IN BRIEF: text > select > layer mask > spatter filter > gaussian blur > final touches

There are several ways to this. You can even buy fonts that appear worn. But if you learn to use Photoshop you can apply the effect to any font (or object) you like as well as controlling the amount of wear. Also since the wear is different for every letter the effect looks more real than fonts. (Look at the two ‘t’s in the word ‘text’ above.)

This method is both fast and flexible and uses the spatter filter on a layer mask. The ‘Sprayed Strokes’ filter gives a similar effect.

The Type

Press T to select the Type tool and type some text - I used the font Courier New, 40pt in bold. (Courier is a popular candidate for this type of thing because it's an old typewriter font. This gives the effect of some typewritten text with a typewriter whose ribbon is low on ink.)

Making the Layer mask

Hold down the Ctrl key and click on this new type layer to select the text. Now make this selection into a layer mask by pressing the layer mask button at the bottom of the layers palette. Layer masks make parts of a layer invisible (transparent) or partially invisible. Pressing the layer mask button when there is a selection makes everything but the selection invisible.

You should now see a thumbnail of the layer mask, just right of the ‘T’ (for text layer) symbol. The colour black represents the mask, or that which is invisible. The colour white represents what is visible. Since the layer mask is only masking the transparent part of the layer right now it makes no visible change to this layer.

Also notice that this new thumbnail has a solid line around it. That means you are now working on the layer mask NOT the actual layer. This is also indicated by the layer mask icon to the left of the ‘T’. You can alter the mask with many of the Photoshop tools and filters. It works in greyscale - shades of grey indicating partial transparency. The darker the grey the more of the layer it blocks out. If you want to see the mask rather than image (not necessary here) simply Alt + click the new, layer mask thumbnail. Alt + clicking it again returns to the layer view.

For the next step make sure the layer mask is selected - i.e. has a solid line around its thumbnail.

Eroding the text

Go to Filter>Brush Strokes>Spatter. Play with the spray radius and smoothness settings. I used 10 for both. This looks more severe in the preview window than the type appears when finished. That's because we are altering (and seeing) the mask not the actual text. When the layer mask is applied it only takes away from the text below. Where the mask is distorted but not actually over the original text it has no effect because the pixels on the type layer underneath are already transparent.

Click OK when you've chosen your settings. If you want to run your last used filter again press Ctrl+F or, press Ctrl+Alt+F if you want to run the filter with different settings.

Final touches

As a final touch I blurred the layer mask slightly: Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. I used a setting of 0.3 but, as always in Photoshop, experiment to see what looks what best.

Other options include fading the spatter filter. This option is only available immediately after applying the spatter filter: Edit>Fade Spatter or Ctrl + Shft + F.

To fade or strengthen the worn bits adjust the brightness/contrast of the layer mask Image>Adjust>Brightness/Contrast or use levels: Image>Adjust>Levels (shortcut: Ctrl + L)

Why use a layer mask?

It would have been possible to do this by applying the spatter filter straight to the type. But there are several reasons why using the layer mask method is better.

Firstly you would have to rasterize the type first so it's barely quicker than using a layer mask anyway. Secondly if the background colour is anything but white the spatter filter makes the text white and so more work has to be done to remove it. Thirdly this method is much more flexible. If you want to edit the colour simply select the type and change it. You can turn the layer mask off and back on by Shift clicking its thumbnail in the layers palette, or alter it more with any of the tools/filters so making it more or less worn.

Here's another example with stroke added using layer styles: