Second Life Forums Archive

Squeedoo Shirakawa

Sweet 'n' Silky

Join date: 4 Jan 2006

Posts: 143

01-06-2006 09:28

I really want to create my own textures, but with denim (especially denim!), I just cannot do it! Do you all have any tips on how to draw denim from scratch? Thank you in advance.

Eloise Pasteur

Curious Individual

Join date: 14 Jul 2004

Posts: 1,952

01-06-2006 11:09

Hmm, can I suggest an alternative approach. Take a good close up of a flat denim surface and look at it in PS or similar.

You might be able to use that, but it will also give you some ideas about the real structure so you can build on it. I'd guess that you want several different interpenetrating layers, two or three blues and a white base. You might be able to pull that off with blue-transparent noise in the different tones laided over a white background I guess, but I'm just not sure.

Edges, seams etc. also fun - look at them closely and they tend to retain that darker new look, I guess a combination of less wear and tear and less penetration of soap when you wash them contributes to that next to the seams, the thicker material helps on the seam itself.

Hope that helps.

Jennifer McLuhan

Smiles and Hugs are Free

Join date: 22 Aug 2005

Posts: 441

01-06-2006 12:17

A quick Google search provided me with over 400,000 hits on "Denim in Photoshop." Here is the URL to one:

http://www.designertoday.com/tabindex-16/tabId-19/itemid-1173/DesktopDefault.aspx

Jen

Chosen Few

Alpha Channel Slave

Join date: 16 Jan 2004

Posts: 7,496

01-06-2006 12:51

Hi Squeedoo. Welcome to SL.

Everything Eloise said already is great, but if you want to know how to make a denim pattern from scratch, it's really easy. It takes about 10 second. Here's how:

1. Color - Assuming you want your denim to be blue, set your foreground color to dark blue, and your background color to light blue or white. Fill the canvas with dark blue.

2. Halftone Pattern - On the Filter Menu at the top of the screen, go Filter -> Sketch -> Halftone Pattern, and in the dialog that pops up, set size to 1, contrast to 5, and pattern type to dot. Feel free to experiment with diferent numbers and pattern type settings to learn what they do, but you'll find that applying the settings described here will yield a great denim-like appearance after the next step is completed. For now, you'll see a blue background with small white polka dots.

3. Diffuse Filter - On the Filter Menu, go Fiter -> Stylize -> Diffuse, and on the dialog that pops up, select Darken Only. Again, feel free to check out the other settings, but you'll find that Darken Only is what works best for this. Your canvas should now look like denim.

4. Tiling - Chances are you've got a dotted border around the perimeter of the canvas right now, which will prevent your texture from tiling seamlessly. To get rid of that, first offset the image to bring the edges to the middle, and then use the Clone Stamp to paint over them. Here's how:

A. Go Filter -> Other -> Offset, and in the dialog that pops up, set the offsets to half the canvas size in both directions. For example, if your canvas size is 256x256, make the offsets 128 x 128. You should now see the dotted lines that had been framing the image previously are no longer at the edges, but running through the middle, foring a cross-cross.

B. Select the Clone Stamp tool from the toolbox and set its brush size to somewhere around 40 pixels or so. Make sure opacity and flow are both at 100%.

C. To eliminate the vertical line, alt-click at the top of the canvas, in a spot either to the left or the right of the line, a pretty good distance away. Alt-clicking is how you tell the clone stamp where to begin its sampling. Now click at the top of the line, and drag to the bottom. You should see that the line is being painted over with a copy of another part of the image.

D. Repeat the process to eliminate the horizontal line. Start on one side and alt-click to set your sample point somewhere above or below the line. Click at one end of the line and drag to the other end to paint over it completely.

That's all there is to it. The end result should look something like this. Of course, using your new denim to create clothing will be much more complicated, but if all you want is a swatch of fabric, there it is, all of 30 seconds' work.

EDIT: The link Jennifer posted is a fine tutorial as well. It's pretty much the opposite of mine in that it puts the dark color in the background instead of the foreground, and then calls for the diffuse filter to use lighten only instead of darken only. Also, it calls for the use of multiple files get the image to tile, rather than using the clone stamp. To me that's kind overkill, and a waste of time, but the end result is the same. Either way, it's a really fast job.

