TEXTURE: Half Grunge, Half Tech

[Adam P.]

Here's a tutorial on how to create a cool texture that is kind of grungy, kind of techy, and works great for collages and backgrounds. [img]images/smilies/smile.gif[/img] Permanent Location at SitePoint.com

STEP 1

Create a new document, 300x500, with a white background. Set your colors to the default by hitting the “D” key on your keyboard. You want black as your foreground and white as your background.

Next, go to FILTER > RENDER > CLOUDS.

[Adam P.]

STEP 2

Go to FILTER > BLUR > MOTION BLUR, and use these settings:

Angle: 0
Distance: 55 pixels

Click OK. You should now have something that looks about like this:



STEP 3

Next go to FILTER > LIQUIFY. Select the “Shift Pixels Tool” from the left hand toolbar and keep the default settings, Brush size: 64 and Brush pressure: 50. Now, using quick and sweeping strokes, begin at the top of your image and sweep back and forth across your image with slightly overlapping strokes. This should take about 8-10 overlapping strokes. If you mess up, don’t panic! Simply click the “REVERT” button on the right side of the window.



If done correctly, you should get something similar to the following. Don’t try and be exact – this is an experimental step that you can have fun with.

[Adam P.]

STEP 4

Now we need a little more contrast. Go to IMAGE > ADJUSTMENTS > BRIGHTNESS/CONTRAST and use the following settings:

Brightness: 15
Contrast: 55

Click OK



STEP 5

Now let’s add a little color. Not too much, because we’re trying to keep a sort of metal/steel look, but enough to add some interest. Go to IMAGE > ADJUSTMENTS > HUE/SATURATION (Ctrl + U) and select the “Colorize” checkbox. I used the following settings to give it a cold steel look, but feel free to experiment.

Hue: 218
Saturation: 13
Lightness: 0

Click OK.

[Adam P.]

STEP 6

This step is optional. I used it to accentuate the highlights and shadows. Simply go to IMAGE > ADJUSTMENTS > REPLACE COLOR. With the eyedropper tool, go to your image and select a pure black. Then, in the “Replace Color” window, change the “Lightness” to -40. Leave Hue and Saturation alone. Click OK.



STEP 7

Go to FILTER > SKETCH > WATER PAPER. Keep the default settings and click OK. There you have it! A cool, simple, and fun texture that you can use almost anywhere. Be sure to experiment with your own settings – I guarantee you’ll find something even cooler along the way. If you’d like to use this as a corner background image on a webpage, continue to the next step:

[Adam P.]

STEP 8: Optional

If you’d like to use it as a corner background on a webpage, simply select the Eraser Tool, grab a big 200 px feathered brush, and erase around the bottom and left or right side. You should get a nice image that you can place in the corner of a webpage.

[anode]

Great tutorial. You could also use this to make an aged paper/papyrus texture by desaturating, sepia toning and liberal use of the blur and smudge tools.

[Siltrince]

Nice one Adam

[Smarky]

I wanna see this effect but your images are broken :P

[iTec]

adam, your images are still broken