Background Textures in Photoshop
This is a really cool way to create custom background textures in Photoshop. I have to let you know first, that if you are working in Photoshop CS6 in 64 bit mode, you will have to drop drop to 32-bit mode in order to enable the lighting effects features found in previous versions of Photoshop.
This effect is really easy and is a simple trick using a couple of filters. First, create a new document in the size of your choice. Then, new layer and fill it with either white or black.. The layer has to have pixel information in it in order for the next step to work. Go to Filter> Render> Fibers. I gave it a really harsh, rugged fiber texture. Bump up the strength and the variance settings in order to give your fibers effect a more randomized look. The key to creating a realistic texture is for it to be as random and appear to be as natural as possible.
Then, go to Filter> Render> Lighting Effects. I usually leave mine on default, but you can play around with the settings. The boxes on the right side change the color of the light, so you can play around with those settings to get different colors on your texture. Pay attention to intensity, as this setting can blow out parts of your texture image. Under texture channel, choose the channel that gets the best looking results. This might vary depending on your own personal experience, but one channel might look good for one person and another might look good for someone else.. This creates a texture based on the black and white areas of your channel. White is the raised portion and black recedes, creating your shadows, and giving your texture some real dimension. The fibers settings that I chose earlier give this a feeling of bark or some rough, organic surface. The colors of the intensity and colorize settings really determine the outcome of how your texture will look.
Conclusion
Creating background textures in Photoshop can be fun and can produce interesting results. Sometimes playing around with combinations of filters and effects can produce natural and realistic results. You never know what you will stumble upon. Maybe if you combine this method with other effects, you will come up with something extraordinary. What textures have you come up with? How did this effect work out for you? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
