Shop Talk: Creating a Metallic Texture

Creating brushed metal textures is one of those cool effects that's actually easy to do. Plus, there are really no rules, so you should feel free to experiment with the various settings.

First, create a new document, making sure that the Color Mode is set to RGB. This ensures that all filters will be available. Then, add noise to the Background layer. (If you're using the Adobe Photoshop Add Noise Filter, make sure that you turn on the Monochromatic option.)

Next, use a Motion Blur filter to transform the noise grains into the brushed metal lines. Simply adjust the Angle and Length of the blur to suit your taste.

Finally, create a new layer, and use gradients to add shadows and highlights to your texture. You can also do this with Lighting Effects filters, but you no longer have to create a new layer.

Voila! You now have a silver metallic texture!