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Apply Textures to Images

Lesson 8 from: Adding Texture to Photographs

Dave Cross

Apply Textures to Images

Lesson 8 from: Adding Texture to Photographs

Dave Cross

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Lesson Info

8. Apply Textures to Images

Lesson Info

Apply Textures to Images

so because I don't know yet, I'm just gonna say whatever the settings are just gonna get into Photoshopped so that camera smart object is still on. I don't have to turn it on cause it stays on. So I said, open, object, and then let's take this other one. Now I happen to use bridge, and I haven't shown this yet because for people who use light room and other things, there could be some other ways to do it. But if I'm ever uncertain as to whether the sizes of my photos match, because I could have, for example, a texture which is much bigger in because I used bridge, one of the nice options is once you click once on the image, then you can go file place in photo shop and by placing it automatically after course, first opening camera will scale it to fit. So if you're ever uncertain as to sizing, it won't scale up if it's too small. But if it's way too big, unless you want to bring it in, have an overlap just in case. But in this case I don't. So here are my texture, which is the close up ...

of an old gravestone somewhere that I thought was interesting because it has text you can't quite read. Just thought it might be interesting to work with. So here's an example where as much as I love camera smart objects for this next function toe work. It doesn't work so but I would still personally start with camera smart objects and then make copies. Is using a method of showing us a moment so that if I go down this path and go, that's actually interesting. But I need to tweak something I can start with over again with these cameras, smart objects. And the reason I say it that way is the command I want to use is called Apply image, and it's great out because you can't do it to a camera smart object. Okay, so what I need to do in each case and again, longtime viewers of me will be like I can't believe Davis using these words right now, because I would not normally do this, but it's the only way around. It is it's gonna make me sweat a little bit, actually, do this command because it's called pasteurized layer. Don't This is like the Onley time. I can think of that. I've done this because I want to preserve that editing ability, but that's just the way it works. So I'm gonna hide my two cameras Smart objects for now, just in case I want to use them. So what that suggests is, before you go to this step, it would be a good idea to have a good idea that maybe these this is the settings I want to use for these photos because with these two rast arised layers now, I've disconnected camera raw, so I can't go back and add them anymore. So this is kind of a one shot deal, but what it does is pretty interesting. And things you can't do otherwise is easily in photo shop. So the apply image dialog box most people when they use apply image. This is the way they use this dialog box. They open it and go, That looks really complicated. May cancel it and just say, I'm not gonna use it because it's just way too complicated. But what I would say to you is, any time a photo shop, you see, cancel and preview. I always refer these as permission to experiment. So you have no idea what this does. It's OK, because until you actually click, OK, nothing's gonna happen. And even then, I still have backup files underneath anyway, So if I hate the way it works, it's not a big deal. So basically, it's you're gonna look in here and say I'm gonna look inside this document and has all the names of the different layers. So I want I want to take this copy layer and try using it in screen mode. Um, do you think for a second if this is the best way to show you this that Okay, let me do it this way instead. Workable Better. Okay, so I'm on the layer of the whatever it is the shipwrecked boat there, and I want to activate the other layer. Now I got to be ought to say I'm get really lacks sometimes about naming my layers. This might be a time where it would make better sense. So you know what? That player you're on? Um, but as you start playing with these settings, you're going to get different results based on why am I not seeing the result that I want. Oh, I see. Okay, so I can't see it live because of the order. Okay. Sorry. I just had to figure out the best way. So this layers on top, then I can see. Sorry about that. Okay, So this is a good learning lesson is that if you want to see a live preview, you have to make sure the layer you're actually trying to work on is at the top of the stack of layers. All right, so with that in mind, apply image. Okay, so I want to go to the other one, This one. And now at first when I just leave it like this, if I have it set to channel RGB Linear burn, that's exactly the same. Is if I just change the blend mode to linear burn. So there's really there be no real advantage. But some of the question you asked before about those blend of sliders. Are there other options in here? You say what if I just took the Red Channel or the Green Channel? See how each one is making a subtle difference and how it's being applied? So will depend on the blend mode and the setting that you use in here is to whether it's how it's gonna affect it. Oops. And of course, we can change things like opacity. There's also a mask option, which is really very odd, because at first when you do it, it just I've yet to kind of figure out the logic of how it's using its own layer to mask itself. But somehow it makes a change. So this would be a prime example of a good thing. There's a preview in a cancel button because sometimes you're just like I don't know what's happening. So this is, um, or experimental one, because for two reasons, first of all, some of the settings, you're not really 100% sure what's happening, but also when you click OK, it doesn't show up anywhere to say, Let me go back and re adjust those apply image settings. If you're ever experimenting with these settings and you get to the point of going, um, I just I think I've gone down a path I don't like, but I want to keep Experian with this instead of cancelling it and starting over again in photo shop. There's a neat little trick. Anytime you are in a dialogue box where you've done a bunch of stuff. You want to start again, see the cancel button if you hold down option or all changes to reset and we'll just go back to square one so it kind of resets everything. In this case, it will reset it to the last things you use, which still might be weird. But in a lot of other dialogue boxes, it kind of resets it back to quote unquote normal. So if you've played with a whole bunch of settings, a lot of people have a habit of canceling and then reopening exactly the same command. The often all key just cuts to the chase and says, Let me start again. Okay, so I would rank apply image further down the list of things to try just because of the nature of it, of being a little more permanent and and more destructive. What is rest arise. I don't get it. Okay, so Rast arise simply means turn into pixels, so the camera smart objects preserved the link back to camera raw by rast arising. Now it's just a JPEG. It's just a pixel layer with no connection to anything else. So that's why Rast arise. Generally is not a great thing, because I don't want to give up that ability. Edit in camera but for apply image toe work. I had to, but that's why I duplicated first. So at least I still have the camera. Smart opposite. I want toe. It's just a more roundabout way to experiment, but Rast arises on that same list with a race. Delete, merge, flatten as being things that generally you want to avoid unless in like in this case, there is no other option. Sure, OK, here is another example we haven't talked about before about textures. So you've tried all these other things. We just say I'm not. I just not happy with the textures that I have are the ones that I found. So there's actually some interesting quasi textures built in to photo shop. They just have to go find him. So let's go to our adjustment layer menu, and there's one called pattern. Now, in a photo shop, you can add patterns in a number of ways. You could add a blank layer and fill with a pattern. You could use a brush all the pattern. I know what's called. I never use it the something pattern tool. But the problem with all of those is, whatever the size of your pattern, whatever Howard's been defined as being this big, that's all you get. Whereas in this simple little thing called Pattern Phil, weaken, go and find a pattern, these air ones that are built in. I'll show you in a minute how I found them and then say, Well, what if I want the pattern to be this big? Which at first was just gonna looking like really you? That's what you want. But these are seamless patterns, which means how are big or small you make them. It's like getting tiles to redo your kitchen. And the pattern continues in a nice, obvious way, without the lines that you would see, Um, and there's no growth. So these patterns are ones that by default when you go to the pattern, if you've never uses before the first time, you'll see a small handful of patterns and you'll think, Why would I ever use any of these? Because the built in once they give you are rather, um, let's just say not ones. I would probably use. However, if you use this little gear menu, there's all these different things like artists, surfaces and color paper and road herbal textures and oh, my gosh, all of these things. So I haven't even loaded all of these yet. I've just done a couple of them, but so now that I've got that on there, this is an adjustment layer, right? That adjustment layer with a mask. So I could, I suppose, mask and like, try and mask her. So the pattern was only behind her. That would be an option. But I'm lazy. So the first thing I would try is what about some other way of blending the layers together based on, I don't know, maybe their shades of gray and black and white like the blend of sliders. You can use a blend of sliders on adjustment layer. Probably in this case by saying take the underlying layer, split the triangles using our option all key, maybe take the top layer. This I have no idea. Just gonna try and see. Oh, that's interesting. Oh, yeah. Okay, now, I think in this case, it might look more interesting if we actually used some kind of power. Yeah, okay, that's getting interesting. Now you might get to a certain point, say, Gosh, that's so close, but not quite. But the way I look at say that took me 15 seconds took me along because I was narrating. But if you don't narrate your work, it will be a little faster. But it didn't take me very long to try that. I might just go. You know what? Cancel? That didn't work at all. Let me just make a mask and do it myself. But I would always go down this path first because it's instant. You can see what's happening, and I often find it's a great starting point that I just need to tweak a little bit further. So click. OK, so here's an interesting concept that has saved me a ton of time, I would say often not always, but for some cases that I don't know if it's gonna work here or not, will just try and see, because I could click on the layer mask and then used one or two methods to try and paint on her to make sure there's no texture on her at all. Not that initially want that. But I'm not. You know, I'm not sure what I would try first is this. Whenever you have a photograph and you're putting something on top of it like an adjustment or something else, this is an interesting theory to try, select all and copied the entire photograph. Go to the layer mask option, click on it and then paste the photograph as a mask of itself. In effect. Let me turn that off. See how it's made a difference. Now they're still gonna be a little bit of texture on her because the mask when we look at it, it's all to do with shades of gray and white and black, right? So I don't know what if I converted. That may be a little different. I like the little better we talked about layer mask from things I've said. Is that the and inverted back again? I think they look at the layer mask. She's kind of middle light grey, where if I really didn't want the texture on her, she should be black, filled with black. That is so I might just try and see. What if I changed overlay mode and use black absolutely be relatively careful to stay within the lines. But let's just see what that looks like in the context of this is where, by the way, I haven't mentioned my welcome tablet. But if you're using tablets, I'm using the pressure sensitivity to change the size of the brush on the fly, which is so much easier. So that's a little better, I think, when I was having a mind. Now that I've done that, I might go back to the blend if sliders and readjust accordingly and maybe even try a different blend mode should be like just music playing. While I'm just going, let me try this. Try that so just another option, but that these patterns you can define a pattern yourself out of anything but the challenges. Most things you try and make a pattern will have a very noticeable scene because the chance of you making a selection is perfect, so it matches up. It's pretty slim. There are techniques to try and get around that, but it's a lot of work, whereas if you use that capture app talked about the top that makes seamless patterns automatically. So if you find some cool thing and take a photograph of you share to your library. It's instantly a seamless pattern. You can scale whoever size you want and then start doing this kind of blending. So when I was first designed in this class, at first I thought of calling it like overlaying texture. But then I realized, sometimes I'm not overlaying it ends up looking like the textures in behind its not on top, so it's really different ways where we can add texture together.

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

Example Textures Package

Ratings and Reviews

Beatriz Stollnitz
 

Great class for anyone looking to blend a photo with a texture for a creative effect. Dave discusses Blend If, smart objects, Apply Image and many other techniques that enable us to get the most out of Photoshop when adding texture to photos.

Laura D
 

Loved this class. Dave covered exactly what I needed to know to add textures, including a multitude of ways to make the texture more or less subtle. I learned a lot. You do need some Photoshop background to understand all the content.

Student Work

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