Adding a Texture

So I know I posted that I will be showing you how to use a green screen, and I am going to work on that this week.  I have had a very crazy schedule the last few weeks, and haven't had time to set up my green screen.  With that on hold, I thought I should add something to my blog. 

I love to play with textures, and they really add extra detail to a photo.  It really makes a difference.  There are so many ways to add textures and play with them.  I use a variety of different methods when playing around with them.  Well I thought it was about time to document one of the ways I add textures to my photographs.  Here is a side by side of the original image (after my post editing) and beside it is the image with the texture added. 

Textures can be pretty simple to work with, but just like I mentioned when showing how to use photoshop actions, you cannot just apply a texture and leave it.  If you notice you cannot see the texture on my daughter's skin.  I removed it from her so that she would still look natural.  Plus by doing this, she stands out bringing your focus to her. 

Here is the texture I used.  It was a free one I found online.

Once you have the picture and the texture you want to use, open your picture and texture in photoshop.  I have photoshop CS5.

  Notice that I pulled my texture off of the main bar at the top so I could see both the texture and the picture at the same time.  

First I will make a copy of my background layer.  You can use the keyboard shortcut which is ctr-c.  Next I will use my move tool (which is the one I have clicked in the image) and I will drag the texture on top of my image.  This will create a new layer above my image.  Next I will go to edit-free transform and I will pull the texture to the size of my image.  You will want to make sure and drag your texture layer in between the background layer and the copy of your background. 

Now I have unchecked the top layer which is a copy of my background, as I will be using this later. I select my texture layer as this is the layer I am dealing with right now.  I have decided to set it to overlay (you can play around with each setting and see which one you like best for your image).  I have also changed the opacity some.  Then I added a mask and colored over Ava so that the texture wasn't on her.  Once you are happy with this layer it's time to go to the top layer.  I'm sure you have noticed that the color of the image has changed dramatically from the texture.  This is what the top layer is here to correct.

Now with this layer I first add a mask to it and select my brush tool.  Before I start masking this layer I decided to play with my opacity and found what I liked best.  Then I used the brush tool set to about 40 opacity (this way I can use multiple attempts to get the image exactly how I want it) and I start masking over this layer where I want my texture to show through.  Once I find where I'm happy I'm done!!!! That's all it takes.  Pretty simple! and what a difference it makes in the image.

Here are a few other examples of the original and then a texture....