Written by Steve Patterson. In a previous Photoshop tutorial, we looked at how to place a single image inside text. This time, we're going to take things further and learn how to place multiple images in text. This is a popular effect that's often used in advertising and promotional material but is also lots of fun just to play around with on your own. We're going to take a word and place a different image inside each individual letter. It's very easy to do, and a lot of it is just simple repetition.

I'll be using some images made freely available by the good folks at NASA, along with a font that's also freely available online, but as always, the end result I come up with here is not what's important. The point is learning how it's done so you can use the same techniques to bring your own ideas to life. Having said that, he's the result I'll be working towards in this tutorial:

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Let's get started!

Step 1: Open The Image You Want To Use As Your Background Image

The first thing we need to do is open our initial image, the one we'll be using as the background. Of course, you don't necessarily need to use an image. You could have a solid color background, a gradient, a pattern - whatever you like. I just happen to be using an image, and here's the one I'll be using:

Step 2: Select Photoshop's Type Tool

Select the Type Tool from the Tools palette, or simply press the letter T on your keyboard to select it:

Step 3: Select Your Font In The Options Bar

With the Type Tool selected, go up to the Options Bar at the top of the screen and choose your font. You'll want to use a font that will give you thick letters for this effect, otherwise it will be tough to see the images inside them. Don't worry about the font size for now, since we can easily resize it as needed later. I'm going to use a font called "Mathmos Original", a sci-fi font which I downloaded for free from 1001 Free Fonts:

Step 4: Set Your Text Color To Something You'll Be Able To See In Front Of Your Image

Before we begin typing, let's make sure our text color is something we'll be able to see. My image is mostly black, and by default, my text color is also set to black, which will make seeing it a bit difficult, so I'm going to change it to a different color. To do that, I'll click on the color swatch in the Options Bar:

Then I'll choose a different color from Photoshop's Color Picker. It doesn't matter which color you choose since you won't see it once we fill the text with images, so don't spend too much time on your decision. I'll choose a shade of red:

Click OK to accept the new color and exit out of the Color Picker. The color swatch in the Options Bar now changes to show the color you selected. In my case, it's showing red:

Step 5: Type The First Letter Of Your Word

In order to add a different image inside each letter of a word, we'll need to work with each letter individually, so let's create our word one letter a time. This way, each letter will appear on its own layer in the Layers palette. Click approximately where you want your first letter to appear inside your document and type the letter. I'm going to be using the word "SPACE", and since the first letter of the word is "S", I'll type "S" (I know, it's all very complicated stuff):

When you're done, click on the checkmark in the Options Bar to commit the text.

If we look at our Layers palette, we can see that we now have two layers - the Background layer on the bottom which contains whatever you happen to be using as your background, and the first letter of our word on its own layer above it:

Step 6: Resize And Reposition The Letter If Needed With Free Transform

If, like me, you need to resize the letter and move it into a better position, press Ctrl+T (Win) / Command+T (Mac) to bring up Photoshop's Free Transform box and handles around the letter. Hold down your Shift key and drag any of the corner handles to resize it. Holding down Shift prevents you from accidentally distorting the look of the letter as you drag. You can also hold down Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) to tell Photoshop to resize the letter from its center, which is often helpful.

To move the letter, click anywhere inside the Free Transform box and drag the letter where you need it. Just don't click on the small target symbol in the very center, otherwise you'll move the target symbol, not the letter. As you're resizing the letter, keep in mind how many other letters you'll need to add so you don't end up making the letter too big:

Press Enter (Win) / Return (Mac) when you're done to accept the transformation and exit out of the Free Transform command.

Step 7: Add A Stroke Around The Letter (Optional)

Depending on the images you'll be placing inside your letters, as well as the background you're using, it may be difficult to make out the shapes of the letters when you're done. To help keep things readable, I'm going to add a white stroke around my letters. I could wait until the end to add the stroke around all the letters, but since I already know what I want to do, I'm going to save myself some time by adding it to this first letter. That way, when I go to create the rest of my letters by making copies of this first one, the stroke will be copied along with it.

To add a stroke, click on the Layer Styles icon at the bottom of the Layers palette:

Then select Stroke from the bottom of the list of Layer Styles that appears:

This brings up Photoshop's Layer Style dialog box set to the Stroke options in the middle column. The first thing I'm going to do is lower the Size of the stroke down to 2 px. If you're working in high resolution, you'll probably want to set your stroke size higher. I'm also going to change the Position of the stroke to Inside. Finally, by default, Photoshop sets the color of strokes to red, which makes no sense. I want my stroke color to be white, so I'll click on the color swatch to the right of the Color option, which again brings up Photoshop's Color Picker, and I'll change the stroke color to white:

Click OK when you're done to apply the stroke to the letter and exit out of the dialog box. Here we can see my white stroke applied to the letter "S":

Step 8: Copy The Type Layer

Before I place an image inside my letter, I'm going to finish adding the rest of my letters to create my complete word. To create my second letter, I'm simply going to press Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac) to duplicate my Type layer. Nothing seems to have happened in my document window, but if I look at the Layers palette, I can see that I now have my original Type layer containing the letter "S", as well as a copy of it, also currently containing the letter "S", above it: