Custom Wood Texture in Adobe Photoshop
In this tutorial, I will show you a simple, yet creative, technique that results in a realistic wood texture. This tutorial was written for anyone with a basic understanding of Photoshop.
The Final Image
This is what we will be creating:
Step 1: Setting Up the Document
Create a new Photoshop Document (File>New) to be 1500 x 1500px.
Step 2: Adding Background Color
Select a dark brown color and Fill the canvas with it. For this image, I used #5a3222.
Step 3: Adding a New Layer
Create a new layer and name it ‘Grain’. Before we do anything to this layer, make sure your colors are reset to black and white.
Step 4: Rendering Clouds
Add some clouds to this layer by going to Filter>Render>Clouds.
Your image should resemble the following:
Step 5: Stretching It Out
Transform (Cmd/Ctrl+T) the height of the ‘Grain’ layer by 600%.
Step 6: Blurring It Up
Add a strong Motion Blur (Filter>Blur>Motion Blur) to the ‘Grain’ layer. I used a setting of 236px
Your image should now look like this:
Step 7: Posterizing Magic
This next step is what makes this texture possible. Go to Image>Adjustments>Posterize and set it to 25 Levels. You can see that our image has some good separations that we will use to create wood grain.
Step 8: Making the Grain
To get the wood grain to show, go to Filter>Stylize>Find Edges.
You’ll notice that we have a pattern that resembles wood grain, but it’s not quite there yet. Let’s darken this layer by adjusting its Levels (Ctrl/Cmd+L) :
Step 9: Adding Noise
We want to add some texture to the grain (as well as break it up). To do this, go to Filter>Noise>Add Noise and set the Amount to 65%.
Step 10: Blurring the Lines
Next, go to Filter>Blur>Motion Blur and give it the following settings:
Step 11: Setting Up for Depth
This next step is optional, but if you want to add some depth to the wood grain, then we need to set it up now. Go ahead and make a copy of the ‘Grain’ layer and rename it to ‘Specularity’ (this will become our specularity map). Position the layer as shown below (you can hide this layer since we wont need it just yet):
Specularity:
Those who have used 3D software will recognize this word. It simply refers to a specific kind of highlight—usually a very focused spot of light on an object. A Specularity map is just an image that defines where the specular highlights go.
Step 12: Finishing up the Wood
Set the Blending Mode of the ‘Grain’ layer to Multiply. At this point, you have a finished wood texture. However, we can continue from here and add some depth to the wood grain using the ‘Specularity’ layer.
Step 13: Working with Specularity
Now, let’s start to refine the ‘Specularity’ layer. First, hide the ‘Grain’ layer and make the ‘Specularity’ layer visible
Step 14: Refining the Specularity Map
We need to Invert (Ctrl/Cmd+I) the ‘Specularity’ layer. Once this is done, bring up the Levels (Ctrl/Cmd+L) and adjust them as follows (the result will be our specularity map):
Step 15: Applying the Specularity Map
Change the Blending Mode to ‘Screen’ and set this layer’s Opacity to 10%. Go ahead to unhide the ‘Grain’ layer.
Step 16: The Final Adjustment
To fully get the effect of the specularity map, nudge the ‘Specularity’ layer down and right a few pixels. This effect is subtle, but worth it!
Step 17: Finishing the Texture
If you want, you can add some color variation to your texture by selecting the ‘Background’ layer and using the Dodge and Burn tools as shown:
Your final image should resemble the following:
Feel free to adjust the color of the ‘Background’ layer to acheive the wood coloring of your choice.
53 Comments
excellent tutorial for wood texture
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Flag as inappropriatevist for basic training of photoshop
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Thank you so much for this. I’ve wanted to learn how to do this type of wood texture for a long time. Your tutorial is so clear and to the point.
Flag as inappropriateAwesome job.
I realllly love this tutorial!! Thank you so much!
Flag as inappropriateThe only thing I did differently was add the noise background on a separate layer so that the deep grooves/wood grain wouldn’t be blurred.
