Since the Fall of 2024 I think I’ve written at least six different posts about creating varying title looks. Earlier this year I may have mentioned that it must have seemed as though I’d been on kind of a title kick lately. Well, I’m going to continue that “kick”. At least for a few more posts 😉

And if you read my “Title Tip” post from September of 2024, you know how I feel about titles taking over a layout. So, you might be surprised by the title (no pun intended😊) of this post. Clearly, you’re thinking that a thick title may be at least a little “distracting”.

I know a lot of people shy away from thick or bulky titles. But they do have their place and when done correctly, they can look quite nice on a layout. And sometimes, though not often, the title can be the focus!

If you take a look at the featured image at the top of this post you’ll see a partial view of a recent layout of mine. You should be able to tell that the lettering in the title looks somewhat thick. If you’d like to get a look at the entire layout, you can find it in my 2025 Gallery.

Today I want to show you how to create a chipboard look for a thick title that doesn’t end up being too much of a distraction…

Using Chipboard

I “grew up” scrapbooking in the traditional era. I used chipboard a lot back then. I had a die-cutting machine so I could make just about anything I needed. Especially letters for titles and cute elements. Now that I’m a digital scrapbooker I don’t do that anymore.

Today there are a fair amount of digital chipboard elements available. I tend not to use too much of that these days; especially when it comes to titles. I think mostly because the majority of digital chipboard seems to look more like puffy stickers than traditional chipboard. At least in my opinion. Here’s an example of what I mean:

On most layouts (especially busy ones) I don’t necessarily want my title to be front center. But I do want it to be “noticeably” visible. There’s a lovely way to accomplish that even if I’m using chipboard-esque letters.

Before I move forward, just a quick reminder that I use Photoshop Elements (PSE) 2024. If you use a different version, some of my screen shots may not look the same as what you see on your screen.

Creating Chipboard Titles

Now I do have some very realistic chipboard alphabets from “Chipboard Alphabet Soup” by Kim Jensen at The Lilypad:

While these all look very nice, I don’t want the plain chipboard look.

I’ve created a 12×12 file with a white base layer (Layer 1) and pulled in the chipboard letters to spell TITLE. I’ve zoomed in very close so you can see just how thick and beveled the letters appear:

Watch what happens when I clip a paper to these letters:

I’ve lost the dimension that makes them look like chipboard. So, you’re probably wondering why that didn’t work. Clearly, the designer created the look using some kind of bevel. We can see it in the original letters. But once the letters are saved as a PNG file, the bevel becomes almost an optical illusion of sorts.

Whenever we save an image, it is for all intents and purposes a flattened image. The bevel looks like it’s still there but in reality, it is a flat image.

If I was completely happy using a solid color, I could desaturate the letters (remove the color) and use a Solid Fill Layer as I did in last week’s post about “Coloring Grey-Scale”:

This time, I still see the bevel! However, there is a slight issue with that option. Because I have to use a Blend Mode to see the bevel, I also still see the fibrous texture of the natural chipboard. And that may not work all the time. But at least it’s a viable option.

There are a few designers who have created chipboard styles that can give the look of thicker chipboard. But those typically also include not just a color but usually a texture and sometimes a border.

I have one set “Afternoon Stroll Chipboard Styles” by Ooh La La Scraps at Gingerscraps. Here’s how those look:

And there really isn’t a distinct bevel. To me they just look puffy. So that may not always be the best option either.

Over time I have found that for me the thing that works best is to just type my title using whatever font works best for the project and then give it the look that’s reminiscent of those bygone chipboard days. And bonus…I can use whatever font I like!

I often will use a bevel on a title that mimics the look of chipboard. Generally, I use one of the standard PSE Bevel styles. I’ll show you how some of those work in the next section. But today I’ll also show you how to create a lovely bevel without using a standard PSE Bevel style.

Beveled Chipboard Title

I’ve created a 12×12 file with a blank base layer (Layer 1). And I’m going to ensure that my Foreground and Background color chips are set to the default of Black and White (press D).

For my base, I’m going to use a paper from “Watercolor Paper Textures Craft White” by Julia Dreams at Creative Fabrica:

I’m using the paper that is next to the last on the right:

Next, I’ll open the Horizontal Text tool and select a simple sans serif block font. I’ll be using Impact Regular (a pre-installed font on Windows and Mac operating systems) with the Color set to Black, Size set to 165 px, Leading to Auto, Tracking to zero and justification set to Center align text. I then just click in the center of the page:

Note: If you’re following along you can use a different font if you like. I just wanted to start with something simple.

Then I simply type the word TITLE (all caps):

I’m going to zoom in pretty close and change the color of the font to a bright red (#ff0000) for the rest of this so you can more easily see the effects I’m going to display.

First, I want to show you what three of the standard PSE Bevels look like. All I have to do is click the Styles Icon below the Layers Panel:

PSE will open whatever style set I used last. For me it opened Glass Buttons So I just click the down arrow next to that Style name and scroll up until I find Bevels:

PSE now opens the selection of Bevel styles:

I’m going to start with the Simple Sharp Inner Style (far left in the third row down). After I select that style, I return to the Layers Panel and double-click on the effects icon (fx) at the far right of the text layer. PSE opens the style settings dialog box:

As I’ve mentioned in prior posts, the default Lighting Angle for all standard PSE styles is 90 degrees (at least as far as I am aware). I change that Lighting Angle to 120 degrees, ensure that the Preview box is checked and set the Size to 6 px. I leave the Direction set to Up. With the Preview box checked, I can immediately see how the bevel looks:

This looks fairly close to the effect I saw on those chipboard letters above. So, I think this is a good bevel. And I click OK to confirm.

