Category: Tutorials

Certain forms of Kufic, grouped under the broad appellation of “ornamental Kufic”, strike the eye with their intricacy and profusion of ornamental forms that all but obscure the text itself. Here we move away from design principles and into the realm of pure creativity and personal taste. 

The following peek at some possibilities is therefore meant to open the door to personal exploration, as we are also in fact leaving the realm of writing and entering a separate discipline, that of illumination.

Learning how to create these calligraphy embellishments and Arabic ornament designs is a great way to expand your skillset. It does take time, though. If you want to save time, head over to Envato Elements. In a few clicks, you’ll have Arabic calligraphy fonts that you can use.

Aesthetic Intervention in Kufic

In Kufic, aesthetic intervention can take place on four levels:

1. Modifying the form of the letters on a basic level, for instance when setting proportions, stretching a letter, and settling on the opening of bowls and tails.
2. Adding stylistic elements that are still part of the body of letterforms, such as the basic design element we worked with in Designing the Letters.
3. Adding extraneous forms, a completely independent layer of ornamentation that doesn’t affect the body of the word (like a hat that can be removed).
4. Creating an ornamental pattern using calligraphic elements.

So far we have worked with the first two levels, which are properly calligraphy; in this lesson we’ll cover the latter two, where writing meets illumination and pattern-making.

Ornamental Letters

There are no real rules for ornamentation itself. Some forms are classic in Islamic art and have been practiced for centuries, and we’ll try our hand at a couple of examples, but there is no obligation to follow such traditional styles. 

In fact, it’s worth noting that so-called ornamental Kufic almost exclusively belongs to architecture and applied arts (ceramics, engraved metal), and is not used on paper; all the more reason not to feel bound by it when we do work on paper. Your own imagination and skills are the only limit.

One set of principles we do need to bear in mind is that each letter has certain loci where decoration can be attached without interfering with the essential parts. Here are the loci, with examples of decorated letters featuring them.

Further examples of how decoration is anchored to these points can be observed in this well-known rendering of different ornamental Kufic inscriptions reproduced by Hassan Massoudi:

These five samples spell out the same sentence (??? ???? ?????? ??????) rendered in different ways. Below I have highlighted the extraneous parts, so the text appears unencumbered (other than level 2 decoration).

You can see that some of the ornamentation is simply added after or over a letter, to fill the space, while at other times it’s inserted right in the middle of a tall letter, or to be more accurate, the body of a vertical letter is bent into a motif. 

This is quite effective to create a pattern in the middle space, and is characteristic of Kufic described as knotted, interlaced or plaited, where the strokes of the letters are treated as if they were cords or leather plaits that can be bent and knotted decoratively. 

Such motifs bear great resemblance to other knots, such as those seen in Celtic, Armenian and even Greek art. Decoration that’s added to the end of strokes, and/or in the space between letters, tends to be florated or foliated, that is, based on flowers, leaves and vines.

Knot Work and Plait Work

Plait/knot work is an art in its own right, and exploring it in great detail is beyond the scope of this calligraphy ornaments course. Here we shall simply learn a way of constructing the knot seen in this tile from Kashan, that can be adapted to other constructions. To delve more deeply into more knotwork, I recommend Aidan Meehan’s book, Treasury of Celtic Knots: the patterns detailed therein are remarkably similar to what we are seeing here.

Step 1

We start with the two verticals to be knotted (left).

Draw the grid of dots shown here. If we were making this knot with actual cord, these dots would be pegs around which the cord would wrap. Even though we’re working on paper, the dots still function like virtual pegs, around which we’ll wrap our lines.

Also draw the middle line of your vertical strokes, shown here in colour: it’s simpler to start the knot with a single line than to struggle with the two sides of the stroke. Note that the colours are inverted on the other side of the knot!

Step 2

Wrap the lines around the “pegs” as shown (the line goes to the furthest possible peg before wrapping around), connecting them with the correct colour above and below. This can be done loosely and freehand.

Step 3

Add guidelines corresponding to the thickness of the strokes.

Step 4

Draw the curves around the pegs. To make them perfect you can use a compass or circular template.

Step 5

Join the ends of the curves, following the guidelines: you’ll see that the inner curves, following the grey guidelines, join up with the outer curves. It’s therefore easy to complete the knot and join it up with the verticals.

Step 6

On the left is the completed knot cleaned up of guidelines. All that’s left is to mark the interlaced effect: one stroke above, one stroke below.

Freehand Knots

It’s also very easy to create a knotted effect freehand, and with practice you get a feel for how to achieve the best-looking shapes and spacing. The knot below was derived from the random pink doodle.

Foliated or Florated Kufic

Stylized biomorphic shapes are a hallmark of Islamic art, where they evoked the promise of a lush green paradise. Patterns based on leaves, flowers, and vines are called zakhrafa, known as arabesque in the West and islimi in Turkey. 

Below are basic shapes, both simple and more detailed, that may find their way into an inscription, growing out of various parts of the letters.

Among all these classic zakhrafa motifs, note this last one on the right, in black. It’s the top part of an Alif, found in a Persian manuscript, and is decidedly freestyling: the maker was only following his own inspiration, or maybe a local tradition.

Here is a magnificent carving from the Alhambra, where the ornamentation is hierarchically equal to the writing. To make the latter more evident, I have highlighted it below, with the purple corresponding to the nucleus, the parts that actually read. Everything else is zakhrafa, and if you look carefully, it’s designed to fill the spaces left by the writing while appearing to be on a level behind it, independent of it.

