How to Design Background Wallpapers
Designing your own background wallpapers provides endless possibilities for creativity. Using Adobe Photoshop, it is a great way to create tiled wallpaper backgrounds for desktop, web site, DVD menu and print applications.
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Instructions
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1
Create a new document. Set the document size to fit your project (for example: 1600 pixels by 1200 pixels for a desktop background) and the resolution at 72 for a computer monitor. Your project requirements will determine these settings.
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You now have a new document to work with.
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3
Create a new layer. The wallpaper pattern will be applied to this layer.
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4
Use the Fill Tool to fill the new layer with a color. The color is up to you and your design direction. You can change it later in the process if you like.
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5
In the "Layer" pull-down menu, choose "Layer Style" and then "Pattern Overlay" in the sub-menu.
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6
The default pattern will appear on the filled layer. Use the pattern chooser pull-down menu to choose from a gallery of patterns. Photoshop provides a few patterns already installed. You can find and download a wide variety of patterns from the web or learn how to create your own (see Resources).
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Once you have a pattern you like, you can scale the pattern to suit your taste. The default setting is 100 percent. Try different scale setting to see how it affects the pattern.
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8
Change the blend mode if to affect how your pattern interacts with the fill color of the layer. The opacity setting affects the opacity of the pattern. Tweak these two settings until you get a combination you like.
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9
Once you have your pattern set, you must merge the layer style into that layer in order to apply any image adjustments or filters. An easy way to do this is to create another new layer, select it along with the pattern layer and merge the two layers. You will no longer be able to tweak the pattern layer, so be sure you are happy with what you have at that stage before your merge it.
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10
Use any method of adjustment or filter you prefer from this point. You can adjust the hue/saturation, use dodge or burn brushes, add new design elements. There is no end to the creative possibilities. Once you are satisfied, save your new wallpaper background and it is ready to be set as your desktop background.
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Tips & Warnings
Wallpaper backgrounds work great for desktops, web pages, DVD menus and designs for print. It is always a good idea to create a duplicate layer of something that you may want to go back to and tweak. In Step 9, create a duplicate of your pre-merged pattern layer and turn off the duplicate layer, to preserve the layer style properties. Saving duplicate layers in incremental stages gives you a little freedom to test ideas and be able to return to a previous stage if you prefer.
