Procreate Tutorial: 3D Sunken Lettering on the iPad

Looking to add more dimension to your lettering? Try this “sunken lettering” effect, which makes it look like the outlines of your letters are raised up.

This tutorial also walks through how to add a shaded extrusion and drop shadow for some extra oomph.

Grab your iPad, open up Procreate, and follow along!

Resources

Get the free Monoline Square Brush & Procreate color palette for this tutorial from my Freebies Library.

Steps

1. Use a monoline brush to draw the outlines of your letters.

Extend the lines past where you want them to end. Then, once you’ve gone around the outline of the whole letter, use the eraser to erase the extension. This will leave you with a super clean, crisp corner.

2. Create the fill layer.

Duplicate the outline layer. On the bottom layer, swipe with 2 fingers to the right to turn on alpha lock. Select the middle teal color from the palette, then tap on the layer again to reveal its menu. Tap on “Fill Layer,” then swipe right with 2 fingers to turn alpha lock back off. Drag and drop your color into each letter to fill.

3. Create the inner shadow.

Duplicate the outline layer again. Use the method in Step 2 to change the color on the bottom layer to the dark teal color from the palette. Tap the Move tool, then drag the layer down and to the left. The further you drag away from your outlines, the deeper (more sunken) your letters will look.

4. Connect the inner shadow.

Connect the corners of your dark teal inner shadow layer to the corners of your white outline and fill in any gaps between the two. The goal is to make it look like this dark teal is the ‘wall’ created from your raised outlines.

5. Create the extrusion.

Duplicate your fill layer, then change the color of the bottom one to the light pink color in the palette. Drag the layer down and to the right. The further you drag, the taller your 3D word will pop off of the canvas. When you’re happy with its position, connect the corners of your extrusion to the corners of your word's outlines. It may be easier to hide other layers or reduce the opacity in order to better see where to make the connections.

6. Create the drop shadow.

Duplicate your fill layer and your extrusion layer. Then drag them next to each other in your layers menu, tap on the top one, and tap “Merge Down'“ from its menu. Change the color of this merged layer to the darkest pink in your palette. Drag the whole layer down and to the left. The further you drag, the longer your drop shadow will be. Connect the corners of the drop shadow to the corners of your pink extrusion, then reduce the opacity to make it look more like a shadow.

7. Add shading to the extrusion.

Add a new layer above your extrusion layer. Tap on it to open the menu, then tap “Clipping Mask.” Grab the middle pink from the palette, then grab your favorite brush for shading. I like the brushes in Retro Supply Co’s Gouache Shaders or True Grit Texture Supply’s Grain Shaders. Think about where your light source is, then paint the darker pink over the areas of your extrusion that wouldn’t be in that light. If you’re following this tutorial exactly, the shaded areas should be along the bottom/left sides of your extrusions.

8. Add texture to the letter surfaces.

Add a new layer above your fill layer and make it a clipping mask. Grab the lightest teal from the palette and paint over the surface of your letters with the same brush you used for shading. This gives the surface of your letters a subtle effect to tie them together with your extrusions.

All done! Try this technique out on different lettering styles and watch how it adds a new layer of dimension to your piece.

Sharing your work on Instagram? Tag me @unfetteredletters so I can share on my stories to support your work!