Fire text

Today we were taught how to create text that looked like it was on fire using Photoshop and this was the result. Here is how I did it:

1. I created a new document with 600 x 360 pixels
2. I set the background layer to black using the paint bucket tool
3. Using the text tool, I created some text saying 'DIABLO' in white.
4. I made a new layer above the 'DIABLO' layer by clicking on the create new layer icon.
5. I set the layer name to 'fire' and merged all the layers to the 'fire' layer with the keyboard shortcut: cmd, alt and shift.
6. I rotated the picture 90 degrees anticlockwise by using the transform tool
7. With the 'fire' layer active I used the wind effect in it's default settings three times.
8. I rotated the picture back 90 degrees clockwise.
9. I used the Guassain Blur tool and set the radius to 1.5 pixels so I could make the wind effect look less harsh.
10. I adjusted the image's hue and saturation to 40 (hue) and 100 (saturation).
11. I duplicated the 'fire' layer by dragging it to the create new layer icon. This created a new layer called 'fire copy' which was identical to 'fire'.
12. With 'fire copy' active, I changed the hue to -40.
13. I set the mode of 'fire copy' to the mode Colour Dodge and merged the layer down onto the 'fire' layer.
14. I used the Liquify filter to make the flames more realistic. I set the brush size to 50 and the brush presure to 40 and created some flame-like shapes. I then changed the brush size to 30 and the brush pressure to 35 and created some smaller flames.
15. I moved the original 'DIABLO' text layer to the top of the layers and set the colour of the text to black.
16. I used the Rasterize tool on the 'DIABLO' text layer, zoomed in and used the Polygonal Lasso tool to make cuts in each letter. This made the text appear cracked.
17. As the black lettering was too dull, I added some more colour and texture by adding a drop shadow to the 'DIABLO' layer. I set the Blend Mode for the shadow to Multiply and the colour to #b75c0b. I added an Inner Bevel to the 'DIABLO' layer with a highlight colour of black and a shadow of #844600. I finally added a Colour Overlay with #f57300. This gave the illusion of the text blending in with the fire.
18. I then duplicated the 'fire' layer once again and placed the layer 'fire copy' at the top of the layers.
19. I set the mode of 'fire copy' to Screen with alt, shift and S. Then I added a layer mask by clicking on the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the layers palette.
20. With the linear Gradient tool, I ran a black to white linear gradient from the of the text area to the bottom. 
21. I used the smudge tool to toggle with a 65 pixel brush at 70% on the layer mask, dragging up and down to reveal and hide the flames.