Note: I almost always use a lighting angle of 120 degrees. If you’re following along and your project is using a different Lighting Angle throughout, you are welcome to play with that setting. And if you want your “chipboard” to appear thicker, feel free to increase the size as you like. Just be careful so it doesn’t end up looking too thick!

There are a few other styles that I want to show you. Here is what it looks like if I choose Scalloped Edge (middle in the first row) and settings as follows: Lighting Angle = 120 degrees, Size = 6 px and Direction = Up:

At first glance this looks very similar to the first example. But what you may not be able to see in this small image is that this gave a much more defined and layered edge…hence the word “scalloped” for the style name.

This is what it looks like if I choose Simple Emboss (last in the first row) and settings as follows: Lighting Angle = 120 degrees, Size = 10 px and Direction = Up:

Again, this looks very similar to the first two examples. What you can’t see too well on this white background is that there’s a bit of a glow added to the effect that the first two don’t have:

This also seems to make the edges look a bit softer…not quite as crisp.

Last one. This is what happens if I choose Simple Inner (far left in the second row down) and settings as follows: Lighting Angle = 120 degrees, Size = 7 px and Direction = Up:

This is very similar to the Simple Emboss example but the glow is not as pronounced. As you can see, just about any of the bevel examples I’ve shown can work well to create a chipboard effect.

The biggest issue with all of these is that I have no control over a glow or shadow effect using these standard PSE bevels.

As promised, I’m going to show you how to create a “freehand” bevel without using a style. To do this I first ensure that my Foreground/Background color chips are set back to the defaults (press D). Then I go to the top tool bar and select Layer->Layer Style->Style Settings:

PSE opens the Style Settings dialog box:

This time the Lighting Angle is already set to 120 degrees. The reason for this is because I am creating a new style “from scratch” and already have “active” styles using that setting. I want that Lighting Angle so I move on to the other settings.

I click the Drop Shadow box and PSE expands the settings for that option and the Color is already set to black. I then set the Size to 18 px, the Distance to 2 px, and the Opacity to 50%:

I click the Bevel box and PSE expands the settings for that option and I set the Size to 10 px and Direction to Up:

I click OK to confirm and here is my bevel:

This looks fairly similar to the PSE Simple Emboss bevel style. The bevel is a bit more pronounced yet a bit softer. I could make it smaller by adjusting the size to what I used for that standard bevel. There’s no glow like what happened with the Simple Emboss. And there’s a soft shadow. And I have complete control over all of these settings!

Now I’m going to zoom back out and show you the best part:

I clipped a piece of paper to this and retained not only the bevel but also the shadow. How’s that for a nice chipboard title? And I could also clip a paper to the title with any of the standard PSE bevels I showed above.

Note: Clipping paper to a text layer with a bevel will only work as long as the layer is not simplified. If the layer is simplified the result would be the same as trying to clip a paper to a purchased chipboard letter or word.

Now let’s take a look at a finished chipboard title/caption:

The word HAPPY was created using the same font and “freehand” bevel settings that I used in the “TITLE” example above: Lighting Angle = 120 degrees. For the Shadow Size = 18 px, Distance = 2 and Opacity = 50%. For the Bevel Size = 10 px and Direction = Up.

The word Birthday was created using the font, Marisha at Creative Fabrica. The bevel settings are as follows: Lighting Angle = 120 degrees. For the Shadow Size = 10 px, Distance = 6 and Opacity = 50%. For the Bevel Size = 15 px and Direction = Up.

And yes, you can use a script font and give it a chipboard look. It won’t work well with all script or other highly decorative fonts but it should work on most others.

Helpful Tips

Don’t be afraid to use thick titles on a layout. Just always remember that unless the title is the focal point, don’t make it so large and thick that it detracts from the actual layout.

Most fonts will work well when creating chipboard words. Try to avoid highly decorative fonts or script fonts that have a lot of curly ligatures.

Don’t feel confined to using only block fonts or all uppercase letters for a one-word title. Be creative!

Experiment with using a mix of different fonts or font cases when creating whimsical titles. This alone can add interest to your layout.

Play around with different bevel size settings to increase or decrease the thickness of your chipboard. Be carful that you don’t make the bevel so large that you lose the “white space” inside letters that have openings such as a, p, g, e and so on.

If you’re not clipping a paper to your “typed” chipboard letter/word feel free to use different colors for different letters in a word to add some extra whimsy to a funny or “party” layout.

When using a purchased chipboard alphabet, remember that clipping paper to a letter will eliminate the thickness.

When re-coloring a purchased chipboard alphabet, remember to simplify the letter first. To retain the thickness, remember to desaturate the letter(s) and use a Solid Fill layer and a Blend Mode (Overlay) to apply the color rather than using the paint bucket.

If you like the look of natural chipboard but you still want to create your own letters using a specific font, just clip a nice textured kraft paper to your finished letter/word. If you don’t already have some, there’s a lovely set of “Kraft Digital Paper” available at Creative Fabrica:

Thanks for reading this week’s Tuesday Tip. Remember, if you have any suggestions or questions please don’t hesitate to “Message Me“. Check back next week for some tips on blending chipboard. Click “Follow Me” to stay in touch. I hope you have a wonderful week!