_____________________

.

Land now available for rent in Indigo. Low rates. Quiet, low-lag mainland sim with good neighbors. IM me in-world if you're interested.

Introvert Petunia

over 2 billion posts

Join date: 11 Sep 2004

Posts: 2,065

01-06-2006 13:24

Chosen, you are a national treasure. Have you ever considered bundling up your texture posts and wikifying them?

On second thought, given your permission, why don't I?

Squeedoo Shirakawa

Sweet 'n' Silky

Join date: 4 Jan 2006

Posts: 143

Thanks!

01-06-2006 17:55

OOh, thank you thank you, Chosen! Much kisses for you!

Syn Sassoon

Registered User

Join date: 9 Dec 2005

Posts: 48

01-07-2006 00:53

Wow that was great Chosen!

Leone Trescothick

Registered User

Join date: 27 Dec 2005

Posts: 9

01-07-2006 09:14

Or just use a scanner. Works quite well with denim.

Jana Fleming

SL Resident

Join date: 25 Oct 2004

Posts: 319

01-07-2006 09:43

I haven't tried Chosen's method yet but I will because after a year, denim is the one fabric/texture that totally eludes me. When I tried making it from one of the tutorials I found on google, it looked great in PS. In game it looked like tweed lol. The only way I've been able to use it has been to photosource it and that doesn't work very well if I'm not photosourcing the whole garment. So yay! Let me try this out now! Always love Chosen's advice anyway

Eloise Pasteur

Curious Individual

Join date: 14 Jul 2004

Posts: 1,952

01-07-2006 10:57

Just for perversity I tried my suggestion and Chosen's. Chosen's works about 100 times faster!

The place mine did seem to work a bit better was playing with old looking jeans - because I ended up with 4 layers I could play with the textures and get faded patches etc. that looked more realistic more easily - but again that might simply be an issue with my speed of process in photoshop and Chosen can doubtless give us all quick and wonderful ways to do that too.

There's a reason I'm not a PS professional IRL, nor a clothes designer in SL - I can usually get it done but done to a deadline, forget it!

