Photoshop Backgrounds, Patterns, Textures & Tutorials

Combining Patterns and Backgrounds

By Rick Wetzel

In the preceding tutorials, we've taken art and photography and have enhanced them with backgrounds. In this tip, we will combine a background with one of my Black and White patterns for a great effect.

Rather than superimposing one image upon another, this technique beautifully merges both images.

STEP 1

Open Photoshop and create a new document. Copy and Paste, as separate layers, your background of choice and pattern of choice. With the Black and White layer selected, choose Select>Color Range... from the menu.

With the eyedropper tool select any black area of the thumbnail. Sometimes, it's easier to select the white and invert the selection.

Depending on the image, try to stay within the 99 to 100 range. The lower the number, the less precise the selection.

Click OK, and turn off the layer that contains your black and white pattern.

This next step is where your creativity comes into play.

STEP 2

With the pattern selected, and its layer turned off, I chose Image>Adjust>Contrast/Brightness. I darkened the Brightness slider by a factor of 50. As you can tell by the example of the right, I was able to capture the essence of the pattern without overwhelming the background.