Photoshop Brushed Metal Pattern Tutorial
Here's a nifty tutorial on how to make a brushed metal pattern in Photoshop. I'm presenting it in a tutorial because there's a nifty trick I want to share.
Repeatable Patterns
The trick demonstrated in this tutorial is how to create repeatable patterns simply in Photoshop. This won't work for any pattern, and you'll have to learn to judge when and how to apply it, but generally, any pattern that is generated by a filter or effect will work.
The key to pattern-making is duplicating the pattern area in all applicable dimensions prior to applying effects, and thus effectively bleeding the edges of the pattern into itself and allowing a cropped final pattern to repeat on itself. The concept is a bit abstract, but will explain itself in the tutorial below.
It's a nifty trick you should remember for future pattern-making!
The Tutorial
Create a New File
Select File - New and create a new image with a canvas of 300 x 300 px.
Create Noise
Select Filter - Noise - Add Noise... from the top menu to open the "Add Noise" dialog.
Maximize the amount of noise, and be sure to select Gaussian, and Monochromatic.
Resize the Canvas
Hit Ctrl+A, then Ctrl+C to copy the pattern.
Select Image - Canvas Size from the top menu to open the "Canvas Size" dialog.
Resize the image to 600 x 300, with the anchor to the left, so that the image expands to one side.
Duplicate the Pattern
Hit Ctrl+V to paste the contents of the clipboard (the pattern you copied in the last step), then move it 300px to the right so that it is duplicated
Add Motion Blur
Select Filter - Blur - Motion Blur from the top menu
Resize/Crop the Canvas
Select Image - Canvas Size to open the Canvas Size dialog.
Resize the image 300 x 300 again, this time anchoring to the center.
Define New Pattern
Select Edit - Define Pattern from the top menu to open the pattern dialog, and create a name for your new pattern.
The Pattern
You're ready to use your new brushed metal pattern in your projects, either as a Pattern Fill, or as a Pattern Overlay on a layer (selected from the Layer Effects button in the the Layers window).
Here is the final pattern image.
