Photoshop Text Effects: Worn And Torn Text

Step 11: Repeat The Process For The Rest Of The Letters

Repeat the same steps for the remaining letters. First make a jagged selection through the letter with the Polygonal Lasso tool, then include the rest of the word to the right of the jagged line in the selection. Press Ctrl+Shift+J (Win) / Command+Shift+J (Mac) to cut the selection onto a new layer. Then press Ctrl+T (Win) / Command+T (Mac) to bring up the Free Transform box and handles. Drag the center target icon into either the top left or bottom left corner to rotate from that spot, then click and drag anywhere outside of the Free Transform box to rotate the layer contents.

Here's my word "FEAR" after creating my tears through the remaining two letters. I rotated the "A" from the top left and the "R" from the bottom left:

Step 12: Merge All Text Layers Into One

Select all of your text layers in the Layers palette, first by clicking on the top layer to select it and then Shift-clicking on the original text layer directly above the Background layer. This will select all your text layers at once:

With all of your text layers selected, press Ctrl+E (Win) / Command+E (Mac) to merge them all onto one layer. You should now have only two layers in the Layers palette:

Step 13: Add A Layer Mask To The New Merged Layer

We're going to add a layer mask to the new merged layer, but before we do, hold down your Ctrl (Win) / Command key and click directly on the merged layer's thumbnail in the Layers palette to quickly select the text in the Document Window:

You'll see a selection appear around your text. With your text now selected, click on the Add A Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers palette:

You'll see the layer mask appear to the right of the merged text layer's thumbnail in the Layers palette, with your text appearing in white and all of the empty area around it appearing in black: