with more resolution and more closer to

the roof tops you can work a little bit more to make it even more real. I am

waiting for a hi-res image from http://www.pixelcase.com.au/ so I can

create my poster and play a little bit more with this concept, however one

thing is pretty clear, this is the right type of effect in which Repousse is perfect

for, you can create a 3D text effect pretty quickly and without having to use

another app.