Love it!! Thanks!!
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hello nice blog and its very interesting, and help ful to others to…
The information given above is very nice which is use to be a graphic designer. It is very difficult task to be performed for. Thanks for your great stuffs of information provided for us in this article. I would like to appreciate your work.
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Great texture, this could be used in loads of different ways! Thanks
Flag as inappropriateNice post seems interesting to me and fits everyone expertise thanks for sharing it here.
As this post can be helpul also in near future..
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Flag as inappropriatethanks for sharing this great tutorial..! i love coming across sites that integrate wood into their designs :)
Flag as inappropriateGood tut, would be better if you could tile it seemlessly
Flag as inappropriateBill,
It is possible to make this texture tile. I did not explain this since I was trying to keep this tutorial as simple as possible.
Basically, since the foundation of the texture is essentially the Cloud Filter (which naturally tiles at 256, 512, 1024, and so on…) you can do some creative document setup with some additional tweaking to ensure your texture will tile seamlessly.
Flag as inappropriateThanks for sharing. As always, I look forward to your future posts.
Flag as inappropriatenice tutorial.
Seen quite a few tutorials on creating wood effect in photoshop but this has to be one of the most efficient.
good work
Flag as inappropriateNice tutorials, good work. Thank you for share…
Flag as inappropriateI like it! There are indeed many tutorials on how to create a wood texture but this is really good. Thanks!
Flag as inappropriatelike the attention to small details…
Flag as inappropriatetexture are avaliable to download..?
excellent work in this tutorial.
Flag as inappropriateThis is great, thanks!
Flag as inappropriateAmazing post…I love it. Thank you very much.
Flag as inappropriateI was creating wood texture for some time ago and think this is the most complet tut i’ve found. really useful :)
Flag as inappropriatenice guy..thanks
Flag as inappropriateThis is excellent.. What I have in mind for a design.
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Flag as inappropriateIts a good article,I have tried in one of my client website.
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Flag as inappropriateThanks. This is great. Exact what I need.
Flag as inappropriateGreat Tutorial.
Flag as inappropriateThanks
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Excellent tutorial I agree – well explained and easy to understand. Photoshop has unlimited features and it great to know how to create this wood texture using your tutorial – as you never know when this will be required when creating a clients website – definitely bookmarking this one. Thanks
Flag as inappropriateHey nice tutorial on how to create custom wood textures in Photoshop. It’s a great outcome with a really simple, easy to follow step-by-step tutorial. I would like to see more texture tutorials like this maybe with a seamless texture if you have the strength!
Thanks for sharing. As always, I look forward to your future posts.
Flag as inappropriateA lot clearer and to the point than most similar tutorials I’ve come across.
Flag as inappropriateGreat job.
Nice wood texture.
Flag as inappropriateNice and easy tutorial.well done
Flag as inappropriateNice and easy to follow tutorial. Thanks :)
Hot Free Grunge Textures for Excellent Design – http://www.cruzine.com/2010/08/16/free-grunge-textures/
Flag as inappropriateNice effect. Neat tutorial.
Flag as inappropriateAwesome tutorial. Very easy to follow. I have never done something like this in Photoshop. Today, it’s the first time I did it. :D
Thanks tutorial9 and Stephen.
Flag as inappropriategreat tutorials!
Flag as inappropriateThanks a lot for this tutorial. For me It is the best of all tuts on how to create wood texture :):)
Flag as inappropriateI’d been looking for a way to create a more realistic wood effect without using a plug-in. Thanks!
Flag as inappropriateSo way to basic.. There are ten million tutorials online how to make wood textures. Come on Tut9, you got to separate this website from the rest!
Flag as inappropriateStephen Petrany has put together a lot of very useful tutorials for beginners to advanced users. We’re happy to be serving a large variety of users :)
We appreciate the feedback of course! There are plenty of advanced tutorials in the pipeline!
Flag as inappropriateI think that it’s very nice that tut9 tries to have both of advanced and beginner users. Because if tut9 doesn’t do that, none of beginners will know that …
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