Basic Patterns for Photoshop
Here's some easy patterns you can set in Photoshop for overlays on images. You may have seen ones like them used around the internet.
Difficulty Level: Easy
Time Required: ~ 1 minute each
Part 1: Scanlines
Here's how you can make those nifty horizontal lines you see overlayed on some graphics. ^^ First, you need to make a new file. Set the background to transparent and give it a 2 pixel height and 1 pixel width, like so:
Figure 1
Create the file, then go to the View tab and click Fit on Screen, to make the image view as large as possible.
Then, select the Pencil tool. If you don't know how, click and hold the mouse button on the Brush tool until a menu comes up where you can select the pencil. Set your foreground color to black and color one of the two pixels in with it. It doesn't really matter which one.
Figure 2
You should have something that looks like that. Once you do, go into the Edit menu and select Define Pattern from the list. Name your pattern, and you're ready to go! To use the pattern, you can select the paint bucket tool and change the fill option to Pattern, and use it that way. Or, you can use the Layer Style Pattern Overlay tool.
Here's a basic sampling of what it could look like when used.
All I did with this was to set a background color, create a new layer then fill it with the scanlines, then set the opacity down on it. For further examples of this and these other patterns, check out ED's graphic collections.
Part 2: Vertical Scanlines
Vertical lines are very nearly identical to the horizontal lines, so I won't clutter this part with screenshots.
First, create a new file with a height of 1 pixel and a width of 2 pixels. Again, make sure the background is set to transparent, and use the Fit on Screen option as before to enlarge your view. Then, take the Pencil tool and color in one of the two pixels.
Once you have either the left or right half of the canvas colored black, go into the Edit tab and select the Define Pattern option. Name your pattern and you're ready to go, same as the scanlines.
Part 3: Diagonal Lines
This may be one of the nicest of these patterns, but it's more complicated than the rest. Still easy, but it's a little more involved than drawing one pixel of color.
Start with a 5-by-5 pixel transparent canvas, use the Fit on Screen option to enlarge the view, and select the pencil tool with a black foreground color. Now, take the pencil tool and draw one dot, from corner to corner across the canvas, like so:
Figure 3
Again, do the same for this to set it as a pattern as you did the previous two. Edit > Define Pattern and name it.
You can also do it in the opposite direction.
Part 4: Tiny Checkers
This is a nifty little pattern. ^^
Start with a 2-by-2 pixel transparent canvas, and again increase the view by using the Fit on Screen option. Select the Pencil tool will a black foreground color, and color in two of the pixels diagonally, like I did here.
Figure 4
Again, do the same for this to set it as a pattern as you did the previous three. Edit > Define Pattern and name it.
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