5 Replies Latest reply: Mar 26, 2012 10:36 PM by photodrawken RSS

    Tutorial:  Creating a cork background

    photodrawken Community Member
    photodrawken Mar 25, 2012 12:50 AM

      While answering a recent question, I was dismayed to find that PSE10 does not have a cork background pattern in its "Content" palette.

       

      I happened onto a tutorial on the Web for creating a cork pattern using Illustrator, and, lo and behold, it works perfectly in PSE10!  So, here's how to do it. 

       

      N.B.:  I started with a new blank file using the default PSE size of 6in. wide by 4in. high.  If your image differs significantly from that size, you'll have to adjust the settings of the filters appropriately, increasing or decreasing the size of the effect.

       

      Here we go:

      1. On a new blank 6in. x 4in. image, set your foreground  colour to a nice medium brown:
        medium brown colour.png
      2. Fill the background with that brown.
      3. Apply a Filter...Texture...Texturizer effect with these settings:
        01 texturizer settings.png

        To get an image like this:
        cork 02.png
      4. Apply a Filter...Pixellate...Crystalize effect with these settings:
        02 crystalize settings.png

        To get an image like this:
        cork 03.png
      5. Apply a Filter...Texture...Craqelure effect with these settings:
        03 craquelure settings.png

        To get the final corkboard image:
        cork 04.png

       

      Enjoy!

       

      Ken

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        • 1. Re: Tutorial:  Creating a cork background
          R_Kelly Community Member
          R_Kelly Mar 25, 2012 12:58 AM (in response to photodrawken)

          Nice job!

           

          Probably better than a pattern since there no seams and thanks for sharing.

          • 2. Re: Tutorial:  Creating a cork background
            photodrawken Community Member
            photodrawken Mar 25, 2012 1:04 AM (in response to R_Kelly)

            Thanks.

             

            An image that's accessed from the "Content" palette has its advantages.  A handmade image like the above can probably be added to the "Content" palette, but it'll take a while to figure out how to do it and I'm getting really sleepy....

             

            Good point about the seams, though, will need to use the pattern maker to ensure the image tiles seamlessly when used from  "Content" .

             

            Ken

            • 3. Re: Tutorial:  Creating a cork background
              dreambig123 Community Member
              dreambig123 Mar 26, 2012 3:13 AM (in response to photodrawken)

              Thank you so much .... Nice job and so informatic.

               

              Sam

              • 4. Re: Tutorial:  Creating a cork background
                photodrawken Community Member
                photodrawken Mar 26, 2012 8:38 AM (in response to dreambig123)

                You're welcome.  I was surprised at how quick it is to create the background.

                 

                Ken

                • 5. Re: Tutorial:  Creating a cork background
                  photodrawken Community Member
                  photodrawken Mar 26, 2012 10:36 PM (in response to photodrawken)

                  I've added a cork background to my PSE10 "Content" palette, and it's a great way to go!

                   

                  For those who are interested in having the cork background handy, there are three stages to do it:

                   

                  I.  Create the necessary files.

                  II.  Place the files in the appropriate directory.

                  III.  Have PSE recognize the new files.

                   

                   

                  I.  Create the necessary files.

                  There are three files needed, and they must be named like this:

                  Corkboard 01.thumbnail.jpg

                  Corkboard 01.jpg

                  Corkboard 01.metadata.xml

                   

                  I can include the first one and the last one in this post, but the second file (the actual image used for the background) is very large -- 13Mb, so you'll have to create it yourself.

                   

                  1. Create a new blank image with these dimensions:
                    2600px wide by 2600px high at a resolution of 300ppi.
                  2. Follow the steps in the tutorial to create the cork image.  I found that it's not necessary to change the settings of the effects filters to accommodate the large file dimensions.
                  3. Save the file to any convenient directory, naming the file
                    Corkboard 01.jpg
                  4. Save this file to the same directory:
                    Corkboard 01.thumbnail.jpg
                    naming it
                    Corkboard 01.thumbnail.jpg
                  5. Close PSE.
                  6. Copy this text into a text editor:

                  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

                  <PSEContent xmlns="http://ns.adobe.com/PSEContent/2.0/">

                      <subscription value="free" />

                      <name value="$$$/content/backgrounds/Corkboard 01=Corkboard 01" />

                      <type value="backgrounds" />

                      <category value="$$$/content/category/Activity=Activity">

                          <subcategory value="$$$/content/category/Activity/Storytelling=Storytelling" />

                      </category>

                      <category value="$$$/content/category/Color=Color">

                          <subcategory value="$$$/content/category/Color/Tan=Tan" />

                      </category>

                      <category value="$$$/content/category/Event=Event">

                          <subcategory value="$$$/content/category/Event/Story Telling=Story Telling" />

                      </category>

                      <category value="$$$/content/category/Mood=Mood">

                          <subcategory value="$$$/content/category/Mood/Thoughtful=Thoughtful" />

                          <subcategory value="$$$/content/category/Mood/Reflective=Reflective" />

                          <subcategory value="$$$/content/category/Mood/Formal=Formal" />

                      </category>

                      <category value="$$$/content/category/Style=Style">

                          <subcategory value="$$$/content/category/Style/General=General" />

                          <subcategory value="$$$/content/category/Style/Casual=Casual" />

                          <subcategory value="$$$/content/category/Style/Texture=Texture" />

                      </category>

                      <keyword value="$$$/content/keyword/Scrapbook=Scrapbook" />

                      <keyword value="$$$/content/keyword/Paper=Paper" />

                      <theme value="scrapbook"/>

                  </PSEContent>

                  saving the file as:
                  Corkboard 01.metadata.xml

                  in the same directory as the other two files.

                   

                  II. Place the files in the appropriate directory.

                  1. In Windows Explorer, set your View options to "Show hidden files and folders".
                  2. Copy those three files into this directory:
                    "C:\ProgramData\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\10.0\Photo Creations\backgrounds"

                   

                  III. Have PSE recognize the new files.

                  1. Browse to this directory:
                    "C:\ProgramData\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\10.0\Locale\en_us"
                    and delete or rename this file:
                    MediaDatabase.db3
                  2. Browse to this directory:
                    "C:\ProgramData\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\10.0"
                    and delete or rename this file:
                    ThumbDatabase.db3

                   

                  When you start PSE, it'll take several minutes to rebuild those database files and incorporate your new background.

                   

                  Now the cork background is only a couple of clicks away, and a neat thing to do is to use a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer (set to "Colorize") to change the colour from this:

                  cork original.png

                  to this:

                  cork dark.png

                  or this:

                  cork light.png

                   

                  Have fun!

                   

                  Ken