What does it say, you may wonder? ??? ???? ??? ????  (There is no victor but God), repeated twice.

Tiling and Symmetry

Tiles are a well-known element of historical Islamic art, but they should not be seen as simply a way of putting ornamentation on a wall. Tiling became a way of designing ornament that had a strong impact on Islamic art as a whole, whether on a wall or not. 

Filling a surface was always a key concern, and tiling is filling a surface by repeating a single starting unit, using symmetry—the art of transforming an image in an organized way. What this means is that any basic unit, or module, including a letter, word or even sentence, can be turned into a finite or infinite pattern.

Three Basic Transformations

There are three basic kinds of symmetry that can be achieved by hand with simple means: translation, reflection, and rotation.

Translation is repeating the module without changing its size or angle, as if it were moving along a rail.

Reflection creates a mirror image, flipping the image along a given axis.

Rotation uses one point as the centre and turns the module around it.

Compounding or combining these results in unlimited possibilities for patterns.

This can be bewildering, but the module itself (its shape, amount of detail, angles, curves) tends to dictate the operations that will work best for it, and there’s no way of finding out without practice, trial and error. 

Defining a tile around the module also helps direct the design, and this is an essential step when working on paper or other materials. Otherwise your module floats in space with no guidelines, and then how can you position it accurately?

Now a module can be anything, but what about the tiles? Amazingly enough, there are only two tiles to work with: the equilateral triangle and the square. Here is why:

You’ll notice some shapes leave dead space when we tile them. Only triangles, squares and hexagons fill the space perfectly. Hexagons are very occasionally used as tiles, but as a hexagon is made up of six triangles, it’s simpler to just use triangles—that’s why I didn’t list it earlier. 

These three are also self-referential: you can make a triangle out of triangles, a square out of squares, a hexagon out of triangles. This doesn’t happen with any other shapes.

Just to give you an idea, here’s what a few options would look like if a square tile was translated, reflected and rotated:

And with a triangular tile:

That’s it for the theory. To work with such transformations in reality and on paper, we need to use the transfer method. All you need for this is tracing paper and two pencils, a hard and a soft one (for a detailed description of these, see the tools section in Geometric Design: The Basics).

The traditional transfer method consisted of drawing the motif on a piece of paper, and then making fine holes along the lines. The paper was then positioned on the desired surface, and pounced with a pigment (dark or light depending). 

Alternatively, the back of the paper was rubbed with pigment, and then it was positioned and the drawing transferred—the ancestor of carbon paper. The availability of tracing paper today makes it slightly less labour-intensive, and much less messy.

The Transfer Method Using Tracing Paper

Step 1

Draw your module. Graph paper is not necessary but can make it easier to draw both the module and the tile around it. To learn to construct a triangle and square without a background grid, see Geometric Design: The Basics.

Step 2

Place a sheet of tracing paper over the module and hold it in place with a square or two of masking tape. Trace both the module and the tile, using a hard pencil. Use a ruler if needed.

Step 3

Detach the tracing paper. The side where the module is traced is the top side.

Step 4

Turn the paper over and, using the soft pencil, blacken the back of the lines. There’s no need to cover the whole back of the paper or leave a lot of pigment: that would only cause more smudging. A single firm stroke with the flat of a soft pencil is sufficient, and it doesn’t need to be accurate as long as it covers the back of the line. Precision will be used in the next step. 

Also blacken the angles of the tile: you’ll need them as placement references, and it will be cleaner than transferring the full tile.

Note: Don’t do this over your final paper! You may transfer unwanted pencil to it, and even groove it. Always keep your clean paper aside until you’re ready to work on it.

Step 5

Turn the tracing paper again so its top faces up once more, and position it carefully where you want to redraw the module on your final paper. Hold it in place with masking tape. Now, using the hard pencil, go over the module very carefully. Before removing the tracing paper, lift a corner of it to check you got all the lines down.

Step 6

Remove the tracing paper: your module has been transferred to the final paper. Move the tracing paper and repeat as many times as you need to complete the pattern (note how the angles of the tile are used to position it correctly). There’s no need to blacken the back again—it goes a long way. Only do that if you notice the transfer becoming too weak.

Step 7

Your finished composition is ready to be inked and/or coloured.

Exercises

Exercise 1

Working on graph paper (you can print out the attached Graph.pdf file), reproduce the knots in the close-up below. For even better practice, reproduce the whole thing: take the line width as 1 cm and go from there.

Exercise 2

Using tracing paper and pencils, play with tiles and modules, creating patterns and experimenting. The downloads folder contains Modules.pdf with two tiles you can trace and two possible modules, but feel free to create your own or reproduce anything else. Experiment with the size of the module within the tile, its placement (touching the edges, not touching, or even overlapping), and the amount of empty space it leaves.

Best Arabic Calligraphy Fonts From Envato Elements

Learning a new skill is a rewarding process. Unfortunately, it’s also pretty time-consuming. If you’re looking to have Arabic calligraphy fonts that are ready to use now, Envato Elements is here to help. You can download a premium Arabic style font and be ready to go in a couple of clicks.

Here are some of the best modern Arabic fonts on Envato Elements:

1. Mustopha: Arabic Style (OTF, TTF)

Mustopha is a creative typeface that uses a cool Arabic ornament design. The lettering is neat and elegant, but that doesn’t mean it’s without style. This Arabic font download is suited for just about any use, including greeting cards, wedding invitations, and more.

