3D Effects

Video Tutorials

How to Fake a 3D Book Cover in Photoshop (No 3D Tools Required)

Every freelancer hits the moment where a client asks for a mockup and you have exactly one flat image, zero budget for a dedicated mockup tool, and a deadline measured in hours rather than days. That’s the situation I kept running into when clients wanted to see their book covers, product boxes, or packaging “in context” before going to print. I’d either be hunting through free mockup sites hoping something roughly matched the dimensions, or worse, trying to wrangle Photoshop’s actual 3D workspace, which – for a task this simple – is like renting a forklift to move a couch.

August 18, 2026

Video Tutorials

How to Fake 3D Text in Photoshop Without Touching a Single AI Button

Every few months I stumble across a technique that makes me feel like I’ve been doing things the hard way for no reason. This was one of those moments. I was working on a poster comp where the client wanted text that felt like it was physically wrapped around the subject, that kind of old-school carnival or vintage sports graphic energy. My first instinct was to reach for something complicated. Maybe export to a 3D program, maybe mess around with displacement maps, maybe just charge the client more and hope they forgot about it.

August 7, 2026

Video Tutorials

Fake 3D Spaces in Photoshop: How Vanishing Point Turns Flat Images Into Something Wild

I used to think Photoshop’s animation features were a niche curiosity for people with too much time and too little After Effects. Then a client asked me for a motion graphic, I quoted them something embarrassingly ambitious, and I spent the next two days rediscovering tools that had been sitting in the Filter menu the whole time. Vanishing Point is one of those tools. On the surface it looks like a perspective correction utility, something you’d use to fix a crooked building facade.

July 17, 2026