Bert Monroy digital photo-realist artist
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Tutorials

Create a Wooden Name Plate in Photoshop

06/29/2001


Today, we're going to create a wooden name plate as one would find on a door. The first thing is to create the wood texture.


1. Start a new file in Photoshop. Make a new layer by clicking on the Make New Layer icon at the bottom of the layers' palette. Choose a brown color that you would like your wood to have. Using the Rectangular selection tool, select a rectangular shape that is centered in your document window, leaving at least an inch at the left and right sides. Fill the selection with the brown color. This layer will serve as the shape of your nameplate.


2. Create another new layer. Make a similar selection that's larger than the first rectangle with the sides extending as far as possible beyond the dimensions of your original plate. The reason for this is that the second filter you'll use takes color from the edges of the selection and pulls them into the selected area. You want the area to remain within the brown tones. Fill this selected area with the same brown color.


3. Now, use your first filter. Choose the Add Noise filter (Filter>Noise>Add Noise). Make the amount a large number of at least 99 percent, and click OK. This produces a rough texture.Now you will stretch the noise to get the feel of a wood grain.Choose the Motion Blur filter (Filter>Blur>Motion Blur). With the Angle set to "0," move the Distance slider to a large number around "99." Click OK.


4. Now you will give the texture some contrast. Choose the Levels command (Image>Adjust>Levels). Move the black and white triangles in toward the center to darken your darks and lighten your lights, giving the texture more detail. Click OK.
At this point, you have a wood grain texture that could be applied to any surface.


5. Warp the grain and add knotty areas as found in certain wood types. Create a "clipping Group" of the two layers by clicking between them in the layers' palette with the Option (Alt on a PC) button pressed. This uses the transparency information of the lower layer to mask out part of the upper layer that has the grain. Turn the lower layer into a selection by Command (Control on a PC) clicking on it in the layers' palette. Go to the Liquefy command (Image>Liquify). Using a large brush size chosen on the upper right of the Liquefy window, with the Warp tool, run the tool over parts of the image to distort the grain. Try a few different strokes. Do follow the grain. Switch to the Bloat tool, place it over an area where you want a knot to appear, and hold down the mouse button. This will start to bloat out the area. Click OK when you have reached your desired effect. Deselect. Click on the upper layer, and choose Merge Down from the layer's palette drop down menu to make the two layers into one. Double-click on the resulting layer to bring up the Layer Styles dialog box. Choose the Bevel and Emboss style and select Chisel Hard for the technique. Crank up the size until you have a bevel the size you want for your plate.


6. Finally, let's put on the name. With the Text tool, type in the name you want over the plate. Double-click on the text layer in the layer's palette to bring up its styles Choose Inner Shadow and Inner Glow for the styles. Choose the Blending Options found at the top of the styles list. In Blending Options, reduce the Fill Opacity under Advanced Blending to let the wood texture come through the letters.


 

   

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