Texture Filters (Exclusive Tutorial)

Filters in this series add texture to the image.

Starting from Photoshop CS (version 8.0), filters have graphic representation to facilitate finding the right one, so you'll see the approximate effects of each one right from the start:

Texture

1. Craquelue

This filter adds texture imitating "craquelures" - cracks on ancient oil paintings.

So, open the image and select Filter>Texture>Craquelure. There you'll see the following settings:

Craquelure

Crack Spacing - changes the intervals between cracks (I used 14).
Crack Depth - alters the depth of the cracks (I chose 3).
Crack Brightness - determines the brightness of the cracks (I used 9).

And here's what I got:

Craquelure-Jessica

2. Grain

The filter adds color noise with changeable shape.

Open the image and move to Filter>Texture>Grain to find the following settings:

Grain

Intensity - controls the intensity, i.e. the number, of grains. (I used 44).
Contrast - changes the contrast of the grains (I used 31).
Grain Type - lets you choose the version of the noise: Regular, Soft, Sprinkles, Clumped, Contrasty, Enlarged, Stippled, Horizontal, Vertical, Speckle (I selected Soft).

Here's my result:

Grain-Jessica

3. Mosaic Tiles

This filter lays the mosaic texture over an image.

Open your image and go to Filter>Texture>Mosaic Tiles. You'll find these settings:

Mosaic-Tiles

Tile Size - controls the size of the tiles (I used 25).
Grout Width - alters the width of the gaps between the tiles (I set 2).
Lighten Grout - changes the brightness of the gaps (I chose 10).

This is what I got:

Mosaic-Tiles-Jessica

4. Patchwork

The filter breaks the image into squares filled with an averaged color. The visible height of the tiles depends on the brightness of the pixels: the brighter the color, the higher the tile.

Having opened the image, select Filter>Texture>Patchwork. You will see the following settings:

Patchwork

Square Size - lets you alter the size of the tiles (I set it at 3).
Relief - controls the relief of the texture (I used 8).

Here's my result:

Patchwork-Jessica

5. Stained Glass

This filter breaks the image into elements of irregular shape looking like glass in a stained-glass window. Averaged colors are used for homogeneous filling of these elements, but besides that the elements are outlined with the current background color.

Go on and open the image. Then select Filter>Texture>Stained Glass and you'll see these settings:

Stained-Glass

Cell Size - controls the size of the cells (I used 3).
Border Thickness - controls the thickness of the borders between the cells (I set it at 1).
Light Intensity - adjusts the intensity of the light on the cells (I used 2).

This is what I got as a result:

Stained-Glass-Jessica

6. Texturizer

This filter adds texture to the image. The texture can be chosen from the list or loaded from a file.

You should open the image and select Filter>Texture>Texturizer. You'll find the following settings there:

Texturizer

Texture - in the opening list, select the texture, that is the material, on which the image is placed. The following textures are available: Brick, Burlap, Canvas, Sandstone. You can also download your own texture (I selected Sandstone).
Scaling - changes the scale of the texture against the image (I used 175%).
Relief - increases the contrast of the texture. It's used to get a more raised texture (I chose 4).
Light - controls the light, allows to change Light Direction (I used Bottom).
Invert - inverts the texture turning raised areas into cavities and vise versa (I used unchecked).

This is what I got:

Texturizer-Jessica