Welcome to the Second Life Forums Archive

Denim Problem

Denim Problem
Squeedoo Shirakawa Sweet 'n' Silky Join date: 4 Jan 2006 Posts: 143	01-06-2006 09:28 I really want to create my own textures, but with denim (especially denim!), I just cannot do it! Do you all have any tips on how to draw denim from scratch? Thank you in advance.
Eloise Pasteur Curious Individual Join date: 14 Jul 2004 Posts: 1,952	01-06-2006 11:09 Hmm, can I suggest an alternative approach. Take a good close up of a flat denim surface and look at it in PS or similar. You might be able to use that, but it will also give you some ideas about the real structure so you can build on it. I'd guess that you want several different interpenetrating layers, two or three blues and a white base. You might be able to pull that off with blue-transparent noise in the different tones laided over a white background I guess, but I'm just not sure. Edges, seams etc. also fun - look at them closely and they tend to retain that darker new look, I guess a combination of less wear and tear and less penetration of soap when you wash them contributes to that next to the seams, the thicker material helps on the seam itself. Hope that helps.
Jennifer McLuhan Smiles and Hugs are Free Join date: 22 Aug 2005 Posts: 441	01-06-2006 12:17 A quick Google search provided me with over 400,000 hits on "Denim in Photoshop." Here is the URL to one: http://www.designertoday.com/tabindex-16/tabId-19/itemid-1173/DesktopDefault.aspx Jen
Chosen Few Alpha Channel Slave Join date: 16 Jan 2004 Posts: 7,496	01-06-2006 12:51 Hi Squeedoo. Welcome to SL. Everything Eloise said already is great, but if you want to know how to make a denim pattern from scratch, it's really easy. It takes about 10 second. Here's how: 1. Color - Assuming you want your denim to be blue, set your foreground color to dark blue, and your background color to light blue or white. Fill the canvas with dark blue. 2. Halftone Pattern - On the Filter Menu at the top of the screen, go Filter -> Sketch -> Halftone Pattern, and in the dialog that pops up, set size to 1, contrast to 5, and pattern type to dot. Feel free to experiment with diferent numbers and pattern type settings to learn what they do, but you'll find that applying the settings described here will yield a great denim-like appearance after the next step is completed. For now, you'll see a blue background with small white polka dots. 3. Diffuse Filter - On the Filter Menu, go Fiter -> Stylize -> Diffuse, and on the dialog that pops up, select Darken Only. Again, feel free to check out the other settings, but you'll find that Darken Only is what works best for this. Your canvas should now look like denim. 4. Tiling - Chances are you've got a dotted border around the perimeter of the canvas right now, which will prevent your texture from tiling seamlessly. To get rid of that, first offset the image to bring the edges to the middle, and then use the Clone Stamp to paint over them. Here's how: A. Go Filter -> Other -> Offset, and in the dialog that pops up, set the offsets to half the canvas size in both directions. For example, if your canvas size is 256x256, make the offsets 128 x 128. You should now see the dotted lines that had been framing the image previously are no longer at the edges, but running through the middle, foring a cross-cross. B. Select the Clone Stamp tool from the toolbox and set its brush size to somewhere around 40 pixels or so. Make sure opacity and flow are both at 100%. C. To eliminate the vertical line, alt-click at the top of the canvas, in a spot either to the left or the right of the line, a pretty good distance away. Alt-clicking is how you tell the clone stamp where to begin its sampling. Now click at the top of the line, and drag to the bottom. You should see that the line is being painted over with a copy of another part of the image. D. Repeat the process to eliminate the horizontal line. Start on one side and alt-click to set your sample point somewhere above or below the line. Click at one end of the line and drag to the other end to paint over it completely. That's all there is to it. The end result should look something like this. Of course, using your new denim to create clothing will be much more complicated, but if all you want is a swatch of fabric, there it is, all of 30 seconds' work. EDIT: The link Jennifer posted is a fine tutorial as well. It's pretty much the opposite of mine in that it puts the dark color in the background instead of the foreground, and then calls for the diffuse filter to use lighten only instead of darken only. Also, it calls for the use of multiple files get the image to tile, rather than using the clone stamp. To me that's kind overkill, and a waste of time, but the end result is the same. Either way, it's a really fast job. _____________________ . Land now available for rent in Indigo. Low rates. Quiet, low-lag mainland sim with good neighbors. IM me in-world if you're interested.
Introvert Petunia over 2 billion posts Join date: 11 Sep 2004 Posts: 2,065	01-06-2006 13:24 Chosen, you are a national treasure. Have you ever considered bundling up your texture posts and wikifying them? On second thought, given your permission, why don't I?
Squeedoo Shirakawa Sweet 'n' Silky Join date: 4 Jan 2006 Posts: 143	Thanks! 01-06-2006 17:55 OOh, thank you thank you, Chosen! Much kisses for you!
Syn Sassoon Registered User Join date: 9 Dec 2005 Posts: 48	01-07-2006 00:53 Wow that was great Chosen!
Leone Trescothick Registered User Join date: 27 Dec 2005 Posts: 9	01-07-2006 09:14 Or just use a scanner. Works quite well with denim.
Jana Fleming SL Resident Join date: 25 Oct 2004 Posts: 319	01-07-2006 09:43 I haven't tried Chosen's method yet but I will because after a year, denim is the one fabric/texture that totally eludes me. When I tried making it from one of the tutorials I found on google, it looked great in PS. In game it looked like tweed lol. The only way I've been able to use it has been to photosource it and that doesn't work very well if I'm not photosourcing the whole garment. So yay! Let me try this out now! Always love Chosen's advice anyway
Eloise Pasteur Curious Individual Join date: 14 Jul 2004 Posts: 1,952	01-07-2006 10:57 Just for perversity I tried my suggestion and Chosen's. Chosen's works about 100 times faster! The place mine did seem to work a bit better was playing with old looking jeans - because I ended up with 4 layers I could play with the textures and get faded patches etc. that looked more realistic more easily - but again that might simply be an issue with my speed of process in photoshop and Chosen can doubtless give us all quick and wonderful ways to do that too. There's a reason I'm not a PS professional IRL, nor a clothes designer in SL - I can usually get it done but done to a deadline, forget it!