Have you ever walked past a charming cafe or boutique with an eye-catching chalkboard sign, wondering how they achieved such a stunning effect? Well, wonder no more, because the secret to creating a chalkboard effect in Photoshop is just a few clicks away.
Whether you’re a graphic designer, a small business owner, or simply someone who loves to dabble in digital art, learning how to create a chalkboard effect in Photoshop will unlock a whole new world of creativity. With just a few easy steps, you can turn any image into a beautiful and professional-looking piece of art.
So, without further ado, let’s dive into the process of creating a chalkboard effect in Photoshop using the Hugo Writing Format!
Step 1: Choose your image
The first step in creating a chalkboard effect is to choose the image you want to work with. This can be any photo or graphic that you want to give a chalkboard-like appearance. For the purpose of this tutorial, we will use a simple text as our image.
Step 2: Create a New Document
Once you have your image, open Photoshop and create a new document. Name it “Chalkboard Effect” and set the document size to your desired dimensions. We recommend using a high resolution of around 300 pixels per inch to ensure that your final image looks crisp and clear.
Step 3: Add a chalkboard texture
Now, it’s time to add the chalkboard texture to our document. You can find a wide range of chalkboard textures available online for free. Choose the texture you prefer and open it in Photoshop.
Drag and drop the chalkboard texture to the “Chalkboard Effect” document. Resize it to fit your image by pressing Ctrl+T on your keyboard.
Step 4: Blend the texture
Next, we need to blend the chalkboard texture to make it look more realistic. Change the blending mode of the texture layer to ‘Multiply." This will darken the white areas and make the texture blend in seamlessly with the background.
Step 5: Add a layer mask
Now that we have blended the chalkboard texture with our image, it’s time to add a layer mask. Select the texture layer and click on the layer mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel.
Select the brush tool and choose a soft brush with a low opacity of around 30%. Set the foreground color to black and start brushing over the areas where you want the chalkboard texture to be more visible.
Step 6: Add text
Now that your image has a chalkboard background, it’s time to add text to complete the effect. Choose the text tool from the toolbar and select the font you want to use. Type out your text and adjust the size and position as desired.
Step 7: Add a chalk effect
To give your text a more authentic chalk effect, we can use a custom brush. There are plenty of chalk brushes you can download online for free. Choose the one you prefer and open it up in Photoshop.
Create a new layer above the text layer and select the brush tool. Choose the chalk brush and set the brush color to white. Start brushing over the text to give it a chalk-like appearance.
Step 8: Final touches
Lastly, we can add some final touches to make our chalkboard effect even more appealing. You can add some splatters or smudges to give your image a more organic feel. We recommend creating a new layer and using a soft brush with low opacity to create these effects.
And there you have it! With just a few simple steps, you can unleash your inner Picasso and create stunning chalkboard effects in Photoshop. So go ahead, give it a try, and let your creativity run wild!
This article explains how to make chalkboard designs in Photoshop using the right fonts and graphical assets. You can also turn images into chalk drawings. Instructions cover Adobe Photoshop 2019 for Windows and Mac.
What to Know
- Open the image. With the Frame tool, draw a box that takes up the background. Go to File > Place Linked. Choose a frame, select Place.Choose the frame, select Normal > Divide. With the Text tool, click on the chalkboard. Align the text and choose the Seaside Resort font.Enter the text, create a new text box, change the font to Eraser, and type the rest of the text. Select File > Save as and save the graphic.
How to Create Chalkboard Designs in Photoshop
After you install the fonts and download the assets you need:
- Open the image you want to use as your chalkboard background in Photoshop.
- Select the Frames tool, then draw a box that takes up the whole background.
- Select to File > Place Linked.
- Choose your frame and select Place.
- Select your frame in the layers palette, then select Normal to open the blending mode drop-down menu.
- If the layers palette isn’t visible, select Windows > Layers.
- Select Divide to invert the colors.
- Select the Text tool, and then click on the chalkboard at about the halfway point near the top.
- Use the toolbar at the top to center align the text, and choose the Seaside Resort font from the character palette.
- If the character palette isn’t visible, select Window > Character.
