How to Use Channels and Layers
to Create Textures in Adobe Photoshop

The no frills recipe

     If you’re already familiar with Photoshop’s channels and layers, here’s how to create the bubbly texture found in several paintings in the Art section:

1. Start with any grey, RGB, CMYK, or LAB image.
2. Create a new channel and name it “Embossed Noise.”
3. Add enough noise so the channel is about 50% grey.
4. Run the Gaussian Blur filter at a setting of 3 to 5 pixels.
5. Equalize.
6. Solarize.
7. Equalize again.
8. You may want to run Gaussian Blur again at a setting of .3 to .5 pixels to keep the edges from turning rough.
9. Emboss.
10. Duplicate the Embossed Noise channel and rename it “Darken.”
11. Duplicate Darken, rename it “Lighten,” and invert it.
12. Use Levels to set the white point at 128 or lower. Go to Darken and do likewise.
13. Return to the Background layer, use Lighten to make a selection, then copy the selection to create a new layer.
14. Rename the new layer “Lighten Layer,” and define its behavior to screen.
15. Return to the Background layer, use Darken to make a selection, then copy the selection to create a new layer.
16. Rename the new layer “Darken Layer,” and define its behavior to multiply.
17. I’ve found it helpful to consider the net effect of reversing the behavior of Darken Layer and Lighten Layer, since the relationship between the angle selected in the Emboss dialogue box and the apparent light source isn’t always predictable.
18. Duplicate Lighten Layer and Darken Layer as needed to heighten the bubbly texture effect, or reduce their opacity to diminish the effect. Bake at 350° until done. Allow to cool a few minutes. Serve with ice cream.

     If you made clear sense of the technique by reading the preceding steps, you’re probably far enough along in Photoshop to have developed your own texturing methods. If you know a good and/or better one, please send me a description in an E-mail message.

If that didn’t make clear sense

     In the more likely event the steps above didn’t make clear sense at a glance, fear not. Click here to download the article, which I’ve recast as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file, complete with illustrations and straightforward, step by step directions, real typesetting rather than HTML (“hard typesetting, much labor,”) text, explanations of many of the program’s unself-evident functions and features, and a preview of a new painting, “L. Seated on a Picnic Table.” After an introductory digression, the article covers:

      • Channels
      • Photoshop’s Add Noise, Emboss, Gaussian Blur, and Solarize filters
      • Levels
      • Layers
      • Selections

in sufficient detail that any novice or intermediate Photoshop user should be able to follow the directions and work up interesting textures with a bit of practice. It’s 19 pages long and weighs 700 kilobytes, and covers about as much territory as I typically used to cover in two intermediate Photoshop classes.

     Nota bene: the article was written when Photoshop 4 was current. All the tips and techniques are still valid, but defining layer behavior no longer requires us to make selections from the layers palette. This is a long step forward for those of us who virtually always use layers while working on images. The keyboard combinations are documented in your manual and short cuts card.