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

Adobe Premiere Pro doesn’t have too many different text presets built in. Sure you can change the color and font. But when it comes to true styling, that’s something you will have to create on your own. Typically Photoshop or Illustrator would be a good option to create something crazy. However, I want to show a technique to make some styled text in Adobe Premiere Pro. Today we go over how to create Neon Text in Adobe Premiere Pro CC.

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

Creating the Neon Text

1. Create a new sequence for the neon text.
2. Go to the type tool, go into the preview panel and click once. Now type in your text.
3. Go into the text settings and make sure to use a thinner text. This will make it look more realistic.
4. Also change the text to a color that we want to use. In this case I chose an Orange color.
5. Click on the layer, hold down the alt-key, and then drag up. This will duplicate the layer. Do this twice so we have two different text layers.
6. Find camera blur in the effects. Drag that on to the bottom layer.
7. Go into effect controls and find the Camera Blur. Go to Percent Blur, and drag this up to a higher number. I went with around 75~80.
8. It can be beneficial to change the color of this blurred text to a slightly different color. This will more closely mimic color in real life, as it tends to split near the edges.
9. Now drag camera blur onto the second layer. Go into effect controls and move the Percent Blur to something like 35~40. This will give the closer glow. You typically want this glow color to be the same as the text.
10. You can lower the opacity of either of the layers to reduce the glow on them.
11. On the very top layer, we want to take the color and make it just a little brighter. The reason is because this makes it look like it’s actually lit up. The brighter color emulates the white light that is emitted from the neon.

Animating the Neon Text

1. Duplicate the top footage and bring it to the very top.
2. Go into the color of this, and reset it to the base color. This will be the un-lit neon text.
3. Now cut the footage so it starts only with the original colored text. This will require trimming the bottom three layers.
4. Now after about a second, cut the top layer, and trim it farther down the timeline. At this point, start the other 3 layers playing. This will transition from off to on.
5. To add some flair, you can create multiple quick cuts here to make it look like the neon is turning off and on.
6. Duplicate this effect on the back side to make the text turn off if you want.

Creating the Box

1. Go find the shape tool in your toolbox. (Sometimes it’s hiding under the circle or rounded rectangle tool).
2. Click on this tool, go to the preview panel, and draw a box around the text.
3. Use the previous method of duplicating and adding camera blur to create the blur.
4. Use the previous method of turning layers on and off to create the text turning off and on.

There you have it, some neon text to put anywhere you like. The best part about this is that it is completely transparent, so you can put it over any footage or image you like!

Other Premiere Pro Tutorials:

• RGB Glitch Effect
• Whip Pan Transition
• Quickly Edit Footage to a Beat