Hello, Hello! I hope everyone is ready for the December project season because TLP’s Document your December sale starts tonight! I’m dropping in with a quick tip for integrating realistic stamped elements onto a textured background in Photoshop. And my sample page is made from some of the amazing goodness that is hitting the TLP Store tonight (click on layout for full credits):
Notice the partridge stamp in the upper right corner of the page, and how it integrates with the layered papers in the background paper? If you used an actual rubber stamp on layered papers, there would be a small break in the impression at the point where the top paper ends. The trick is to make the digital stamp look like it has the same type of break in impression. Just one quick step can help you achieve this effect, and you can achieve it in either Photoshop or PSE.
Step 1. Place the digital stamp where you want it to appear on the page.
Step 2. Now add a mask to the stamp layer. (The icon that looks like a rectangle with a circle in the middle.)
Step 3. Choose a small round hard brush and set the foreground color to black. (See below for the settings I used for my brush.) Now run the brush along the area where the top layered paper ends to erase a small portion of the stamped image. This is the area where the impression of the actual stamp would skip off the paper a bit. If the area follows along a straight line (as on my page) you can automatically create that line by clicking down at the point where you want to start the line and, while holding the Shift key, click where you want the line to end. This will create a straight line between the two points.
Here is the comparison of the masked and unmasked versions:
The difference is subtle, but it makes a big impact on the realistic appearance of the stamped element. I hope you have fun with this technique – and, as always, please be sure to share your pages with us in the TLP Gallery!
Until next time ~
Judie (HeyJude)
Thuria says
Very interesting! Was wondering how to do this. Thanks.
Thuria says
Great tip!