2. Tcho (OTF)

It’s maybe not the easiest name to pronounce, but this Arabic font download is definitely easy to use. The Tcho OTF file is easily installed, and includes:

• alternate characters
• different numbers and swashes
• multilingual support
• complimentary italic weight

With these features and extras, Tcho is like having a few modern Arabic fonts in a single download.

3. Al-Andalus: Middle East Calligraphic Font (OTF, TTF)

Al-Andalus is a special contemporary font that’s inspired by classic Arabic calligraphy styles. It has a full set of upper and lowercase letters, as well as numbers and symbols. If you need an Arabic font download to use for branding, try this display font.

4. Zanzabar (OTF)

Zanzabar takes some of its design cues from Arabic calligraphy, but it blends it with fresh ideas. The lettering has a light and airy quality to it that’s attention-grabbing. Zanzabar has an extensive character set, making it a top choice if you want modern Arabic calligraphy fonts.

5. Maroque Stencil (OTF)

We end our list of modern Arabic calligraphy fonts with Maroque Stencil. It borrows heavily from traditional Moroccan artwork and architecture. The stencil lettering adds a rugged feel to each glyph that can make for some unique results. It also has nice calligraphy ornaments to complement your work.

If you want a standard version of this Arabic style font, check out the standard version of Maroque.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on Arabic ornament design. If you really want to hone your craft, practise the calligraphy embellishments and ornaments in the two exercises at the end. It’s a great way to refine some foundational skills. Don’t forget, you can save hours of the design process by using one of the modern Arabic calligraphy fonts available on Envato Elements.

Looking to learn more about Arabic ornament design, calligraphy, and more? Then have a look at the rest of our series on Arabic calligraphy and our other calligraphy tutorials.

• 
  Arabic Calligraphy
  Creative Arabic Calligraphy for Beginners: Introduction
  Joumana Medlej

• 
  Arabic Calligraphy
  Creative Arabic Calligraphy: Anatomy of the Letterforms
  Joumana Medlej

• 
  Arabic Calligraphy
  Creative Arabic Calligraphy: Proportions and Spacing
  Joumana Medlej

• 
  Arabic Calligraphy
  Creative Arabic Calligraphy: Square Kufic
  Joumana Medlej

• 
  Arabic Calligraphy
  Creative Arabic Calligraphy: Kashida, Ta’jîm, and Tashkîl
  Joumana Medlej

• 
  Arabic Calligraphy
  Creative Arabic Calligraphy: Designing the Letters
  Joumana Medlej

• 
  Arabic Calligraphy
  Creative Arabic Calligraphy: Putting It All Together
  Joumana Medlej

• 
  Procreate
  How to Do Calligraphy on Procreate
  Daisy Ein

• 
  Fonts
  The Different Types of Writing Fonts: Calligraphy Font Styles, Hand Lettering, and More
  Daisy Ein

• 
  Typography
  Mastering Calligraphy: How to Write in Roundhand Script
  Megan Eckman

As a designer, it can be hard to find just the right font for your project. But there’s one surefire way to cut through all the noise to find the best fonts out there. 

Using the power of consumer choices, we’ve identified the 40 most popular fonts of 2021 at Envato Elements. They all come from multiple popular font styles. So whether you’re looking for decorative fonts or cursive fonts, serif or sans serif, you’ll find just what you’re looking for here.

Unlimited Premium Fonts From Envato Elements

Envato Elements offers the best selection of high-quality fonts to help you create outstanding projects. And one of the things that makes Elements hard to beat is that you can download as many as you want, as often as you want, for one flat monthly fee. 

One low monthly fee = unlimited access to the best fonts available on the internet today. What’s more, that monthly fee also allows you to access thousands of premium digital assets like logos, graphic templates, mockups, photos, business card templates, and much more.

Let’s take a look at some of the most popular fonts for 2021 from Envato Elements.

10 Most Popular Serif Fonts of 2021

Popular fonts come in all different styles and looks. We’re gonna get things started with some of the best and most popular serif fonts you can try this year.

Courteous: Ligature Serif Font (TTF, OTF, WOFF)

You have to admit, this is elegance personified. Courteous is a semi-condensed serif font with straight and consistent shapes in every letter. Add the available ligatures where you want to create your own unique look. An excellent font for branding, logos, signage, and posters.

Qualey: Elegant Serif Font (TTF, OTF)

Qualey is a modern serif font that features relatively high stroke contrast. It offers uppercase Latin characters, standard ligatures, numbers, punctuation, and various foreign language characters and accents. It’s a great addition to our list of the most popular serif fonts of 2021.

Orlande: Luxury Serif Font (TTF, OTF, WOFF)

This gorgeous serif font uses the language of stencil fonts to create a distinctive font that has been quite popular in 2021. An excellent font for branding projects, logos, titles, signage, etc.

Palash Serif Font (TTF, OTF)

Palash is a great display font for those times when you need to create distinct posters, signage, logos, and more. The font features both upper- and lower-case Latin characters.

ATHENA Serif Font (TTF, OTF)

When you want to make a bold statement, Athena is the font for you. This modern serif font is offered in uppercase characters only but does come in three styles: bold, italic, and semi-bold. One look and it’s easy to see why it’s one of the most popular fonts on Envato Elements.

Westlake Serif Font (TTF, OTF, WOFF)

Westlake is another terrific serif font that’s a great choice for branding, logos, signage, and more. The font includes upper and lowercase characters, standard ligatures, swashes, punctuation, and numbers. 

