Photoshop Backgrounds, Patterns, Textures & Tutorials

Transform and Skew your Background Art

By Rick Wetzel

I've been asked why my Watercolor and Pastel CDs have 450 DPI files. "When would I ever need them?" was a typical question. In this tutorial we will Transform/Skew a scanned texture to create depth and a great effect. I used a 450 DPI file because I needed to stretch the foreground and in effect reduce the actual number of pixels per inch. A word of caution, this is a memory intensive tutorial.

Start with a simple photograph. You'll need to knock out the background, and make it transparent. I choose the magic wand, and carefully selected the areas I wanted to delete. I choose the Select>Modify>Expand option to cut into my image by 3 pixels. I then choose Select>Feather, 2 pixels to soften the edges. This way, I make sure there wasn't a halo around my silhouetted object.

A Tip - As your resolution increases, so must the number of pixels chosen in the above dialog boxes.

In a new window, scan, or choose a background texture of your choice. Make sure the resolution, or DPI, is higher than your final needs. I choose one on my Digital Pastels scanned at 450 DPi. It has a faint horizontal paper texture that will help show of the upcoming effect.

Before you can distort your texture, you'll need to create a new layer. Choose Duplicate Layer from the Layers menu. Now turn off the original layer so you can see what you are doing.

Now with the duplicate layer active, select the Edit>Transform>Skew option from Photoshop's menu.

A marquee appears. Select the upper left handle and move it inward. Do the same with the right handle. In effect, we are creating a sense of perspective. You can optionally compress your image, and create an addition sense of depth by grabbing the lower handles and raising them.

After you have transformed your background, copy it and reactivate the window with your foreground object. Paste your new texture behind your object.

Below, I've included a before and after using the Edit>Transform>Skew effect.