Probably one of the easiest textures to create is concrete, because it's lack of complex color makes it easy to detail. The only issue with making concrete is the type...smooth or rough? Solid, segmented, or cracked and broken? We'll focus on those items in a later tutorial. For now, lets just get that concrete mixed.

    The only tool you need is a stock version of Photoshop. No bases or photos to blend and no presets to use. You can make this texture purely with the power of Photoshop's built in filters.

    First let's make our canvas; 1024 wide by 1024 high should be a good enough work space. Next we need to set our foreground and background colors. The best combination I've found is R:115 G:115 B:115 and R:130 G:130 B:130 (two medium grey colors that are just a few shades apart). Now were ready to begin mixing.

    Start with using Filter > Render > Clouds and then follow that with Filter > Noise > Add Noise... with a weight of 10% (make sure that monochrome is unchecked, and that you are using Uniform Noise, not Gaussian) . Your image should look a little something like this. Next you'll want to give the image some depth, so go back into your Filter menu and select Render > Lighting Effects, and try using the settings shown here.

    Your image is starting to look like stucco so far right? We'll change that soon. First, we're going to give this wall some character flaws. Lets create a new image, say 512 pixels wide by 512 high, and make sure you still have the same foreground and background color values from before. Fill the image with clouds (Filter > Render > Clouds), and then go back to your Filter menu and select Texture > Craquelure. From the options given, set the crack spacing to something in the high 90's, and both the crack depth and crack brightness to around 8 or 9. Your new image should look something like this example. Now press "CTRL + A" to select the whole image, and then press "CTRL + C" to copy it. We'll refer to this image as the "Craquelure image"

    Back to our first image...the stucco. Go ahead an apply the "Craquelure image" onto the stucco image by pressing "CTRL + V", and it should make a new layer. You'll notice right off the bat that the Craquelure image is a lot smaller than the stucco, so we're going to scale the layer to fit. Make sure that "Snap to Document Bounds" (turned on by default - to check, go to View > Snap) is checked, then go to Edit > Transform > Scale or press "CTRL + T" to bring up the transform guides. Now drag every corner of the Craquelure image to the edges of the stucco image so that it is completely covered. Then finally, go to the "Layers" tab in the Layers window, and choose "Overlay" as your layer filter. Your image should now look something like this.

    Now here is where artistic vision really comes into play. First, look your image over and choose some of the best cracks. With your Craquelure image layer selected, choose the Eraser tool and pick a brush size between 35 and 65. then start erasing all the cracks and divits that you want to eliminate. Once you have everything the way you want it, we can start the final process of coloring the final image. After erasing all the unwanted cracks, adjust the opacity of the Craquelure image by going to the layer tool window, and adjusting the opacity percentage (around 50% is adequate).

    To get that "straight from the mixer" look, we first need to make a new 256 x 256 image, and render clouds with the same foreground and background colors that the previous images used. Copy the image, paste it onto what will be the final image, and scale the layer to size just as you did the previous layer. Now go to the layer tool window, and change the layer filter to color. Then once again, based on artist preference, adjust the opacity of the layer to let the background color show through just a bit (I find that 65% - 75% yields the best results). Finally, select the background layer and go to the Image menu, then Adjust > Hue / Saturation or press "CTRL + U" to change the color attributes. Try using the settings shown here for some good results.

    Now you're ready to flatten and polish your texture. I would recommend using the "Despeckle" filter (Filters > Noise > Despeckle) and then adding between 4% - 5% Monochrome Gaussian Noise. You may want to try using the "Sharpen" filter to give your concrete some extra grit. Also, try adjusting the brightness and contrast values to visually enhance the wear or "weathering" of the concrete by going to Image > Adjust > Brightness / Contrast. Brighter is newer, darker is older (I used a brightness value of -10 and contrast of +10). Then take a look at the result!

    Just think...now that you have a base image to work with...all the cool concrete structural items you can create. You could actually spend a lot more time on this texture adding in stains and details, which we'll talk about in the next concrete tutorial. Until then, try your texture out and make several versions of your image, that way you can keep what you like and get rid of what you don't. I hope this tutorial has been helpful, so until next time...

Questions or comments? E-mail Mr. Lake