Photoshop Elements: Starry Glitter Frame - Step 1: Make a Glitter Pattern

Send article Send article Print article Print article

Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 7

November 20, 2008

Glitter patternGlitter frame

In this two-part lesson, make a starry glitter pattern in Step 1. Then, paint with the Pattern Stamp tool to frame a photo in Step 2.

Step 1: Make a Starry Glitter Pattern

  1. From the File menu, select New, then Blank File. Enter the dimensions you want for your pattern and click OK. In this example, the dimensions are 640px by 480px at a resolution of 72 ppi.

  2. From the Edit menu, select Fill Layer and fill the background layer with 50% Gray.

    Fill Layer dialogue

  3. In the Layers palette, add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer above the background layer. You can later change your glitter color easily by editing the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. In the Hue/Saturation dialogue box, check Colorize and select a green color as shown below:

    Hue/Saturation dialogue

  4. Add a new layer above the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer and fill it with a pattern:

    1. In the Layers palette, click the Create a new layer icon.
    2. Select the Paint Bucket tool.
    3. On the options bar, check Pattern.
    4. Click the down arrow to the right of the pattern thumbnail to view the patterns that are currently loaded. If needed, click the double arrows at the top right of pattern display to view all available pattern sets.
    5. Select the Texture Fill 2 pattern set, then click to select the Towel pattern.
    6. Click in the image to fill the layer with the Towel pattern.
    Fill with pattern

  5. In the Layers palette, set the blend mode of the patterned layer to Linear Burn.

    Note: The blend mode depends on the color you use. The Linear Light or Luminosity modes may work better with your selected color.

    Blend mode for pattern fill

  6. Create another new layer above the pattern fill layer and brush some scattered stars on the glitter:

    1. In the Layers palette, click the Create a new layer icon.
    2. Set the foreground color to white and the background color to black.
    3. Select the Brush tool.
    4. On the options bar, select the Assorted Brushes set, then select the Star - Large brush. Adjust the brush size as desired. In this example, the brush size was 25px.

    5. On the options bar, open the Brush Options dialogue and set the following brush options to make your stars scatter in a variety of shades from white to black:

      Brush options
    6. Paint a scattering of stars across the glitter.
    Scattered stars
  7. In the Layers palette, set the blend mode of the stars layer to Luminosity.

  8. To make a pattern, from the Edit menu, select Define Pattern and enter a name for the pattern in the dialogue box.

    Note: To save the pattern for future use, you can save it in a pattern set using the Preset Manager.

  Next Step: Paint a Glitter Frame Next step
For permission to use an article or resource for educational or non-profit purposes, please contact me at karenb@alibony.com. Commercial use is not permitted.

Updated on November 9, 2009