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I could use some help making a corkboard in Photoshop...


K

Kaeroll

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Howdy, I'm new to this forum but I thought I'd launch right in and ask a question without introducing myself so here goes...

I've had this idea (which isn't too original) to make a corkboard in photoshop, possibly for use as a web layout in the future. My problem is that no matter how much I play about or search Google for tips, I can't find anything that looks half decent. I found one tutorial on the subject but it wasn't particularly detailed.

In case I've not described what I want very well, I want to make something similar to this (link courtesy of the kind people at Google). It's not the stuff ON the corkboard I want to make - I'll cross that bridge when I come to it - I just can't make a decent image of a corkboard.

Any photoshop masters got any tips for me?

-Kaeroll

(apologies for the possible incoherance of this post.)
 
For the example given, I would:
1. Layer filled with dark brown.
2. New layer and fill with light brown.
3. Set the lighter layer to Dissolve and reduce opacity.
4. maybe add a layer mask and lightly brush some parts

Then perhaps do this:
ctrl + a
ctrl + shift + c
ctrl + v
Filter > Blur > Gaussian really low
 
Something like this?

cork-board.jpg


Ok, I'll go through it step by step, but be aware, I'm not writing here a tutorial that will always be accurate or easy to understand, because that would take me hours and I don't have that time. It's merely an example of how you could approach this, so forgive me some confusion here and there, ok?

Btw, this is just one of probably thousands ways to do it, everybody has a different approach, but it's only the result that counts in my opinion.

There are a few things I did.
  • First I added some of the basic colors you find in cork in my swatches palette
  • I created 4 new layers and each one was filled with one of these 4 colors
  • I added an empty (white) mask to each one of them
  • I used filter/texture/grain on each of these masks and experimented until I had the right noise or clumps. I inverted each mask and used image/adjustments/levels on them to make them a true black/white mask
  • I added 4 new layers, again using those 4 colors
  • This time I used filter/pixelate/mezzotint and selected course dots. I then used about the same techniques as on the other layers, but this time my intention was to create 'bigger' noise, I would describe it as 'clumps'.
  • I then went to image/canvas size to make the canvas slightly bigger. Make sure that you have a plain background layer (no texture).

    That's how I created the cork texture. Now for the frame;
  • I created a new layer
  • I created the frame by selecting the outher bounds of the cork texture I made, using the rectangular marquee tool. I made sure that I made the selectiion slightly bigger than the texture. I filled the selection with a color (doesn't matter which color)
  • This time I made a new rectangular selection, slightly smaller than my previous selection and pressed delete to actually create the frame (without textures)
  • Now I needed a wood texture, slightly bigger than the cork board. I didn't feel like making one this time, so I grabbed an existing texture, opened it and dragged/dropped this texture on my document with the cork texture; photoshop will automatically create a new layer for this texture.
  • I made this layer a clipping layer of my frame (I'm assuming here that you know how to do that)
  • I made a copy of this layer 3 times
  • I rotated the top 2 layers 90 degrees and stroked them with a 1 pixel dark gray color. This will later on create the illusion of a seam between the 4 wooden pieces that make up the frame
  • I selected each layer one by one, starting with the lowest one, and moved it outwards, until it would only fill one side of the frame
  • I added a drop shadow to the frame[/list:u]This is quick way to do it. To make things look even better I would have included many and many more steps, but that's beyond the goal of this thread I think and it would also have taken me lots more time to write about it. Again, I hope you understand that I had to keep it simple.

    Good luck! ;)
 
I'm such a noob... I just picked a light brown color and a darker brown color and then did filter>add noise (gausian, monochramatic). It didn't really get the different colors the google pic had, but it looked like my bulletin board. Then for the wood i just selected a rectangle area filled it with brown add noise, did a motion blur, liquify to add some knots, and played around with some other filters. Mine is so simple, and i don't think it looks much like a cork board, but then again im a nit, noob in training, i could use some pointers, or maybe i should just start over and go for Joe's effect.
Kara
 
Looking at it again, the wood sucks, definitly needs a lot more....i'll get around to that someday, hopefully.

kara
 
JoeD, what you posted is exactly what I wanted! Thankyou! I'll have to play around to get it right (it didn't come out very well) but I'll get it eventually I'm sure.

Stroker, I tried your advice too and it came out considerably better, so thankyou as well.

Thanks again both of you!

-Kaeroll
 
Thank you Stroker and JoeD for posting some easy to understand tutorials.
 
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