«Text carved in rock» non-destructive process via layer mask

We are going to create a text carved in the rock and a cracking effect on it, as it has been broken with the passage of time. What is different about this technique is that we are going to achieve it in a non-destructive way. We are going to create everything on a layer mask, so that the original file will remain intact, and we can also modify what we want when we want it.

We will start with the Background layer filled with black, and the texture as “Layer 1”. Duplicate the texture layer by> Layer> New> Layer via Copy … (Ctrl / Cmnd + J)
For a moment we are going to hide the newly created layer, and we will work on “Layer 1”. We will execute> Image> Adjustments> Levels (Ctrl / Cmnd + L), and for the slider in the middle we will indicate a value of 0.5, in this way we will make it darker. Next we will activate “Layer 2” again.

Now we select the Text tool (T) and click inside the document to create a text layer and in it we will write our text. We scale it and change the font assigning the one we want.

The next thing we will do is load the selection of the text. To do this, we Ctrl / Cmnd + click the thumbnail of the text layer. Next, we hide this layer. And finally, pressing the Alt / Optn key + click on the «Add layer mask» icon. This will hide the surface that the text occupies, thus displaying the darker lower layer. And so we have the basis of our work.

Next, we are going to add layer effects to the mask. We click on the icon «Add a layer style» and choose «Bevel and Emboss». And we are going to apply the following values:

And also a drop shadow:

What this does is give the impression that the carving is deeper in the rock. Anyway, being a layer style we can always go back and modify it.

The next thing is to make the rock appear cracked to give the impression of the passage of time. We will execute> Filter> Distort> Sea waves.

Now we select the «Brush» tool (B), and we choose a small one (about 5 px) and in the «Brush» pallet we will apply the following options:

And we will paint with black (still on the mask), from the edges out as if they were cracks. When we’re done with these cracks, we can go back to the palette and change the transition value to 100, and make smaller cracks that come out of the larger cracks, until we achieve something like this:

To give it a final touch, we can choose the «Polygonal Lasso» tool and select some parts that we will then erase with the «Delete» key to make them look even more worn. If we wish, as in our example we can rotate it a bit with «Free Transform» (Ctrl / Cmnd + T)