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I know that I'm pretty much a noob on this account, but I've been reading around the forums here for a while... Just too lazy to actually make an account. xD
Well, I'll be teaching you (Yes you) how to make a Grunge-type looking background. Hopefully in the end, you'll end up with something like this:
This tutorial really focuses around using Clouds, so keep that in mind.
Required Plugins:
Glass Blocks, Jitter, and Splatter (all from pyrochild, woo-dee-doo!)
Feather or AA's Assistant
Step 1:
a) Open up a new file with the dimensions of 600 x 300 (don't worry, you can resize it later). Name this layer 'Glass Blocks.' Make sure that your Primary color is black and that your secondary color is white. Go to Effects > Render > Clouds. Set your settings to something like this:
b) Now, go to Effects > Distort > Glass Blocks and put the settings to this:
You should end up with something like this:
Step 2:
a) Add a new layer and name it 'Dark.' Well, once again, go to Effects > Render > Clouds and set scale to 125, and leave the rest of the settings the same. Now, go to Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast (Ctrl + Shift + C) and put the settings like so:
b) Now, set the blending mode of this layer to Darken. Now your picture should look similar to this:
Step 3:
a) Add a new layer and name it 'Jitter.' Now, again go to Effects > Render > Clouds and this time, set the scale to 360 while leaving the other settings alone. Next, go to Effects > Distort > Jitter and set the settings like so:
b) Now, set the Blending Mode to Overlay. Your picture should be coming along looking like this:
Step 4:
a) Woo, now we're done with Clouds! Now add a new layer and name it 'Splatter.' Next, we get to go to Effects > Artistic > Splatter. Here I find that you might encounter some trouble getting the right look. I just went crazy with my mouse, sending it all over the place (for a lot of lines), and stop every here and there for the big circles. My splatter looked like this (after a few tries):
Here are some tips:
Don't cover the whole canvas with black. It will ruin the end result.
Don't end up with nothing on your canvas either, it will have no effect and look weird.
Don't have a bunch of big circles everywhere.
Don't have a bunch of stringy lines either.
b) It might take you a couple of tries to get the right look (or if you're good/lucky, maybe on the first try, xD) but once you've got something that you like, set the Blending Mode for 'Clouds' to Overlay, and you're almost there! Go to Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast (Ctrl + Shift + C) and put the settings at this:
c) Now, head on over to 'Dark' and go to Effects > Object > Feather and put the settings like so:
or apply AA's_Assistant effect (Effects > Object > AA's_Assistant) with default settings:
And now you're done! w00t! xD Hope you like what you ended up with. Comments, blah, something else, blah all accepted. Also, feel free to add whatever you like to it, like a border, and... other stuff. xD If you know some HTML, you can add a new layer, paint bucket that sucker white, and lighten up the opacity and viola! You've got a background for a table (That's where the HTML part comes in).
