The Canon Magazine 61
ADD TEXTURE TO YOUR SHOTS
Shoot your very own
textures and add
them to a folder
on your desktop
so you have even
more choice when
making editsQUICK TIP!
01 OPEN YOUR IMAGE AND TEXTURE
Load up Photoshop Elements then go to File>Open
and find the image you want to add your texture to.
Now go back up to File>Open and find the Textures in
the Start Images folder and double-click on the one
you want to work with.
03 CHOOSE A BLENDING MODE
Head over to the Layers panel and change the
Blending Mode from Normal to one that suits your
picture. Modes such as Lighten, Screen, Overlay, Soft
Light and Hard Light often work well, try a few out
and pick the one that works best.
05 TWEAK THE LEVELS
Press Ctrl/Cmd+L on the keyboard to bring up the
Levels panel, which will allow you to change the
contrast of the texture Layer. Move the Blacks,
Midtones and Highlights sliders around underneath
the histogram to get the contrast you like and hit OK.
02 COPY THE TEXTURE OVER
Hit Ctrl/Cmd+A on the keyboard to select the whole
texture layer, you’ll see the marching ants appear
around the image. Press Ctrl/Cmd+C to copy it and
Ctrl/Cmd+W to close it down. Finally, back in your
main image, press Ctrl/Cmd+V to paste it in.04 RESIZE THE TEXTURE
The texture will likely need resizing to fit your photo so
go to Edit>Free Transform or hit Ctrl/Cmd+T on the
keyboard to put the texture layer into Free Transform
mode. Drag the corner handles of the bounding box
to resize it and hit Return to set it down.06 ERASE KEY AREAS
The texture might be affecting your focal point or
another unwanted part of your shot. If this is the
case, grab the Eraser Tool from the toolbar, set it to a
soft edge and brush over the part where you want to
bring back more clarity.STEP BY STEP HOW TO OVERLAY TEXTURES
Use our free texture pack to add an extra layer of depth to your photographs