Thought I would do a quick photoshop tutorial on how to create textured papers similar to those in my Free Lavender Dreams Scrapbooking Papers Pack
Photoshop CS3+
Beginner to Intermediate skill level
Assumes you have a some knowledge of the Photoshop Interface regarding Filters, Layer Pallet, Channel Pallet.
Remember to save regularly!
Click on any of the images below to view the full sized image
This is a full resolution closeup example of the type of paper we are going to create:
Create a new document File > New (or Ctrl+N) with the following attributes:
Width = 3600 pixels
Height = 3600 pixels
Resolution = 300 pixels/inch
Background = Transparent
Save the document as a psd file with layers (incase something happens so you dont lose your work)
File > Save As > yourdocnamehere.psd
Tick “Layers” box
Set the document foreground colour to #d40202
Set the background colour to #870505
Left click on Layer1 within the Layer Pallet to ensure it is active.
Run the Cloud Filter on Layer1:
Filter > Render > Clouds
which should result in something that looks like the next image. Dont worry if yours looks a little different, the filter produces different results each time it is run.
Then add some noise:
Filter > Noise > Add Noise
Amount = 2.8%
Distribution = Gaussian
Monochromatic = Checked
Next go to the Channels Pallet to create a displacement map.
Click the Create New Channel Icon at the bottom of the Channels Pallet next to the Trash Icon.
The image in the document window should turn black and Alpha1 channel should show as blue in the Channels Pallet to show its the active channel.
Repeat the earlier step to run the Cloud Filter on Alpha1
Filter > Render > Clouds
Add Noise to Alpha1 using the same settings as used for Layer1
Which should result in something similar to (dont worry if your’s differs slightly):
Head back to the Layer Pallet and make sure your Layer1 is fully visible again and active.
Next we are going to apply a Lighting Filter:
Filter > Render > Lighting Effects
and apply the following settings making sure to have Alpha1 selected as the Texture Channel
To finish off the paper we’ll add some texture to it using the Texturize Filter.
Filter > Texture > Texturize
Texture = Canvas
Scaling = 100%
Relief = 4%
Light = Top Left
I always save my psd work files. That way I can open them back up at a later date and use various layers or alpha channels etc from them in other documents where relevant.
To use this for digital scrapbooking, so as not to lose image resolution/quality, duplicate your image Image >Duplicate Image
Flatten Image: Layer > Flatten Image
Then “Save as” a jpg file.
This way you will have the psd work file saved and also your paper saved as a seperate single layer jpg file.
This is just one example of how I create my own papers for digital scrapbooking.
Feel free to have fun and experiment with the settings to see what sort of variations you can create!
Cheers
Whims
xx
Thank you for taking me step by step through the Adobe process of creating a textured page. I’ve had interest in learning Adobe but haven’t a clue where to start. I followed each step you gave and was able to follow through completely. You steps were very clear. Thank you. Now, that wasn’t so bad. If I could only find the page I saved!!! haha
Hi :-)))
Glad you found it useful and you were able to follow the tutorial without issues :-))
I often forget where I have saved something. I find if i am using “save for web” then it will usually default to saving the image in my Pictures/Images folder under My Documents.
What i sometimes have to do is use windows search and if i can remember at least part of the file name and at least what hard drive i saved it to, it will usually turn it up for me.
Cheers
Whims