Themagic Serif Font (TTF, OTF, WOFF)

Looking for a traditional serif font with a bit of a quirky edge? Then Themagic may just be what you’re looking for. This wonderful serif font includes upper and lowercase characters, numbers and punctuation, multilingual characters and accents, and over 60 ligatures and alternatives. Not bad if you like popular fonts, eh?

Magnita Serif Font (TTF, OTF)

When you need a font that says luxury, choose Magnita, a serif font that includes both upper and lowercase characters and works best for large-scale projects like posters and signage.

Evoque: Vintage Serif Font Family (TTF, OTF, WOFF, SVG)

Sometimes the most popular serif fonts channel classic type styles. Evoque is one of those. It’s a bold and beautiful uppercase serif font. It’s perfect for magazine titles, signage, branding projects, and more.

Bristain Rought Serif Font (TTF, OTF)

If you’re looking for fonts with a bit of texture, you’ll love this serif font. Bristain Rought font includes upper and lowercase characters, foreign language characters and accents, numbers, and punctuation. It’s a great choice for posters, apparel, badges, labels, emblems, etc.

10 Most Popular Sans Serif Fonts of 2021

We’re just getting started with our list of types from popular font styles! Let’s continue with ten popular sans serif fonts that you can download today. 

Bastomi Sans Serif Font (TTF, OTF, WOFF)

Continuing the theme of textured fonts but this time with a sans serif font, here’s Bastomi. It offers uppercase characters in a vintage style. It’s one of the most popular sans serif fonts, and it’s perfect for T-shirts, signage, labels, stationery, and more.

Albori Sans-Serif (TTF, OTF, WOFF)

Looking for something clean and contemporary? Albori is for you. Albori is a sans serif font with thin lines, smooth curves, and round corners. It offers both uppercase and lowercase characters that can be used in a wide range of projects.  

Apolline | Sans Serif Font (TTF, OTF, WOFF)

From thin to thick, Apolline offers a different approach to Albori above, with thick lines and sharp edges. Apolline is a great display font for those times when you need to go big, like advertisements, magazine titles, signage, posters, and more.

Etna Sans Serif (TTF, OTF)

This sans serif font offers a whopping 415 glyphs for greater versatility. The bold lettering makes for an instant eye-catcher. An excellent display font for billboards, signage, branding, and more. Use it if you’ve been hunting for popular sans serif fonts for your projects.

Nordams Sans Serif (TTF, OTF)

Looking for a font family that offers tons of versatility? Then Nordams may be just what you need. The font is available in several styles, from thin to bold. These popular sans serif fonts are great for all sorts of purposes in 2021, from fine print to headlines.

Roku: Modern Sans Serif (TTF, OTF)

With its fusion of geometry and optical balance, Roku is everything a modern sans serif font should be: striking, unique, and clear. Roku offers uppercase Latin characters only, as well as numbers, punctuation, and standard ligatures.

HEROES Sans Serif (TTF, OTF, WOFF)

If you’re going to call a font Heroes, then it has to look the part. Luckily for this condensed sans serif font, it does. Heroes is perfect for branding, logos, cover text, signage, and more. Elegant and modern with a unique style, there’s no doubt as to why it’s one of the most popular sans serif fonts from Envato Elements in 2021.

Porcelain Sans Serif (TTF, OTF, WOFF)

Here’s another condensed sans serif font with a subtle dip-pen texture that creates a personal hand-lettered feel. Porcelain offers upper and lowercase characters, numbers, and punctuation, as well as foreign-language characters and accents and tons of other glyphs and ligatures. 

Avantgarde Sans Serif Font (TTF, OTF, WOFF)

It’s not hard to see why Avantgarde is one of the most popular sans serif fonts in 2021. The beautiful sans serif font is the perfect choice for titles and headlines as well as other projects when a distinct display font is needed. It comes with both upper and lowercase characters, numbers, punctuation, and foreign-language characters, and it’s offered in three weights. 

Sprout Sans Serif (TTF, OTF, WOFF)

Condensed sans serif fonts have been very popular in 2021, and thin condensed sans serifs are at the top of the pack. This font is delicate enough for invitations, wedding albums, and stationery, but robust enough for headlines, titles, and posters.

10 Most Popular Script and Handwritten Fonts of 2021

Many projects require a personal touch when it comes to typefaces. Have a look at the popular script fonts many Envato Elements users trust with their creations in 2021.

Astriany Script Font (TTF, OTF, WOFF)

Astriany is a beautiful handwritten font that can be used for signatures, stationery, or wherever an elegant handwritten font is needed. The script contains both uppercase and lowercase Latin characters, numbers, punctuation, and several ligatures and alternates. Popular handwriting fonts don’t come much better than Astriany.

Figuerola Script Font (TTF, OTF, WOFF)

Qalistha Script Font (TTF, OTF, WOFF)

Qalistha Script Font is an elegant and very legible script that can be used in a wide variety of projects. It includes an upper and lowercase alphabet, numbers, punctuation, multilingual support, swashes, alternate styles, and ligatures.

Righton Script & Serif Font Duo (TTF, OTF)

Righton contains two fonts—a script and a serif—that work perfectly together. The set contains upper and lower case, punctuation, symbols, numerals, stylistic set alternates, ligatures, and more. These popular handwriting fonts are a great choice for your projects.

Amarylli Modern Script Font (TTF, OTF)

Go with the flow when you use Amarylli Modern Script Font. The font is perfect for creating personal logos, wedding stationery, and fashion apparel branding. Have fun adding swashes and ligatures to your characters to create your own unique look.

Wolington Script Sans Font (TTF, OTF, WOFF)

Wolington Modern Font is an elegant script font that would be great for wedding invitations, fashion logos, badges, and much more. The blend of class and fun makes Wolington a popular option for fans of script fonts.

Birdside Script Font (TTF, OTF)

Birdside Script Font is a stunning font that mimics natural handwriting and would work well for personal branding, wedding stationery and invitations, apparel, logo design, etc. The set includes beautiful swashes and ligatures to make your text pop.

Fabienne Handwriting Font (TTF, OTF, WOFF)

Fabienne Handwriting Font is a sophisticated signature-style font with strong, straight lines. The font offers both upper and lowercase characters, numbers, punctuation, glyphs, and ligatures. Its carefree lettering makes it a popular choice for script fonts.

Simplemind YH: Modern Handwriting Font (TTF, OTF)

There is nothing simpleminded about Simplemind Script Font. Quite the contrary, this modern handwritten font is wonderfully stylish and perfect for personal branding projects and more.

10 Most Popular Decorative Fonts of 2021

Decorative elements add flair and style to your text. To wrap up our list, let’s check out these popular aesthetic fonts with included decorations.

Vanberg Blackletter Font (TTF, OTF)

Vanberg Blackletter Font is an incredible Gothic font. It comes with great lettering and stylish alternates. No wonder it’s one of the top popular aesthetic fonts to download. Use it on many cool projects, from clothing merchandise to vintage posters and books!

Amira Beauty (TTF, OTF, WOFF)

How fabulous is this font? According to its designer, Amira is inspired by a flower that grows only in the highlands in Indonesia. Use this beautiful font sparingly and for important projects that require a WOW font. 

Oliva Serif Font Trio (TTF, OTF)

Griskay Decorative Font (TTF, OTF)

Griskay Decorative Font is a fancy serif font that’s perfect for branding, package design, posters, signage, and all those other projects when you need a strong, stand-out font. It includes upper and lowercase characters, numbers and punctuation, multilingual characters, and accents.

Belle Story Decorative Font Family (TTF, OTF, WOFF)

Here’s another darling of a font to make you swoon. The high-contrast display font consists of two styles: display and regular. Each offers ten weights, from thin to heavy. That’s a lot of options for you to create something really special.

Moody Blue Typeface (TTF, OTF, WOFF)

There are many popular aesthetic fonts, but few like Moody Blue. Inspired by vintage art, Moody Blue is one of those fonts that commands attention. Whether your project calls for the romantic or scary or plain old fun, this is such a versatile font that it will reflect the mood perfectly.

Moalang Pro + Ornaments (TTF, OTF, WOFF)

An Art Deco influenced font, Moalang Pro is an excellent font for signage, titles, posters, T-shirts, and more. It includes upper and lowercase characters, numbers and punctuation, multilingual characters and accents, as well as plenty of alternates and ligatures. 

Rockstar: Vintage Decorative Typeface (TTF, OTF, WOFF)

Rockstar indeed! A great choice for banner ads, events, greeting cards, posters, postcards, branding, and more. It includes upper and lowercase characters, numbers and punctuation, and multilingual characters and accents.

Revij Anovik: Decorative Serif Font (TTF, OTF, WOFF)

This decorative serif font includes upper and lowercase characters, numbers and punctuation, multilingual characters and accents, and plenty of stylistic alternates for you to have some serious fun creating a look that’s uniquely yours.

Carter Decorative Typeface (TTF, OTF)

Decorative fonts need to have tons of extra elements that other fonts don’t have, so that you can create a masterpiece. Well, that’s exactly what Carters offers. It offers 300 unique glyphs, swatches, contextual alternates, stylistic sets, ligatures, and more. The sky’s the limit with this font. 

Select Your Favourite Font Today 

We hope you’ve enjoyed our roundup of the 40 most popular fonts available at Envato Elements. We know you’ve probably found some irresistible choices among this list, so head over to Envato Elements today to download your favourites. Don’t forget: for one low monthly fee, you can download as many fonts as you want, as often as you want.

And if you’re looking for other cool fonts in different categories for your next project, check out these great articles, which break fonts down by popular font styles.

• 
  Fonts
  40+ Best Swash Fonts and Fonts With Tails (Download Now!)
  Nona Blackman

• 
  Fonts
  Fonts Similar to Century Gothic
  Nona Blackman

• 
  Fonts
  30+ Beautiful Modern Script Fonts (Typefaces for 2021)
  Melody Nieves

• 
  Fonts
  35 Best Minimalist Fonts (Clean Modern Fonts to Download Now)
  Nona Blackman

• 
  Typography
  Fonts Similar to Myriad Pro & Best Font Pairings
  Daisy Ein

• 
  Fonts
  20+ Best Free Elegant Fonts (Stylish Fonts to Download)
  Nona Blackman

• 
  Fonts
  Fonts Similar to Trajan You Can Use in Your Designs
  Grace Fussell

• 
  Fonts
  19 Best Small Fonts (Pixel & Tiny Fonts to Download Now)
  Nona Blackman

There are a number of ways to save time and get gorgeous results in Photoshop using Photoshop text styles.

In this article, we feature a curated collection of creative Photoshop text effects from Envato Elements and GraphicRiver, with a variety of vibrant styles to add to your digital toolbox.

These premium text effects are made for designers and artists who do their work in Adobe Photoshop. They’re designed using professional Photoshop techniques, such as actions, layer styles, and smart object layers.

