In this tutorial, let’s see how Photoshop’s brush set effects can help you create an intricate looking texture. This is most handy for background use…
Step 1 Let’s first create a new brush. Press Ctrl/Cmd +N to open a new document in Photoshop and a settings window will appear. I’ve adjusted my brush settings to the following – Resolution: 300pixels/inch, Width: 500pixels, Height: 500pixels. Let’s name this document “Wave Brush”.
Step 2
Select Pen Tool (P) and draw a simple wave path.
Step 3
Next, select the Brush Tool (B). Set the Master Diameter to 25 pixels and Hardness to 50%.
Step 4 Click on the Foreground Color and pick the color of your choice. You can opt for black as your brush default color. I’ve selected a mid-tone blue because the color helps create more depth during the texture creation process.
Step 5
Click the icon as shown in the Layer Window to create a new transparent layer. I named it as “wave brush”.
Step 6
Select the Pen Tool (P) again. Then, right click the mouse (for PC user) / press Ctrl and click on mouse (for Mac user) to select Stroke Path with Brush.
Step 7
Select “Brush” in the Stroke Path window and check the Simulate Pressure box.
Step 8
Delete both “Background” and “Work Path” layers by dragging the layers to the trash bin icon.
Step 9 On the “wave brush” layer, click on the “fx” icon and select “Outer Glow”.
Step 10
Pick on a color that you desire, or you can follow my below settings.
Step 11 Duplicate the “wave brush” layer (Quickest way would be to click and drag the original “wave brush” layer towards the New Layer icon).
Step 12
Hide the original “wave brush” layer by turning off the ‘eye’ icon.
Step 13
Go to Filter>Blur>Shape Blur to add some blur effects on the brush’s edge.
Step 14
Below are my preferred shape and radius settings. You don’t necessarily have to follow those settings i.e. you can play around with the adjustments until you find the one you like.
Step 15
Unhide the original “wave brush” layer. On this layer, click on the masking icon and press B (Brush Tool) to mask both ends of the brush.
Step 16
Click on the icon at the top-right corner of the Layer Window and select the Merge Visibleoption. This is the final brush effect I had in mind.
Step 17
Go to Edit>Define Brush Preset to create a new brush in the Brush Preset Picker.
Step 18
Name the new brush “Wave Brush”.
Step 19 Press Ctrl/Cmd + N to create another document with these settings – Resolution: 300pixels/inch, Width: 1680pixels, Height: 1050pixels.
Step 20
Press B to select your new brush at the Brush Preset Picker.
Step 21
Simply apply the wave brush to your fancy until the space in the document is filled up.
Step 22
Select your favorite Background Color.
Step 23
Go to Filter>Render>Difference Clouds.
Step 24
Press Ctrl/Cmd + F a few times and you will achieve similar results like this.
Step 25 Press Ctrl/Cmd + B to adjust the texture’s color. Check Colorize and set it to Hue: 200, Saturation: 50. Over here, you can again tweak the settings to suit your own personal preference.
Step 26 Press Ctrl/Cmd + J to duplicate another copy of the same texture layer and set the layer’s mode to Overlay.
Step 27 Press Ctrl/Cmd + M to adjust the Curves. This will help add contrast to the texture so that it’s more outstanding. There are many color adjustment options available apart from the method I’ve suggested. So, do allow some room for exploration to test out the available options until you’ve reached satisfactory results.
Step 28
Click on the icon situated on the top-right corner of the Layers Window to flatten the image. This ultimately ends the entire process.
If you are not fully satisfied with the above color effect, you can use Color Balance (Ctrl/Cmd + B) or other methods to enhance the texture. Here’s the overall result…
Now, you may be wondering why not just apply the Difference Clouds Filter from start? It would seem easier and faster. Well, the below texture sample is done using the normal Difference Clouds Filter effect. If you compare both texture versions, you will discover that the Brush Set method allows one the flexibility to create more pattern variety, whilst a normal preset filter can’t. Thus, the reason why it’s worth spending some time creating our own Brush. 🙂
Tip: A good amount of experiment and adjustment trials will help result in a good textured background. In fact, here are some additional methods if you would like to take this tutorial a step further…
Extra Step 1 Create a new document with these settings – Resolution: 300pixel/inch, Width:1680pixels, Height: 1050pixels. Go to Window>Brushes to call up the Brushes Window.
Extra Step 2
Do test out the different options available, or you can try my Shape Dynamics preference.
Extra Step 3 Select your favorite Foreground and Background Color again. Then, press B to choose “Wave Brush” and randomly fill in the empty space.
Extra Step 4 Go to Filter>Render>Difference Clouds. Press Ctrl/Cmd + F and continue applying the Difference Clouds Filter on the image until a favorite pattern is formed.
Then, use the Color Balance (Ctrl/Cmd + B) or Curves (Ctrl/Cmd + M) again to enhance the entire effect.
Extra Step 5 If you have Photoshop plug-in filters like Nik Software Color Efex Pro 3.0, you can go toInfrared Thermal Camera for easier color adjustments.
Extra Step 6 Go to Tonal Contrast in the Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0 filters for final tunings on the contrast.
Extra Step 7 Voila! Hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial.