Tutorial

incing imperfections When you want to create conv get filters – the within your digital work, for ound you… resources you need are all ar ake no mistake, environmental conditions will have an adverse effect on the longevity of any artwork posted outdoors. But that which is detrimental to quality also produces a new form of beauty. That beauty can be found in the distressed effects that are the direct result of weather, or normal wear and tear caused by activity in the immediate surroundings. Many digital artists recognise the beauty within these tactile imperfections, but more often than not, the reproduction of these effects is less than impressive. The first thing you need to accept is the fact that filters won’t do the job for you. A filter may promise everything from dust to scratches to photocopier-style imperfections, but the results are rarely authentic. If you want the job done right, do it yourself. Keep an eye out for naturally occurring patterns in things like rust

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and peeling paint. These can be useful when manipulated and incorporated into alpha channels. Try making a photocopy of nothing while leaving the lid open on the copier. The resulting sheet covered in black toner can be crumpled or scratched with sandpaper to create stark white patterns of distress within the black. These bold patterns are especially useful within alpha channels, because alpha channels, combined with layers, will allow you to introduce convincing distress to any image you choose. Expertise and illustration provided by Derek Lea, www.dereklea.com.

Open an image. You can add distressed effects to any image you like, but it’s a good idea to choose one with a dark background because the distressed effects we’re going to add will be very light. Natural wear and tear removes ink, exposing the white pigment of the paper.

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The files you need to work along with this tutorial can be downloaded from: http://mos.futurenet.com/ resources/computerarts/cap99distressedeffects.zip.

Tutorial Distressed effects in Photoshop

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Channel options

Open the rust.jpg file from the folder you’ll find at http://mos. futurenet.com/resources/computerarts/ cap99distressedeffects.zip. Select the file, copy it, and return to your image file. Create a new alpha channel in the Channels palette and paste the copied artwork into the channel. You’ll notice the image converts to greyscale when added to the channel.

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The default settings for alpha channels dictate that white areas are selected, black areas are not, and grey areas have varying degrees of selection depending upon their black content. If you find yourself inverting selections often, you may want to alter your channel behaviour. Doubleclick a channel thumbnail and set the colour to indicate selected areas rather than masked areas.

Use Curves to drastically adjust the contrast within the new channel. You want the rusty areas to appear black, and all of the background areas that aren’t rusty to appear white. When you’re happy with your adjustment, load the channel as a selection by Ctrl-clicking (PC) or Cmnd-clicking (Mac) the thumbnail.

Type Ctrl/Cmnd+Shift+[I] on the keyboard to invert the new selection and return to the Layers palette. Ensure that the inverted selection is active and create a new layer. Press [D] to set the background colour to white and type Ctrl/Cmnd+Delete to fill the selection with it. Deselect.

Create a new layer and then fill the active selection with white on the new layer. Change the blending mode of the layer to Overlay. Deselect and then duplicate the layer by dragging it onto the ‘Create new layer’ button at the bottom of the Layers palette. Reduce the layer Opacity to 84 per cent.

Type Ctrl/Cmnd+[T]. When the Free Transform bounding box appears, Right-click (PC) or Ctrl-click (Mac) inside the box and choose the Rotate 90º CW option from the popup menu. This will rotate your duplicate layer, adding more surface scratches in different directions. Add a mask to the current layer and use the Paintbrush or Gradient tool within the mask to soften the effect.

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Open the scratches.jpg file supplied. Copy the image and paste it into a new channel within your working file. The process is essentially the same as what you did previously with the rust image, except that you don’t need to edit the curves this time. Load the new channel as a selection.

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Now add a mask to the original scratches layer and, again, use gradients or the Paintbrush tool to edit the mask, hiding areas of the layer that are too prominent. We want the image to look distressed, but we still want to see the content of the underlying imagery. Open the folds.jpg file.

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Transforming within channels Depending upon the size relationship between your image file and your texture files, you may need to adjust sizing. You can increase any pasted art in a channel by using Free Transform or any transform operation found under the Edit menu. If your pasted texture extends beyond the edge of the canvas, ensure that you do not deselect before you transform, or those areas will be clipped.

Again, select the contents of the image and copy. Return to the working file and create a new alpha channel. Paste the copied art into the alpha channel and then load the channel as a selection. With the new selection active, create a new layer in the Layers palette.

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Fill the active selection with white on the new layer and change the blending mode of the layer to Overlay. Duplicate the layer, change the blending mode to Normal and reduce the Opacity of the duplicate layer. Use a layer mask to soften the effect in certain areas and feel free to tweak your layers and masks until you feel the effect is successful.

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Tutorial Distressed effects in Photoshop

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