Each downloadable file allows you to insert your text and customize your message quickly. Whether you’re applying an action, adjusting a layer, or modifying an object, you can have a stylish text result with just a few button clicks.

Bounce into this inspiring set and browse through all the assortment of text effect styles and colorful flavors on display!

Great Text Effects for Photoshop From Envato Elements

Each of these Photoshop text effect styles is found on Envato Elements. The best part? If you’re a subscriber, all of them are included with your monthly fee. You’ll be able to download cool text effects for Photoshop and a lot more, without any extra costs.

Let’s take a look at some of the best Adobe Photoshop text effects to download on Envato Elements:

Smoke Logo Text Effect (PSD)

Your marketing plans won’t go up in smoke with this aesthetic PSD text effect. It offers a realistic smoke look and is surprisingly easy to use. Just add your text to the correct layer and edit the Smart Object. If you want a fiery Photoshop text effect PSD download, this one is perfect for you.

Ghost Text Effect (PSD)

Slightly spooky and completely awesome, Ghost offers one of the more unique Photoshop text styles. It makes your text look both in focus and just out of reach. The smoky aesthetic PSD is well organized, so working on your project is a breeze.

Futuristic Text Effect (PSD)

Do you prefer the gritty, cinematic look? The Futuristic Photoshop text effect PSD download is right up your alley. Editing is easy thanks to the Smart Object layers. The high resolution guarantees you get excellent results every time.

Holochrome Text Effects (PSD, JPG, PDF)

Holochrome is a stunning alternative for fans of the neon text effect in Photoshop. It lets you add vibrant color to your words, but the effect is understated. This pack includes ten Photoshop text PSD files with different styles. You’ll be able to apply all types of holographic looks to your work.

Rainbow 3D Text Effect (PSD, JPG)

Rainbow 3D adds an extra dimension to your words. Not only will they jump off the page, but each letter will also have a nice texture applied to it. The results of this text effect Photoshop PSD download are realistic and are sure to catch people’s attention.

3D Cartoon Text Effects (PSD)

If you’re not a fan of elegant text effects for Photoshop, these cartoon styles are for you. There are ten 3D effects to choose from in this download. Each of them is unique enough to fit a wide variety of projects. Use these aesthetic PSD text effects on shirts, posters, and more.

EPIC Cinematic Text Effects (PSD)

Epic is not a bad name for this Photoshop text effect PSD download. With this one, you’ll be able to turn your words into bold and textured titles that demand attention. Thanks to its organized layers, you won’t need to be a Photoshop guru to get Epic working.

Retro Text Effects V.01 (PSD)

Go old school with these elegant text effects for Photoshop. There are 12 unique retro styles to choose from in this bundle. If you’re promoting a throwback event or a themed sale, you’ll want to try out this Adobe Photoshop text effects download.

Cyberpunk Text Effects (PSD, JPG, PDF)

We’re going from the past to the sci-fi future with Cyberpunk. These cool text effects for Photoshop have a progressive vibe that you can customize. You’ll have nine distinct looks to choose from if you choose this pack. If you need multiple Photoshop text PSD files for your projects, try out this download.

Outline Text Effects (PSD, JPG, PDF)

We wrap up our list with Outline. It’s a pack of eight cool text effects for Photoshop with an isometric style. Each effect is easy to edit, thanks to Smart Object layers. The author of these Photoshop text styles also included a nice help file if you’re ever stuck.

Creative Photoshop Text Effects From GraphicRiver

Here are 30 striking text effect files that you can purchase for an affordable cost, which ranges from $4 to $10. There are a ton of styles here, such as bold vintage text, cinematic lettering, realistic metal styles, and more. 

Make the lettering in your next design a stand-out focal point—that carries a visual punch—with one of these Photoshop text effects:

Spray Paint Photoshop Action (ATN, ABR)

Give your projects a bit of edge with this Adobe Photoshop text effects download. This action creates a convincing spray-paint look. Enjoy unlimited possibilities with this easy-to-use set of actions.

Update your marketing and promotion materials with street-art-inspired text!

Balloon Effect: Vibrant PSD Action (PSD, ATN, ABR)

This Photoshop text effect results in a colorful Mylar balloon style. You can quickly turn your text or any shape into a bouncy design just by pressing play on this PSD action. The colors can be completely adjusted as well, creating unique results.

The download includes a Photoshop ATN file action, a Photoshop brush ABR file, and a Photoshop PSD file template, as well as help files and full instructions.

80s Text Effects Vol.2 (PSD, ASL)

Whether you have an event flyer or retro poster project in mind, these 3D text styles pop with glowing effects and vibrant details. Get ten different Photoshop text effect styles you can mix and match for even more wild looks. What do you have in mind for this set?

Try these Photoshop text PSD files out for movie titles or awesome typography illustrations!

VHS: RGB Glitch PSD Text Effect (PSD)

With a nod to a nineties design aesthetic, this text effect has a stylish video-glitch-inspired design. This Photoshop file is set up with Smart Objects that are simple to work with. You can apply it to your text, logo, or another shape and customize as needed. The default template size is large format at 2000px by 1500px and 300 DPI, but it can readily be adjusted.

There are 12 Photoshop PSD text effect styles bundled in this pack—with varying amounts of text distortions and numerous error backgrounds included. Whether you have a club flyer or marketing campaign to design, this is a great asset to add to your graphic arsenal!

