Photoshop Tutorial: How to Create Denim Texture
Here is a tutorial with a few steps on how to create the denim texture that you would find on your favorite pair of jeans. The tutorial was created using Photoshop CS3 but I would guess that older versions of Photoshop can be used. Since some of the filters I used are of a random nature, you might have to adjust the settings somewhat to get the desired result. Furthermore, if you prefer darker or lighter denim or want your denim saturated with blue you might want to make changes to the Gradient Map. The font used in the above image is Kingthings Xstitch.
Step One
Create a new image in Adobe Photoshop that is three times the size of your final desired image size. Use the Paint Bucket Tool to fill the image with 50% grey (#808080). Then use Filter > Pixelate > Color Halftone with the following settings: Max. Radius 5 pixels, and all the Screen Angles 135 degrees.
Step Two
Next we will use Filter > Sketch > Chalk and Charcoal with Charcoal Area 15, Chalk Area 15, and Stroke Pressure 1. You might have play around with Levels to get a nice medium to dark grey color.
Step Three
Create a new layer above the first layer, and fill it with any color. Have white (#FFFFFF) as your foreground color and black (#000000) as your background color. Then use Filter > Render > Fibers with Variance 5.0, and Strength 50.0. Click on the Randomize button until you get nice thin white fibers on a black background.
Step Four
Set the Blending Mode of the second layer to Screen, and Opacity to 50%. Create a Gradient Map Adjustment Layer above the second layer. Click on the gradient to edit colors. Make the first Color Stop on the left dark blue (#032340), add a medium blue/grey (#475160) Color Stop in the middle (50%), and make the last Color Stop on the right a light color (#DDEAED).
Step Five
Create a new layer above the adjustment layer. Set the Blending Mode of the layer to Overlay, and Opacity to 50%. On this layer, paint highlights (white) and shadows (black) using a big feathered brush with an opacity setting of 5-10%.
Step Six
Use Image > Image Size to resize the image to a third of its original size; use the Bicubic Sharper option for a sharper image. Here’s the resized image of the denim texture, as you can see it looks a lot better after its been resized.
Lovingly designed and painstakingly hand-coded by Lauri Johnsen using valid 
.
May 28th, 2008 at 02:30
Amazing! Great effect.
May 28th, 2008 at 09:10
this is one BEST TUTO (y)
May 28th, 2008 at 18:09
I like this tutorial..
Thanks for sharing.
May 29th, 2008 at 08:34
It realy works…
Great
May 30th, 2008 at 06:14
great tutorial. loved the new design. couldn’t find a contact page
is there a way to contact you directly ?
May 30th, 2008 at 11:56
Hi Oron,
Sorry about that, I haven’t created a contact page yet. Anybody who wants to get in contact with me can leave a comment and I’ll email them directly.
Thanks!
June 7th, 2008 at 15:17
thanks
June 27th, 2008 at 01:06
Wow nice tutorial! That is so awesome!
June 29th, 2008 at 06:28
Very very cool! Looking forward for more tutorials! Thanks for sharing!!!
July 22nd, 2008 at 04:55
Thank you =)
July 27th, 2008 at 10:32
Great tutorial!
August 8th, 2008 at 19:41
We linked to this fab tutorial to our master bookmarks of design goodies. Thanks for posting it!
—Texturize staff
August 11th, 2008 at 09:26
Looks exactly like the jeans I’m wearing. Very well done.
November 17th, 2008 at 05:52
wow, this is simple and so ultimatively effective
December 13th, 2008 at 22:46
Totally sick tut, thanks a bunch for this!!
I can finally make cool azz pants 8D.
December 18th, 2008 at 15:21
This is a great tutorial on how to create denim look….very cool. Thanks.
February 25th, 2009 at 12:30
Keep working ,great job!
March 3rd, 2009 at 15:29
Thanks for that!
March 13th, 2009 at 18:58
And to think: All this time, whenever I needed a good textile pattern, I have been just scanning a swatch of the fabric. Silly me.
May 31st, 2009 at 02:52
Thanks for that!
June 4th, 2009 at 06:05
great tutorial and just love the result! thank you.
June 30th, 2009 at 01:18
very nice tut! now how could I use this on my site?
September 18th, 2009 at 13:30
great tutorial, really love the denim texture… but I’m kinda new to PS and lost on step 4 at “Click on the gradient to edit colors.” After creating the gradient map adjustment layer, where am I supposed to click to change up the colors? Thanks!
December 14th, 2009 at 11:10
Thank you. Great post
August 17th, 2010 at 09:45
Thanks for this tutorial. Will you post a new HTML tutorial any time soon?
December 8th, 2010 at 16:57
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmhdesign/5245341872/
I was able to whip this together in about 20 min! Thanks for the help. I’ve been looking for help on this for a while now.
January 11th, 2011 at 09:49
Wow incredible blog post! Amazing tutorial dude. It�s nuts how many breathtaking tutes you guys publish. Love your website. Warm regards!
February 5th, 2011 at 21:03
Exceptional tutorial! It saved me a tremendous amount of agony. Honestly, thank you.
February 11th, 2011 at 00:08
thanks, it’s a good one.
May 20th, 2011 at 01:50
Thanks for the help. I’ve been looking photoshop tutorials for help on this for a while now. For those of you looking to learn, expand, and improve your photoshop tutorials skill, this is an excellent list of badass tutorials.