Creating line effect patterns in Photoshop is easy and can come in handy for that little bit of texture applied to a background of a page or another way to spice up a photograph.

Line patterns can also make a ‘heavy’ image, one with lots of gradients and tones, a bit smaller in file size thus better for web use.

Line effect looks great on the screen because it mimics, to some degree, the way a screen displays light. This can work with printed images and give your images a more graphical feel, like a screen printing process, digital screen shot or transfer.

Step 1. Create a new document with dimensions of 2 pixels by 2 pixels and a transparent background. Zoom in till the document is larger and easier to work with.

Step 2. Using the Pencil Tool with a 1 pixel radius create a diagonal line by making 2 marks- one top right and the other bottom left. Or you can play with the marks and make any pattern you like.

Step 3. Select everything on this layer by going to Select/All. Copy it by going to Edit/Copy.

Step 4. Go to Edit/Define Pattern and name your pattern then hit OK.

Step 5. Create a new layer above your photo or image and fill it with your pattern by going to Edit/Fill and choose Pattern from the drop down menu and also select the pattern you created which should be the last in the list.

You can also play with applying the fill directly to the image/photo and then going to Edit/Fade Fill and looking through the various Layer Modes and levels of Opacity. Try working in a Layer Mask over that layer and only make parts of the pattern visible.

Extra: I am always looking for Photoshop Brushes to add to my arsenal and found some here from Stephanie Shimerdla at Obsidiandawn.com

They are all about trees and leafs and can also be used creatively to make some distressed looking textures to any image. Download them into the Brushes folder in your Adobe Photoshop program file. Then when you are using the brush right click and select Load Brush and then select the file from the list.

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