How to Make a Chalkboard in Photoshop

Photoshop Chalkboard

A chalkboard made in Photoshop is a useful and interesting visual image that can enhance online training courses, manuals, websites or PowerPoint presentations. The process to follow in order to create the blackboard is fairly simple and the end results are attractive. Following the instructions in this tutorial enables the user to create an image that can be modified and used for many different projects.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Adobe Photoshop CS2 or later

Creating a Chalkboard with Photoshop

1. Image 1: Creating the image.

   Create an image in Photoshop with a green background as in Image 1. The image that is used in this tutorial is 500 by 375 with resolution set at 100 dpi. If the image is going to be used for print media, the resolution will need to be set to 300 dpi at a minimum.

2. Image 2: Adding a frame to the chalkboard.

   Add a frame to the image by creating a dark layer and deleting all but an eighth of an inch around the edges. Add a chiseled bevel to the frame using the settings that are in Image 2.

3. Image 3: Adding the appearance of dust.

   Add layers that give the appearance of dust on the chalkboard. In the example, five separate layers of dust are added with varying brush strokes. The transparency setting for each of the dust layers is 10 percent. The brush styles used appear in Image 3.

4. Image 4: Creating text that appears to have been erased.

   Add words and image layers that appear to have been erased as in Image 4. This is done by adding text layers and rasterizing the layers. Use a motion filter on each of the type layers and set the transparency to the desired level.

5. Image 5: Added images and text to the chalkboard

   Add images or text to the chalkboard as in Image 5. Use a handwriting font set to 50 percent transparency.

Tips & Warnings

• Deviating from the instructions slightly can help create a chalkboard that is very clean or is cleaned only infrequently. Add chalk and an eraser to improve the appearance of the chalkboard.

References

• Adobe Exchange