In this tutorial we will create a cool virtual duct tape effect using the texturizer and layer styles tools.

Step 1

Open a new document in Photoshop, mine is 540 x 300 at 72ppi.

Create a new layer by pressing the new layer icon at the bottom of the layers palette, it’s the one next to the little trash can that looks like a piece of paper with a corner folded back. (*note: If your layers palette isn’t visible, choose Window>Layers from the main menu.)

Double click on the layer name and rename it "Tape". Select the Rectangular Marquee tool by pressing the M key, and drag out a nice tape sized selection on the stage.

Step 2

From the Tools bar click on the Foreground Swatch and change the color to #949494 and click OK. Now fill the selection you’ve made with the new gray foreground color by pressing Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) then press Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D) to deselect.

Step 3

Next lets add some color variation to the tape by adding some noise. First press the D key to reset the foreground and background colors to black and white, then choose Filter>Noise>Add Noise from the main menu. Set the Amount to 6% and make sure that Uniform and Monochromatic are checked then click OK.

Step 4

Now lets add some texture to the "Tape" layer by selecting Filter>Texture>Texturizer from the main menu. This will bring up the Texturizer interface where you will add the following settings: Texture: Canvas, Scaling: 85%, Relief: 4 and Light to Top Left then click OK.

This effect is a little too harsh however so lets go ahead and choose Edit>Fade Texturizer from the main menu and enter 50% and click OK.

Step 5

Things are looking good, but we’re still shy of the duct tape texture we’re shooting for, so we are going to add a layer style to the "Text" layer by either double clicking to the right of the layer’s name or by right clicking (Mac: Control-Click) on the layer and choose Blending Options which will bring up the Layer Style dialog box.

Click on Bevel and Emboss in the right hand column and enter the following settings then continue to the next step without clicking OK.

Step 6

In the Bevel and Emboss section click on the Texture option. By clicking on the Pattern area you can bring up the pattern picker, then by clicking on the right facing arrow in the top right corner choose Patterns from the menu, this will add these swatches to the texture picker. The pattern we’re looking for is called Tiles-Smooth (*note: it looks like a grid as shown in the following graphic).

Set the Scale to around 15% and the Depth to +250, click the Invert checkbox and click OK.

Step 7

With the Lasso tool selected from the Tools bar by pressing the L key, make a selection along the right hand edge of the tape so it looks like it’s been torn off and press Delete (PC: Backspace), then repeat on the left edge.

(*note: You can use the Burn and Dodge tools from the Tools bar set to a low opacity around 30% along the torn edges to give the effect of lifting edges.)

Step 8

We all know that tape, especially duct tape never goes down without a few wrinkles and bubbles, so lets make some of those now.

Add a new layer by clicking the New Layer icon at the bottom of the layers palette just like we did before and name it "Bubbles". Pull up the Layer Styles dialog by double clicking on the layer thumbnail. In the Blending Options section change the Opacity to 50% and the Fill Opacity to 0% . Next click on the Bevel and Emboss section and change the Depth value to 140% and down at the bottom change the Highlight Opacity to 100% and the Shadow Opacity to 70%. When you click OK you will notice that nothing visible has happened to the layer, this is because the layer is still empty so there is nothing for the layer style to effect.

Step 9

With the lasso tool selected by pressing the L key draw the first wrinkle onto the tape then press Command-Delete (PC: Ctrl-Delete) to fill the selection with the foreground color which should still be set to black. (*note: Because we lowered the Fill Opacity in the layer’s Blending Options to 0% no color will actually show up here, so all you will see is the Bevel and Emboss effect.)

Step 10

Now go ahead and repeat step 9 until you are happy with your wrinkles and bubbles. Don’t worry about letting your wrinkles extend beyond the tape area, we will solve that problem in the next step.

(*note: You could also use a small diameter round brush to draw in your wrinkles and bubbles to add a varied effect.)

Step 11

Lets solve the problem of the extending bubbles by choosing Layer>Create Clipping Mask from the main menu. By creating a clipping mask we are telling Photoshop to only show the areas of the "Bubble" layer that are overlapping the "Tape" layer.

Step 12

In my final example I added some black text on a new layer above the "Bubbles" layer and changed the layer blend mode to Overlay to get the effect of writing on the tape and a cardboard background.

Lesson Files + Additional Resources

Download the free .PSD file and other lesson files Right Here.

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