Photoshop Tutorial - Creating a fine Lined Background

There are times when you need to include an image with a fine lined pattern as an image background, or background to a web page. This is quite straightforward in Photoshop, and the following instructions show how to create an image which is then used as a pattern in Photoshop.

To create the pattern:

1. In photoshop create a new image 1 pixel by 1 pixel.
2. Fill it with the foreground colour
3. Select Image/Canvas Size
4. On the canvas options window, anchor the image at the bottom by selecting the bottom-middle of the nine squares (this will result in horizontal lines eventually – anchoring at the side will give vertical lines)
5. Increase the canvas height to 2 pixels.
6. The new canvas area will be filled with the background colour.
7. Save the image. This is now a 2 pixel high image with two colours.

To use this image as a pattern:

1. Use Select/All to make a selection of the 2 pixel image.
2. Click on Edit/Define Pattern
3. Create a selection of the area you want to fill, (or fill a complete layer).
4. Select Edit/Fill and fill with Pattern.

Experiment with the colors you use in the image to create the lines. If there is too much contrast the effect can be dazzling. When creating a background image, subtle colors are usually better. You might also want to experiment with the width of the lines. For example use two pixels instead of one.