How to Create a Mosaic in Photoshop

Photoshop has many useful, built-in functions to render artistic effects. In this article, a filter is applied to the imagery to create the effect of a mosaic. The use of layers to separate the background field from the foreground text enables scaling of the mosaic pieces to fit the individual shapes of the letters. The article is for Intermediate level Photoshop users who are familiar with the basic Photoshop interface and functions.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Adobe Photoshop Computer with graphics capabilities

1. 
   Background Gradient

   Open a new document in Photoshop and set the size to fit your intended use. Create a background fill by using the Paint Bucket tool to flood the background layer, or, as in the example presented here, use the Gradient Fill tool to create a colored gradient for the background (the Gradient Fill tool is hidden below the Paint Bucket tool in the default tool bar view.)

2. 
   Lettering

   Select the Text tool and choose a font and color that suits your purposes. By default, the text will be placed on a separate layer every time you select the tool for re-use. The example presented here has three lines of type on three different layers. The letters on the top line were each colored individually. The font used is Lithos Pro.

3. 

   Select the background layer. From the menu bar at top, select "Filter", then "Texture", then "Stained Glass". In the dialog box that appears, adjust the sliders that determine the Cell Size, Border Thickness and Light Intensity to achieve the appearance you desire. Note that the color of the border will be the same as the currently displayed foreground color in the tool bar. In this example, black was chosen to mimic a stained-glass mosaic effect. Also, if a more flat-color mosaic effect is desired, the Light Intensity slider can be set to 0 (zero).

4. 

   Select the layer with the first line of type. Convert the type to a rasterized layer by right-clicking on the description box in the layers palette. In the dialog box that appears, select "Rasterize Layer". Follow the same procedure to rasterize each separate layer that contains text.

5. Select one of the previously rasterized text layers. From the menu bar at top, select "Filter", then "Texture", then "Stained Glass". Adjust the Cell Size, Border Thickness and Light Intensity to fit the size and shape of your letters or images on the layer. Click "OK" when the affect you desire is achieved. Follow the same procedure for each of the succeeding rasterized layers.

6. Apply a stroke, or outline, around the rasterized letters on each of the layers by selecting "Layer" from the menu bar at top, then "Layer Style", then "Stroke". In the dialog box that appears, select the color and thickness of Stroke to suit your purposes. In this example, a black stroke of 3 pixels in width was chosen from the Stroke dialog box.

7. Flatten the layers by selecting "Layer" from the menu bar at top, then "Flatten Image."

8. 

   Use the Paint Bucket tool to fill and re-color any sections of the mosaic pieces that may have turned white, or a shade of color that is too light, after the Stained Glass Texture was applied.

9. 
   Finished Mosaic

   Use the Paintbrush or Pencil tool for any minor touch-ups that may be needed.

References

• How to Use Photoshop Filters