How to Create Neon Text in Adobe Premiere Pro CC (2018)

Neon text is one of the most eye-catching text effects you can create. The glowing, colorful look works great for intros, title cards, music videos, and anything with a nightlife or retro aesthetic. Premiere Pro does not have a built-in neon effect, but you can build one by stacking duplicated text layers with Camera Blur at different intensities. The result is a convincing glow that looks like real neon tubing.

Today we go over how to create neon text in Adobe Premiere Pro CC.

How to Create Neon Text

Building the Base Text

1. Create a new sequence for your neon text.
2. Select the Type Tool (T) and click on the Program Monitor. Type your text.
3. In the text settings, choose a thin, clean font. Neon signs use thin tubing, so fonts like thin or light weights look the most realistic. Avoid bold or heavy fonts.
4. Set the text color to the neon color you want. I chose orange, but pink, blue, and green all work well.

Creating the Glow Layers

5. Click on the text graphics layer, hold Alt, and drag upward to duplicate it. Do this twice so you have three identical text layers stacked on top of each other.
6. Go to the Effects panel and search for Camera Blur (under Video Effects > Blur and Sharpen).

Bottom Layer (Outer Glow)

7. Drag Camera Blur onto the bottom text layer.
8. In Effect Controls, set the Percent Blur to about 75-80. This creates the wide, soft outer glow.
9. Optionally, change the text color on this layer to a slightly different shade than the main text. In real life, neon light tends to shift color at the edges. For example, if your main text is orange, make this layer a slightly warmer red-orange.

Middle Layer (Inner Glow)

10. Drag Camera Blur onto the middle text layer.
11. Set the Percent Blur to about 35-40. This creates a tighter glow closer to the text.
12. Keep this layer’s color the same as the main text.
13. Lower the Opacity if the glow is too intense.

Top Layer (The Text Itself)

14. Leave the top layer without any blur. This is the sharp text that sits on top of the glow.
15. Make the text color on this layer slightly brighter than the others. Push it closer to white. Real neon tubes have a bright white core with color radiating outward. This bright center is what makes it look like the text is actually emitting light.

Animating the Neon Turning On

16. To create a flickering power-on effect, duplicate the top layer and bring it to the very top.
17. Change this copy’s text color back to the base color (not brightened). This represents the neon in its “off” state.
18. At the start of the sequence, show only this dim top layer. Hide the three glow layers by trimming them to start a second or so later.
19. After about one second, cut the dim layer and begin the three glow layers. This creates the transition from off to on.
20. To add flickering, create a few quick cuts (2-3 frames each) alternating between the dim and glowing states right at the transition point. This simulates the neon flickering to life.

Adding a Neon Box

21. Select the Rectangle Tool from the toolbar and draw a box around the text.
22. Remove the fill and keep only the stroke. Set the stroke color to match the neon color.
23. Apply the same Camera Blur duplication technique: create multiple copies with varying blur amounts to create the glow around the box.
24. Apply the same on/off flickering animation.

Tips

• The background matters. Neon text looks best on dark backgrounds. A dark wall, nighttime footage, or a solid dark color behind the text will make the glow stand out.
• Lower the opacity on the glow layers if they are overpowering. Real neon has a soft, subtle glow. Too much blur at full opacity looks like a fog.
• Add a text shine animation on top of the neon for extra sparkle.
• Everything is transparent. Since the text layers have no background, you can place this neon effect over any footage or image.
• Try different colors for different moods. Pink neon feels retro and romantic. Blue feels futuristic. Green feels toxic or sci-fi. Red feels urgent.

That is how you create neon text in Premiere Pro. Multiple layers with increasing Camera Blur create a convincing glow, and the color shifting from bright center to softer edges is what makes it look like real neon.