Word Portrait Exploration

Overview: The above image is a word portrait After seeing the same type of image on bill boards, in magazines, and other forms of advertisements I wondered if I might be able to do the same thing. For this image I used the same portrait as was used for the Double Exposure Image post. For the text I wanted something relating to me so I used an essay I had written called What's Worth Fighting For. 

Process: To create this image I first had to create a layer with layer mask using the original portrait. This was done using the select and mask tool and then changing the output to layer w/ layer mask. Next I created a blank layer that then was filled with black using the bucket tool. This created the nice black background. Next I selected the entire image with a text box and pasted the essay onto it. Once the text was in place I used the create layer mask button to add a layer mask. Once done I alt-clicked on the layer mask of the portrait layer, used the select inverse tool found under the layer tab, selected the type layer, and clicked back space to delete the text outside of the head. To achieve the desaturated portrait effect I then alt-clicked the layer mask in the type layer and pasted the original portrait within it. Since layer masks only deal with black and white it automatically removed the colors. At this point the text was still dim so my final step was to duplicate the text layer which brightened the image.

For the future: I intend to create another one of these images two days from now. What will be different is that I will use a portrait with more even lighting and I will attempt to make the text change opacity over different parts of the face. This will achieve an effect that shows more of the portrait detail underneath. Hopefully it will provide a final product more akin to a publishable subject.