Web Development: How to Add a Texture Overlay in Photoshop

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

How to Add a Texture Overlay in Photoshop

Final product image — What You'll Be Creating

Do you want to learn how to create photo overlays in Adobe Photoshop? In this tutorial, I will show you how to add a texture overlay in Photoshop.

If you want to learn these techniques via video, check out our lesson on the Envato Tuts+ YouTube channel:

Tutorial Assets

You will need the following in order to complete this tutorial:

1. How to Prepare the Document

Step 1

Press Control-O and then select the image you want to use.

Step 2

Hit Alt-Control-I and resize the image to 3000 x 2000 px.

Step 3

After that, go to File > Place and put the overlay texture above the background layer.

Step 4

Create four duplicates of the texture and the background by pressing Control-J.

Step 5

Sequentially place each texture over each image layer.

2. How to Create a Photo Overlay

Step 1

Make all the layers except the first two Invisible, and then change the Blending Mode of the texture to Multiply.

changing the blending mode of the first texture

Step 2

After that, press Alt-Shift-Control-B and then hit OK to convert the texture to black and white.

Step 3

Press Alt-Shift-Control-L to add auto-contrast to the texture.

Step 4

To make the image look brighter, let's go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Brightness/Contrast and choose the following settings:

Brightness: 65
Contrast: 20

creating brightness contrast adjustment layer

This is how our image will look after all the manipulations listed above:

Step 5

Now, let's try another blending mode. Make a second pair of layers visible, and change the Blending Mode of the texture to Screen.

changing the blending mode of the texture

Step 6

Convert the image to black and white by pressing Alt-Shift-Control-B, as we did before.

Step 7

Hit Control-I to invert the texture, and then add auto-contrast by pressing Alt-Shift-Control-L.

Step 8

Let's create another style of photo overlay. Make the next pair of layers visible, and then select the texture layer and change the Blending Mode to Overlay.

Step 9

Convert the texture to black and white, and then add auto-contrast to the texture, as we did before.

adding black and white and auto contrast filters

Step 10

And for the last couple of layers, let's make the grunge texture overlay more obvious. Select the image layer, and then go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation and create a new layer with Saturation of -25.

creating hue saturation adjustment layer

Step 11

After that, change the Blending Mode of the texture to Multiply and the Opacity to 85%.

changing the blending mode and opacity of the last texture

Step 12

Add auto-contrast to the layer, and then go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Brightness/Contrast and choose the following settings:

Brightness: 110
Contrast: 20

adding auto contrast and brightness contrast filters

As you can see, in this case our texture works as a vintage photo overlay and gives our photo an old, grungy look:

Awesome Work, You're Now Done!

Here is our final result! Now you know how to create a photo overlay in Photoshop. Using this simple technique, we can add texture to any image in Adobe Photoshop and create cool photo overlays using blending modes and adjustment layers.

Looking for some more professional photo overlays? Check these products from GraphicRiver and Envato Elements:

10 Soft Grunge Gray Textures

Now that you know how to overlay photos in Photoshop, this pack of ten soft grunge textures could be a great tool for creating a vintage photo overlay. All of the textures come in 3000x2000 px, with 300 dpi high-quality resolution.

Vintage Nostalgia | Photo Overlay Textures

If you're looking for a paper texture overlay Photoshop pack, this collection of photo overlays is a great choice. It contains 18 complex paper textures with different vintage elements such as letters, notes, and illustrations.

30 Dust & Scratch Overlay Textures

Grunge texture overlay packs are an essential tool for creating vintage effects. This pack of 30 dust and scratches could be a handy tool for creating a faded or old look for your photos. Besides the textures, you will find a Photoshop action that helps you to work with the texture layers.