Texture Backgrounds for miniature photos

[Bohemond]

Hello ! I would like to know how to do texture backgrounds for miniature . Examples here : Many thanks in advance .

[PaintMonkeyStudios]

I'll be interested in hearing about this also. I'm guessing do a background fill, select out the model, then copy and paste the layer onto the background of choice. I've never done it, my GIMP-fu is not strong.

[Bohemond]

I know how to make this in general , but for me interesting step by step process better in Photoshop.

[BPI]

Hi Bohemond, Skelettets mentioned in a recent thread that he'd taken an image of a cloudy sky, tinted the colouring & printed it out as a backdrop. He might be worth PMing to nudge into posting here?

Cheers, B.

[Chrome]

You can print this and put it in your lightbox or how/where ever you want it Backdrop

[War Griffon]

Chrome, what did you do that in the file size is huge at 58Mb's :O

[Spacemunkie]

Follow these instructions. Replace background with your texture layer. Easy.

http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums/......#post542125

[Bohemond]

Anyone knows where to download beautiful texture backgrounds . Preferably as much as possible and not very large size .

[Spacemunkie]

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=free+texture

Just make sure they're available for use and you attribute where necessary...

[Einion]

Anyone knows where to download beautiful texture backgrounds . Preferably as much as possible and not very large size .

Here and here are a good start.

Some of the textures in the first post look like they might have been done 'by hand' by smudging or brushing over a simple grad in Photoshop or similar. The one on the right looks like it might just be simple brushwork (big soft brush, lighter colour over dark base).

Don't be afraid to take some of your own reference pics with your digital camera - basic photo of worn paintwork/concrete/stone + a bit of filtering and a colour overlay and you could easily create something very nice that nobody else has.

Einion

[Chrome]

Chrome, what did you do that in the file size is huge at 58Mb's :O

A3 printing quality, that's why it's so big.

[Spacemunkie]

It's just a texture! You could JPEG it to oblivion and you wouldn't notice

I can JPEG 18mp images from my camera with no discernible IQ loss and they end up at 3.6MB. They print bigger than A3! I'd knock PDF on the head for this sort of thing

[SaintHax]

Through PS you can use the link posted above to create a foreground layer of your mini, and manipulate the background seperate. You can user "Render Clouds" on a layer above your background layer, and then set the blend mode to multiply to get texture. You can also then add a gradiant layer mask to the clouds to get an effect seen above.

That being said, this is something that is easier, IMO, to get in camera. You'll notice a white halo around the fist of one of the miniatures in the link above that Spacemunkie references-- it's b/c pulling images off w/o leaving a halo is hard. It requires feathering the selection, and then zooming in to fix it by hand. It's a good tutorial, but I'm not a fan-- though most of your viewers won't have a trained eye either.

To do this in camera, you'd have to light the background seperate (not going to be done here) or dither the background with spray paint. A big piece of colored poster board, then cut a pattern out. Hold the pattern several inches in front of it and lightly spray paint. Or do it in photoshop-- to each their own.

[Spacemunkie]

...most of your viewers won't have a trained eye either.

Feel free to continue insulting the intelligence of folk around here...

[SaintHax]

Feel free to continue insulting the intelligence of folk around here...

Not an insult at all, it's a matter of fact. I've been doing this a while Spacemunkie, and I can tell the difference from a softbox and a 11" dish reflector when lighting a person. I've photo edited for over a decade, and I notice over sharpening, and halo's all the time. Truth is-- most people don't. It's evident in the commercial world too: compare the cover of Stuff to Vanity Fair. :-)

[Spacemunkie]

I've been 'editing photos' since I was a young 'un and that's a wee while longer than a decade

You make assumptions about folks' knowledge and what they do for a living...

People viewing pics here are interested in the paint job. All the photo has to do is display that to a satisfactory standard with a 72ppi web-sized image so that people can vote

[SaintHax]

People viewing pics here are interested in the paint job. All the photo has to do is display that to a satisfactory standard with a 72ppi web-sized image so that people can vote

That was exactly my point. You, Spacemunkie, are making the 'net error of reading too much into this. I never assumed anything about anyone-- you could be David Cross for all I know. I made a statement about the average viewer on these forums, which won't have a trained eye to notice minute photoshopping errors and you reply as if I were talking to you about your creditials.

[Chrome]

It's just a texture! You could JPEG it to oblivion and you wouldn't notice

I can JPEG 18mp images from my camera with no discernible IQ loss and they end up at 3.6MB. They print bigger than A3! I'd knock PDF on the head for this sort of thing

Yeah, I know. XD I've just been defaulting to PDF a while now because of customer prerequisites. Yeah, it's a bad habit, spank me!

[starpickles]

I've been trying to download some backgrounds like this as well. I have heard of people using scrapbook paper, which you can find in a variety of textures, and uploading the image of the paper. Anyone know if this works well?

[dogfacedboy uk1]

Textures are very easy to make when you learn a few basic tricks within your image editor. Here is one I made in 5 minutes, its a bit dark but maybe suitable for something demonic. One texture was used (a pottery piece from the mayang link above somewhere) and the blending mode set to make it look nice (normally just experimentation of types and opacities...).



If anyone wants backgrounds I might put a few on my blog. Post up a couple of requests and I will do a couple if I can....


dfb