- Enter your text. Adjust the size and style in the character palette, and use the Move tool to reposition the text if necessary.
- This first piece of text is meant to be painted, so it doesn’t have the roughness of chalk.
- Create a new text box, change the font to Eraser and type the rest of your text.
- Select File > Save as and save the graphic as a PSD file or your preferred image format.
How to Make a Chalk Drawing in Photoshop
If you’d like, you can add a photo and make it look as if it were drawn with chalk. For best results, choose a simple image that doesn’t include a lot of intricate detail (such as a selfie).
Open the image you want to use as your chalkboard background in Photoshop.
Select the Frames tool, then draw a box that takes up the whole background.
Select to File > Place Linked.
Choose your frame and select Place.
Select your frame in the layers palette, then select Normal to open the blending mode drop-down menu.
If the layers palette isn’t visible, select Windows > Layers.
Select Divide to invert the colors.
Select the Text tool, and then click on the chalkboard at about the halfway point near the top.
Use the toolbar at the top to center align the text, and choose the Seaside Resort font from the character palette.
If the character palette isn’t visible, select Window > Character.
Enter your text. Adjust the size and style in the character palette, and use the Move tool to reposition the text if necessary.
This first piece of text is meant to be painted, so it doesn’t have the roughness of chalk.
Create a new text box, change the font to Eraser and type the rest of your text.
Select File > Save as and save the graphic as a PSD file or your preferred image format.
- Open your image in Photoshop and select Image > Mode > Grayscale.
- Select Discard if asked if you want to discard color information.
- Select Image > Mode > Bitmap.
- Set the Output to 72 pixels/inch, set the Method Use field to 50% Threshold, then select OK.
- You can experiment with these settings to achieve the best result for your image.
- Go to Image > Mode > Grayscale again.
- Make sure the Size Ratio is set to 1 and select OK.
- Select File > Save as and save the graphic as a PSD file or your preferred image format.
How to Add the Chalk Drawing to Your Chalkboard
To add your image to the chalkboard:
Open your image in Photoshop and select Image > Mode > Grayscale.
Select Discard if asked if you want to discard color information.
Select Image > Mode > Bitmap.
Set the Output to 72 pixels/inch, set the Method Use field to 50% Threshold, then select OK.
You can experiment with these settings to achieve the best result for your image.
Go to Image > Mode > Grayscale again.
Make sure the Size Ratio is set to 1 and select OK.
- Open your chalkboard design, then select File > Place Linked and choose your image.
- If the image is too large, use the grab handles to reduce the size of the image.
- Select the Magic Wand tool (the fourth tool down in the toolbox) and click on a white area of the image.
- The Magic Wand and Quick Selection tools share the same icon. Click the icon to switch between them.
- Select Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal Selection to make the black areas disappear from view.
- In the layers palette, there will now be two icons on the image layer. Click on the left icon, and then select Normal to open the blending mode drop-down menu.
- Select Overlay. You’ll see that the texture of the chalkboard now shows through the image making it look more natural.
- If the image is too pale, select Layer > Duplicate Layer to make the white a bit richer.
What You Need to Make a Chalkboard Graphic in Photoshop
Chalkboards used for display often have painted elements on them, so you’ll use the Photoshop frames tool to add a basic frame before adding text. There are some free assets you may want to use for this tutorial:
Open your chalkboard design, then select File > Place Linked and choose your image.
If the image is too large, use the grab handles to reduce the size of the image.
Select the Magic Wand tool (the fourth tool down in the toolbox) and click on a white area of the image.
The Magic Wand and Quick Selection tools share the same icon. Click the icon to switch between them.
Select Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal Selection to make the black areas disappear from view.
In the layers palette, there will now be two icons on the image layer. Click on the left icon, and then select Normal to open the blending mode drop-down menu.
Select Overlay. You’ll see that the texture of the chalkboard now shows through the image making it look more natural.
If the image is too pale, select Layer > Duplicate Layer to make the white a bit richer.
- The Eraser Regular and Seaside Resort fonts.
- A chalkboard background from Foolishfire.
- A vector frame pattern from Pixabay.
All of the above assets are free for online use, but you may have to pay for the right to use them for producing a graphic for print.
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