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This tutorial demonstrates how to create glassy/gel text from scratch.
Undo and Navigation Steps
Two ways of undoing steps are from the top menu, Edit then Step Backwards. Alternatively, click a previous snapshot in the History Palette.
Navigate (zoom in and pan) your image using the Navigator Palette,
or the Zoom Tool. 
Alternatively, activate The Hand Tool by tapping the Spacebar, keeping the Spacebar pressed, pan your image in the usual way. 
1/
Open a New document, and set the following attributes.
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Then set the Foreground colour to mid Blue. 
Note
To change the colour, left-click the Foreground swatch window - above - and in the subsequent Colour Picker dialogue box, click a blue hue.
3/
From the toolbar, activate the Horizontal Type Tool. Lesson!
And set the following attributes into its Options bar.
Apply your text, then click the following Commit any current edits tick.
Then activate the Move Tool, 
And drag your text to central position.
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Now, from the top menu, choose Layer then choose New Layer - reply OK to the New Layer dialogue box. It is not necessary to rename the layer!
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From the toolbar, activate the Magic Wand Tool,
And set the following Add to selection attributes.
Then left-click inside each letter, to surround your name with a selection marquee.
Tip
If you accidentally select the outer border, as well as the type - from the top menu, choose Edit then choose Step Backwards, and reapply the marquee. Reduce the Magic Wand’s Tolerance if necessary.
6/
Left-click to highlight (activate) Layer 1.
Then from the top menu choose Select then choose Modify, then choose Contract. In the subsequent Contract Selection dialogue box, enter 1 (Pixel), in the Contract By box - then click OK.
This shrinks the marquee by 1 pixel.
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Now, change your Foreground colour to a light blue. 
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Then from the left-side toolbar, activate the Paint Bucket Tool.
And left-click within the marquee, to flood fill the centre of the type light blue.
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From the top menu, choose Filter then choose Blur then choose Gaussian Blur. In the subsequent Gaussian Blur dialogue box, type in a Radius of 3, then click OK.
 
10/
Still working with Layer 1, from the foot of the Layers palette, click the following Add a layer style (f-fx) icon.
And from the drop-down list, click Bevel and Emboss. 
In the subsequent Layer Style dialogue box, enter the following settings - ensuring Shadow Mode is set to White.
Click OK, and your text will be nice and glossy.
Note
The Bevel and Emboss settings can make, or break, the gel/glass look. It is therefore important to experiment with different settings - especially Gloss Contour and Opacity.
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Press Ctrl then D to remove the marquee.
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To remove the white background, (making the background transparent), either, left-click to remove the eye icon - of the white Background layer.
Alternatively, right-click the Background layer, and choose Delete Layer from the
drop-down list.
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Still working on Layer 1, click the Add a layer style (f-fx) icon, and this time, choose Drop Shadow from the list. I choose the following Drop Shadow attributes; however, experiment, and find a look you prefer.
 
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From the toolbar, activate the Crop Tool  and to reduce the file size, crop out extraneous transparent areas.
Tip
You can clarify the gel by applying a sharpening filter - I applied the following Smart Sharpen filter to Layer 1.
Change the type’s colour
To change the colour of your type, ensure Layer 1 remains active; then from the top menu, choose Image then choose Adjustments then choose Hue/Saturation. In the subsequent Hue/Saturation dialogue box, experiment with both the Hue and Saturation sliders (I would leave Lightness untouched) - then click OK.
This changes the colour inside the type - to change the outline colour; first activate the type layer.
Then change its Hue and Saturation, exactly as described above.
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Fill the transparent background with a fill of your choice - as explained here, then from the top menu, choose Layer then choose Flatten Image, and save your work.
Wendi E M Scarth. Top of Page - Home.
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