10 Replies Latest reply: Jun 29, 2012 10:07 AM by photodrawken

Tip: non-destructive texture

photodrawken Jun 27, 2012 9:57 PM

If you're working on an image with a lot of layers, and you want to add some texture, instead of merging all the layers into a new one and applying the texture to that merged layer, you can:

Create a new "Overlay" layer above the layers you want to have the texture. You need to use Layer...New from the main menu bar and select the "Overlay" mode and the "Fill with neutral color" option.
Apply your texture to that overlay layer.

For example:

For this image effect:

The advantages of doing this:

If you don't like the effect, you only need to delete that one layer to start again.
You can adjust the opacity of the layer to fine-tune the texture effect.
You can create more than one texture layer, using whichever texture is appropriate for the final output.

This works for the Filter...Noise...Add Noise, as well as several textures from the Filter Gallery, including Film Grain.

Ken

1. Re: Tip: non-destructive texture

R_Kelly Jun 27, 2012 10:50 PM (in response to photodrawken)

That's a nice tip Ken.

Also if you want to use one the preset patterns, one could fill the layer (the paper texture layer in your screenshot); Edit>Fill>Pattern and use Filter>Stylize>Emboss to get the same look as the texturizer filter.
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2. Re: Tip: non-destructive texture

photodrawken Jun 28, 2012 1:26 AM (in response to R_Kelly)

Excellent! Thanks for mentioning the "Emboss" -- doing that to an applied pattern opens up a whole lot of options for the image texture.

Ken
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3. Re: Tip: non-destructive texture

Mark Sand Jun 28, 2012 4:22 AM (in response to photodrawken)

Good tips, guys!
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4. Re: Tip: non-destructive texture

photodrawken Jun 28, 2012 2:54 PM (in response to R_Kelly)

It turns out that applying the Filter...Sketch...Bas Relief to the texture works much better than the "Emboss" for simulating the look of a paper texture. In this example, I used the Artist Surface...Parchment pattern and compared, with both overlay layers set to an opacity of 51%:

Ken
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5. Re: Tip: non-destructive texture

99jon Jun 28, 2012 2:59 PM (in response to photodrawken)

Nice tip Ken. Someone was asking about creating a canvas texture and I’m sure your technique would be suitable. Thanks for sharing with us.
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6. Re: Tip: non-destructive texture

photodrawken Jun 28, 2012 3:03 PM (in response to 99jon)

99jon,

Thanks. That's sort of how I stumbled on the technique -- I was noodling around in PainterEssentials4, wound up with a nice "painted" effect on a textured "paper", and wanted to see if I could duplicate the effect in PSE.

Ken
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7. Re: Tip: non-destructive texture

R_Kelly Jun 28, 2012 7:35 PM (in response to photodrawken)

It's not as easy using the emboss filter. One needs to adjust the three parameters to achieve the same effect as the filters in the filter gallery.
But the filter gallery has a lot more options such as combining the filter effects.

Message was edited by: R_Kelly
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8. Re: Tip: non-destructive texture

photodrawken Jun 28, 2012 8:10 PM (in response to R_Kelly)

I used to think that the Filter Gallery's "Texturizer" filter was too limited, since it only has 4 textures, and other "painting" programs have multitudes of artistic surfaces; but now I see that those 4 textures can achieve a wide variety of effects, especially when combined.

Good to know that PSE can surpass the textues done by some of those other programs....

Ken
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9. Re: Tip: non-destructive texture

MichelBParis Jun 29, 2012 1:14 AM (in response to photodrawken)

A variant method to apply textures is to add a new 'Fill layer/pattern...' in overlay mode.
- click on the small triangle on the right of the image in the dialog,
- in the new panel, click on the small double triangle
and from the dropdown menu, choose a pattern.

This method gives you access to a host of standard various patterns and textures. Remember you can easily create your own patterns from your own pictures. (Menu edit/define pattern). Most of the time you'll use soft light or overlay blend modes.

You also can transform a home-made pattern with the high pass filter at various radius settings. This can be more natural as it does not add color.
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10. Re: Tip: non-destructive texture

photodrawken Jun 29, 2012 10:07 AM (in response to MichelBParis)

Michel,

That's a nice idea. The pattern fill layer has the advantage of its "Scale" option. Once the pattern fill layer is created, simplifying the layer and applying the Bas Relief filter gives the effect as above.

Ken
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