Parchment paper is one of those things that look like they should be easier than anything to create the look of in Photoshop - and it is! - but finding the right process can be elusive and frustrating. This method will help you create a natural-looking sheet of parchment paper for ... whatever you need it to do.
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New Canvas
Open a new canvas (File, New or Ctrl+N). The one I'm working with is sized at 400 x 400 pixels, with a black background. |
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Fill
Grab a dark color - the actual color doesn't matter, because it will change shortly - and fill a new layer (Layer - New - Layer) with that color. |
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Add Fibers
We're going to add a "fiber" look to the canvas that will set the stage for a parchment look. Click "Filter" and choose "Render", then click "Fibers".
In the window, set the "Variance" to 16.0 and the "Strength" to 4.0. Click OK and you should have something like below (giving room for the fact that you've probably chosen a totally different color to begin with). |
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Duplicate & Adjust
Duplicate this fiber layer (Right-click the layer and choose "Duplicate Layer"). Then, rotate it 90 CW (Edit, Transform, Rotate 90CW). Finally, set the layer's mode to "Overlay". You'll end up with a very colorful thing that looks something like this: |
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Merge Visible
Turn off your background layer by clicking the "eye" beside the layer. Then, right-click one of your fiber layers (doesn't matter which one) and choose "Merge Visible". This puts your fibers all on one layer. Turn the background layer back on when you're done. |
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Free Transform
Grab your move tool and click "Edit" and choose "Free Transform". Hold the Shift key down on your keyboard while you drag the corner handles in to keep your proportions locked. You will want to pull the image in a fair bit from the edges. |
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Color Overlay
With your fibers layer selected, hit your layer styles (the lil "f" icon in the bottom left corner of your layers palette). Choose "Color Overlay". You will want to select a light orange/tan color (I've used #dccaaf) and set the mode to "Color".
For a final touch, I used a butterfly from the free grunge brush set in the Abstract Chrome Signature Tutorial to set it all off. |
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