3D Photoshop Text Effects Vol.2 (PSD)

This is a vibrant set of ten Photoshop text PSD files to work with, in styles like Wood, Old Rust, and Storm. It’s quick to customize—you can just replace the text in any file with yours via a smart object layer. Spend more time on your overall composition and less effort working out how to transform your lettering into 3D popping, stylized text.

Snow Text Effect Photoshop Actions (ATN, ABR, PAT)

Winter is a special time of the year where the land is covered in frosty snow. Now you can jump in and scribble your favorite words with this creative snow effect action set.

It’s designed to give you that perfect “snow writing” look. This Adobe Photoshop text effects download includes six actions that are all fully customizable. Use them with text and shapes for unique, wintry effects!

14 Bold Vintage PSD Text Effects V.2 (PSD, ASL)

This is an amazing deal, with 14 vintage-style text effects all designed with a mix of retro and modern flair. If you need to make your text pop with a blend of 3D in PSD and classic design goodness, then this set has the styles you need. You can make quick work of applying your custom brand (and messaging) to any text in this set. It will even work with your custom shapes and logotypes!

Broken Glass: Creative Photoshop Actions (ATN, PAT)

Great for game covers, marketing flyers, or advertising material for apps, this broken glass text effect adds an interesting design to any title or stand-out set of text.

You can customize the look of the shattered glass effect by using big or small shatters, moving glass parts, and adjusting how your cracks look with freeform customization. You can move, scale, or deform the shapes to get just the look you’re after. Apply the effect to any font, text, or shape.

The set includes six actions, set at hi-res 300 DPI, and includes one ATN Photoshop action file and one PAT Photoshop file, which are used by the six action files.

Photoshop Glow Text Styles Pro (ASL)

This text effect has a professional glow style, which you can apply to web, game, or app designs. Whether you need to add a style to a logo, apply a glow to menu items, or create custom text boxes, this pack has a stylish, on-trend design. It’s designed for web use and is set at 72 DPI. It comes with 50 PSD layer styles, with multiple colors and light sources to work with.

Full Metal Package 3D Photoshop Actions (PSD, ATN, ASL, PAT)

This pack comes with multiple Photoshop actions and layer styles. In total, there are 47 actions (18 that are for 3D effects and 29 Style actions). There are also 62 Layer Styles for generating 29 materials in Photoshop, from chrome to silver, gold, copper, and more—with a complete full-metal package.

It’s developed at high resolution and can be used to design text effects for print or web. It’s super-versatile and works with a variety of shapes and text styles. This is a go-to set of Photoshop text PSD styles to create any 3D metal elements—with quick, quality results!

Gold Photoshop Text Effects (PSD)

Take your plain lettering and quickly transform it into a beautiful gold text effect. This text effect Photoshop PSD download action comes with 15 effects. They can serve a variety of designs, from gold foil stationery styles to emulating gold print, hot foil, and more. Add a touch of the elegant print design aesthetic to your designs!

Ultimate PSD Text Effect Collection (PSD, ASL)

With a ton of awesome text effect styles built into one easy-to-work-with Photoshop file, this ultimate collection has a variety of designs to add to your arsenal. 

It comes with metallic, vintage, wood, leather, paper, fabric, and more styles. It works with organized layers and smart objects, so you can change the colors and effects of your target text in seconds. They’re an easy-to-use pack of great text effects for Photoshop.

AtoZ: Epic PSD Text & Logo Effect (PSD)

This high-energy text effect Photoshop CC file is based on a popular video-game style. With this one, there’s no need to run actions or to install patterns, styles, or brushes. 

It’s all based simply on smart object shapes, and it’s super easy to work with. It comes with four vibrant effects made up of various glowing jewels and graphic rock textures. These are really great text effects for Photoshop, with nice attention to the details!

Neon Text Effect Style for Photoshop (PSD)

Love neon effects? Then give this electric neon text effect pack for Photoshop a try! This download includes a fully editable PSD file with all the tools you need to customize these looks.

Update the smart objects with your favorite fonts or try this look on different shapes. The possibilities are limitless, and these great text effects for Photoshop are only $4!

10 Elegant Photoshop Text Styles Vol.5 (PSD, ASL)

This volume comes with a variety of Photoshop text effects, such as elegant bubbling lettering, galactic star effects, and glowing metal shine. There are ten elegant text effects for Photoshop included in a PSD file and accompanying ASL file, and they work with any font.

Retro Photoshop Text Effects (PSD)

Add a touch of retro style to your text, logos, icons, or any shapes with this set of Photoshop files. It works with smart object layers and comes with six PSD files packed with multiple styles of backgrounds. You can whip up a compelling advertisement, stylish poster design, or marketing banner in no time with this set of vintage text effects.

3D Text Effect Photoshop Action (ATN)

Enjoy extraordinary 3D text effects in only seconds! This next Photoshop action works with vector shapes, text layers, and so much more. This well-organized action allows you to quickly change extrusion levels and even add shadows!

Enjoy a realistic text effect that looks wonderful on posters, illustrations, and brand material!

Vintage Retro Text Effect (PSD)

You can make artistic vintage text effects quickly with this set. Tap into your creative potential with this collection of 16 weathered text effects great for websites, apps, or print work.

Easily modify the text, patterns and colors to get the best results for your brand. Add these text effect Photoshop PSD downloads to your design arsenal!

Real Fire Photoshop Text Creator 2 (ATN, ABR)

Make a realistic fire text effect in three simple steps. Just type in your text, run the action, and then customize it by placing flames with the included special brush. The results are high-resolution on a transparent background and can be achieved in just a minute or two. Placing the flames with your own personal touch leads to really creative results, with flames of varying intensities.

