Thursday, January 22, 2009

How to Make a Torn Paper Effect in Adobe Photoshop

General selection of the part you want to be tear

Before you start step one, lets set the document. I chose 350px on 350px but you can choose any other size or apply this effect on images web graphics.

document settings

Open a new layer (Layer>new>layer), select the Lasso Tool (L) and start make a selection (not straight) through an imagined diagonal.

Lasso tool selection

Next, you need to pick the color, I picked #525252 (double click on the correct foreground color and then enter this value where the '#')

Paint the selection you made with the Paint Bucket Tool (G).

Open a new layer under the top one so the order will be like below:

layers order

Now, you should repeat the first steps and make a new selection

corn paper selection

Paint it in #999999 (also explained in the above steps).

Blur the pixels

The result till now should be like this:

torn paper result till step 2

You probably can see the pixels.. your goal is to make the pixels a bit blurred and it will look better.

This will be done with the blur tool.

blur tool

After picking this tool, a top bar of this tool will be shown. enter the below values to it so it will be easier for you to blur it.

blur tool top bar

When you're done with the values entry, pass on all the pixel parts in both layers. don't do it too slow but also not too fast.

If this is too blurry, you can also go back in history or choose the 'sharpen tool' and pass it on once again till it's perfect!

sharpen tool

The result should be about like this:

result step two

Lighting effects

The torn paper effect is ready but for making it a neat effect, lighting effects are required.

I used two tools for making the lighting effects, 'Burn tool' and 'Dodge tool'

dodge tool and burn tool

Start use them at the 'paper edge'. one more tip is to change the brush tool.

Here's my final result:

How to Make a Torn Paper Effect in Adobe Photoshop Tutorial: Final Result