Text Mask to Embossed Watermark for Photos

I'm trying to emboss my Logo into my photo's. > But I don't want to loose any of the picture, so I thought using text mask would be best. > But I'm having trouble figuring out how to use the text mask tool period. > Anyone know?
Text Mask Tool makes a Selection...
There's an easier way to do this than using the Text Mask tool, if you'll take a few minutes to set it up according to this tutorial. The Text Mask tool is fine if you only plan to do it once. But if you need to do it again, a Custom Shape will be better. No sense in reinventing the procedure each time you need it.
But first, we'll show you the Text Mask version, to fulfill your request...

Open the file you wish to modify
Click on the new layer button at the bottom of the Layers Palette
Now, select the Text Mask tool from the Text Tool pull-out drawer.

Select the type style, font and size from the Options bar
Click in the document window and type in your text. Use typical PS text editing techniques to adjust the type the way you want it. Be mindful not to leave this mode until you have it the way you want it.
You'll see the text being set on a RED mask. What's actually happening is the text letters and shapes are actually holes in the mask -- but it's not really a mask. As soon as you click on another tool, or the Move tool, the text becomes a selection. This selection is available for any process you can perform on a selection.

Click the Move tool and the type becomes a selection:
For your watermark task, the most simple thing to do is hit Command/J (or, Control/J for Windows. You didn't say.) This will float a copy of the section of the photo up to a new layer for further processing. With the image on its own layer, go to the bottom of the layers palette and select the Layer Styles pull-down and select "Bevel & Emboss" ... presto, embossed watermark.

You can apply or change any of the criteria on the B&E Layer Styles dialog you wish. Here is where you set the personality of your effect -- and once done, you can save it to the Styles palette for future use. However, for this presentation we just left it to the default settings.

Also notice that you cannot "see" the floated image until you apply the effect...



There are many other ways to accomplish this task. This is the most simple and direct. If you have a favored method to accomplish this task

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Color modes
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Masking
Selection methods
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Layer styles
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Warping
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(click linked titles to view excerpts from the series)


The Work Space (Running Time: 6:28)
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Customizing the Work Space (Running Time: 4:15)
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Creating a New Document (Running Time: 4:55)
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Color Modes (Running Time: 5:33)
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Tonal Adjustments
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Levels (Running Time: 13:48)This video explains the use of the Levels control for setting black point and white point values for an image.
Curves (Running Time: 8:41)Learn how to use Curves to add contrast and color correction to an image.
Other Tonal Adjustments (Running Time: 7:00)
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Brightness Contrast
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Photo Retouching
Title: Charlie (Running Time: 33 minutes)
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Spot healing brush tool
Healing brush tool
Patch healing tool
Gaussian blur
Lasso tool
Magnetic lasso tool
Polygonal lasso tool
Marquee tool
Color range
Layer mask
Quick mask
Hue-saturation adjustment layer
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Selection modifiers
Straighten
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Blend mode
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Deselect
Compositions
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Full bleed
Wand tool
Clipping mask
Warp
Skew
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Bevel and emboss
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Blending modes
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Curves
Load selection
Stroke
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Rulers
Guides
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Shape tools
Create new document
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Color range
Polygonal lasso tool
Feather
Drag and drop layer
Naming layers
Text kerning and tracking
Color fill
Linking layers
Magnetic lasso tool
Zoom in/out
Scale
Rotate
Invert selection
Text box
Group layers
Duplicate layer
Crop image
Title: Bulletin Board (Running Time: 1 hour, 2 minutes)
Develop a fun collage that resembles a real cork bulletin board!
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Text
Paths
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Create Layer
Drag and Drop
Levels
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Automation
Transform
Deselect
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Invert selection
Eraser Tool
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Drag to select
Alignment and distributing layers
Fit image – actual pixels
Drag to copy layers
Drag to copy Effects
Select multiple layers
Group layers
Styles
Pen tool
Text on a Path
Set Default Colors
Custom Shape Tool
Shape Tool
Title: Movie Poster (Running Time: 58 minutes)
Design a scary movie poster!
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Text
Layer Styles
Blending Modes
Drag and Drop
Linking and Grouping
Merge Visible
Masking
Liquefy
Magnetic Lasso Tool
Polygonal Lasso Tool
Clipping Masks
Extract
History Brush
Dodge and Burn
Rectangular Shape Tool
Fill Layer
Rectangular Marquee Tool
Patch tool
Healing Brush Tool
Merge Layers
Title: Hot Rod Poster (Running Time: 26 minutes)
Work along with Geoff as he produces a poster for a Hot Rod car show!
This lesson makes use of the following tools and procedures:
Create new document
Drag and drop
Scale image
Gradient fill
Layer mask
Smudge tool
Load selection
Levels
Link layers
Naming layers
Elliptical marquee
Feather selection
Copy layers
Polygonal lasso tool
Zoom in/out
Add to selection
Curves
Rulers
Guides
Group layers
Text tool
Drop shadow
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