This tutorial covers how to create a stainless steel or a wood grain texture in Photoshop. Shortcut keys will be listed bolded, in parentheses.
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Create a new document: File > New… Any size document will do, as long as its bigger than 400×400.
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Set the foreground color using these values (r:128 g:127 b:132). Using the Paint Bucket tool (G), fill the entire document.
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If you’re working with a Background Layer, double-click the layer to change it to a normal layer. The layer name will change to "Layer 0".
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Two ways to do this:
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Select the Shapes tool(s), (U) or (Shift+U), depending on if you want to use a regular shape, or a custom shape. Make sure that the Paths option is selected (in the Shapes tool bar) 1. Now click+drag to create your shape.
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Select the Path Selection tool (A), right+click on your path and choose Make Selection…. Leave all the default options the way they are, ie: feather radius = 0, anti-alias (checked), and click OK. OR
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Press (M) or (Shift+M) for the Rectangular Marquee tool.
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Go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise… and use these settings:
Amount: 25%
Distribution: Gaussian
Monochromatic: (checked).
Click OK.
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Now, go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur… use these settings:
Angle: 0°
Distance: 20.
Click OK.
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Selection should still be active. Right-click anywhere around the selection or inside of it, and select Select Inverse. Now press (delete), to clear the selection. 2
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Now click outside the selection to clear it. Now, go to Layer > Layer Style > Bevel and Emboss (or use the Fx shortcut on the Layers palette). Play around till you find something you like =)
To create just a simple, tileable texture:
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On step 1, use a size that is easily tileable (something less than 256×256). Flatten the image after step 2. Skip steps 3 and 4, 7 and 8.
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After step 6, go to Filter > Other > Offset, and set your horizontal offset to half of your document width. Do the same for the vertical offset (half of document height) just to check it; this is usually fine. Make sure that Wrap Around is selected in Undefined Areas. Click OK. You’ll have a seam down the middle of the document.
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Now, go to Image > Canvas Size…, and change the Canvas extension color to match the color fill of the document. Making that the anchor is set to the middle, change the document height to ~50 greater than the current document height, and click OK.
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Using the Rectangular Marquee tool, make a narrow (not more than 100 pixels) selection around the entire length of the seam in the middle of the document. Right-click and select Feather… Change the value to somewhere between 12 and 25 pixels. Click OK.
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Go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur… and use the same settings for step 7. Click OK. Use Canvas Size… again but subtract the ~50 pixels that you originally added to the height.
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Go to Filter > Other > Offset, to test your tile.
Now, you should be finished!
Additional Tips and Tricks
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Turn the tileable image you created above into a pattern that can be used in Layer Styles by pressing Ctrl/CMD+A, then going to Edit > Define Pattern… Name it something like "Steel/Wood Grain" and press enter.
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You can use any color for the process detailed above, or you can keep the gray but use the Color Overlay Layer Style to adjust the appearance of your creation.
[…] Metal/Wood Grain Tutorial […]
[…] Metal/Wood Grain Tutorial […]
[…] Metal/Wood Grain Tutorial […]