Sweet Colorful Text Effects: 10 PSD (PSD)

This set of delicious Photoshop text effects includes ten retro styles of colorful candy lettering—with pink soda, sweet stripes, milky shake, and more. Customizing your text is as simple as opening and editing a smart object. Grab some yummy retro vintage design goodness now!

Cartoon: Stylish PSD Text Effects (PSD)

Pow, zap, and wow your clients with this powerful set of fun cartoon text effects. They’re all colorful, unique, and easy to customize with professional design styles. There are ten high-res PSD files included in the download.

Vintage Retro Text Effects (PSD)

We’re always inspired by nostalgia. But have you ever wanted to remake your favorite styles from the past? With this vintage retro text effects kit, you’ll get 14 extraordinary text effects you can edit easily with smart objects. Use these text effect Photoshop PSD downloads for posters, branding, and all your creative projects!

4 Glitch Video Photoshop Text Effects (PSD)

This set of glitch text effects has a vintage screen style reminiscent of early video games. Give your designs a classic tech feel with glitch and noise retro effects. 

This one is great for eighties-style flyers, custom posters, or classic tech-themed designs. There are four PSD files included that work simply with Photoshop smart objects. Just place your text in the object, and you’ll quickly output an exciting lettering design!

Animated Glitch Logo Photoshop Template (PSD)

Want a cool way to boost your numbers on social media? Try an animated glitch effect. This HD logo effect is great for entrepreneurs and creative business owners. It quickly sets up one GIF and animated video that lasts about four seconds.

Change the background to fit your preferences. We hope you enjoy this fun animated effect!

3D Gold PSD Text Mockups (PSD)

Made with smart objects in Photoshop, this gold text effect comes with three styles in a layered PSD file. It works with a variety of text shape combinations and stands out on any background. You can get a shiny 3D text result with a high-resolution image exported from Photoshop quickly.

Realistic Photoshop Styles Bundle (ASL)

This text effect set bundles 27 text effects and a total of 50 styles in a Photoshop ASL file. This large bundle makes it easy to create realistic grunge-style text effects set against dark backgrounds, from chaotic spiked text to digital chaos and blood-stained steel. This collection offers a ton of text effects that would work great on a stylish site, app branding, poster, event flyer, or game cover design.

Retro Vintage Text Effects Bundle: PSD Vol. 1-3 (PSD)

This big bundle comes with 30 unique vintage text effect styles. Every style comes with a corresponding Photoshop file. Each PSD graphic resource is quick to work with using smart object replacement.

These text effects have a layered, professional quality, with raised 3D letters and effects emulating old-style print approaches. The result is legible, unique text effects, with classic designs.

There are a variety of effects in this bundle, some featuring multiple layers of diagonal lines, drop shadows, interior shadows, interesting line work, and bold strokes.

Party Tools Kit (PSD, ATN, ABR)

Whenever you’re feeling stumped, try investing in a brilliant text action kit like this one. Invigorate your passion with this full set of high-resolution Photoshop text actions made for party themes.

Try out six different 3D directions along with added tools for confetti effects and party balloons! This one’s a keeper!

Letterpress Photoshop Style: Wood Edition (PSD)

Letterpress styles are beautiful and fun to put together. This realistic text effect can communicate your message with depth and style, whether you have a poster you’re designing, an online ad to create, or another project coming up.

This Photoshop set includes 15 ASL files for applying to text or shapes. They come at a high resolution and include 12 for wooden block backdrops. There’s also a bonus file included of an already mocked-up scene. You can really feel the ink on the wooden letters in this detailed 3D design.

Chocolate Text Effect (PSD)

Make one-of-a-kind chocolate Photoshop text effect styles with this incredible download. This kit includes everything you need to get started.

Very easy to use, this pack is compatible with Adobe Photoshop CC. Enjoy cool chocolate text effects in Photoshop with just a few clicks!

Grab a Creative Photoshop Text Effect!

There are a number of vibrant Photoshop text effect actions and styles on Envato Market. Browse through the hundreds of high-energy PSD design files, and grab one that fits your project needs today. We also have popular Photoshop add-ons and best-selling photo effects—with graphics professionals adding new premium designs on a regular basis.

Find more Photoshop text effects from these resources:

• 
  Adobe Photoshop
  100+ Best Photoshop Text Effect Tutorials
  Melody Nieves

• 
  Photoshop Actions
  30 Best Cartoon Photo Effects & Comic Text Photoshop Actions
  Melody Nieves

• 
  Photoshop Actions
  How to Make a 3D Hologram Text Effect Photoshop Action
  Anderson Luiz

• 
  Text Effects
  38 Cool Photoshop Text Effects, Actions & Styles for 2021
  Melody Nieves

• 
  Art Text
  How to Create a 3D Text Effect in Art Text
  Andrei Marius

• 
  Adobe Illustrator
  How to Create a Military Stencil Text Effect in Illustrator
  Diana Toma

• 
  Text Effects
  How to Create a Christmas, Knitted Text Effect in Adobe Illustrator
  Andrei Marius

• 
  Text Effects
  How to Create a Magma Hot Text Effect in Photoshop
  Gianluca Giacoppo

• 
  Text Effects
  How to Create a Photoshop Peeling Sticker Text Effect
  Miss Chatz

• 
  Adobe Photoshop
  Best Resources of 2021: Photoshop Text Effects & Layer Styles
  Melody Nieves