A post-processing technique that has become increasingly popular with photographers is that of adding texture to a photo.  These days, it seems as if no photo is fully complete until it has been textured by the photographer.  Done well, it works, and can turn a good photo into something better.  However, adding textures doesn’t work for all photos.  It is particularly well-suited for portraits, landscapes, and old buildings.  The reason being, textures add an emotion to the image.  It evokes a nostalgic feeling and is reminiscent of old sepia toned and faded photos with rough surfaces and tattered edges.

The images I will be using for this tutorial are:

1.  A texture I downloaded from Deviant Art’s darkrose42

2.  This month’s featured print on my website, The Future’s End.

Resizing The Images

First, resize the texture to the size of the original photo.  With your original file active, go to Image > Image Size in Photoshop and make a note of the dimensions and resolution.  In this case, my image is 4752 x 3168 pixels and has a resolution of 350 pixels/inch.

Now let’s go to the texture file, once again under Image > Image Size.  Uncheck the Constrain Proportions box and choose the Bicubic Smoother option.  First, change the image resolution and then the pixel dimensions to match the values of the original image.

Copy and Paste

Next, select and copy the texture.  Command > A (ctrl > A on a PC) selects all and then Command > C (ctrl > C on a PC) copies the image.  Now go to the original image and paste the texture by using Command > V (ctrl > V on a PC).  The texture should now be sitting on top of the original image in a new layer.

Blending Modes

By default, the blendng mode is set to normal.  This means the texture layer is sitting on top and you cannot see anything on the layers beneath it.  You can make the texture layer partially transparent by selecting another blending mode.  Different blending modes will give different effects so play around a bit and see what works best for you.  In general, the modes that usually work best are overlay, soft light, and hard light.

For this particular image, I liked one blending mode for the sky and a different blending mode for the rest of the photo.  To rectifiy this issue, I used layer masks (a technique I will be discussing in another tutorial).  Here is the final image.

Don’t forget, you can see this image plus our whole collection of fine art prints in the D-Roc Photography and Design store.