Photoshop wool texture tutorial

Written by Steve Patterson. In this Photoshop tutorial, we’ll look at how to create an interesting effect by adding a texture to text. Creating the effect requires nothing more than a photo to use as the texture, a layer mask, a simple image adjustment, and of course, some text! The effect works best when you use a texture that has something to do with the topic of your text, but of course, the final result is up to you.

Here’s an example of the effect we’ll be working towards:

The final textured text effect.

Let’s get started!

Step 1: Create A New Document

The first thing we need is a new document to work in. Go up to the File menu at the top of the screen and choose New, or press the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+N (Win) / Command+N (Mac). Either way brings up Photoshop’s New Document dialog box. Choose the size you need for your document. For this tutorial, I’ll create a document 800 pixels wide by 600 pixels high and since I’m not planning on printing this, I’ll leave the resolution set to 72 pixels per inch. Click OK when you’re done to exit out of the dialog box. The new document will appear on your screen:

The New Document dialog box in Photoshop.

Step 2: Fill The New Document With Black

I’m going to use black as the background for my text effect, which means I’ll need to fill the document with black. To do that, go up to the Edit menu at the top of the screen and choose Fill. This brings up the Fill dialog box. Choose Black for the Contents option at the top of the dialog box. Also, make sure the Blending Mode is set to Normal and Opacity is set to 100% (these are the default settings so you probably won’t need to change them):

Choose Black for the Contents option in the Fill dialog box.

The document is now filled with black.

Step 3: Add Your Text

Select the Type Tool from the Tools palette, or press the letter T on your keyboard to quickly select it with the shortcut:

Select the Type Tool.