Why hunt around for a new texture when you can create a texture from scratch yourself? And no, it's not as difficult as it sounds. In fact, it's surprisingly straightforward to create Photoshop CS6 textures ...
If, like us, you have hundreds of photographs in your media library, choosing images to begin with can be tricky. Thankfully, we're currently giving away 40 free textures:
These are just some images we found in our archive. If you look closely, you'll see that the images include soap bubbles, lichen, banana skin and tyre tracks in the sand. Some of these are favourites, while others are chosen at random. But how do you get from here to an abstract texture?
Using Color Range in Photoshop
First, take each image in turn, and use Select>Color Range in Photoshop to isolate an area that interests you. You then copy and paste these selections into a single image file.
You can try taking a few different selections from each source, depending on how detailed the image is, but you can't really be sure a selection will work until you start to experiment with it.
Layering the images
You should then start to layer the selections on top of each other, using the Transform tool to scale and/or rotate them. You can also try altering the colour balance. After you've played around with these settings, try experimenting with different Blending modes such as Multiply and Overlay.
Your Photoshop texture
The last effect to apply to your background is transparency adjustments. Go through each layer, and tweak the transparency setting for each. As you go, you'll start to build up a multi-layered effect that offers depth and texture to your final image. The finished texture is now ready for use.
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Now check out our massive list of 101 Photoshop tutorials!
