How to Make Tartan Plaid in Photoshop

Dictionary.com defines tartan as "a woolen or worsted cloth woven with stripes of different colors and widths crossing at right angles, worn chiefly by the Scottish Highlanders, each clan having its own distinctive plaid." http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tartanThere are 100's of tartans associated with the rich history of Scotland and Ireland. If you find yourself in need of replicating a specific one in your design, you can find several resources online such as House of Tartan that will give you clues to the colors and proportions needed to make them.http://www.house-of-tartan.scotland.net/house/tfinder.htm

This How to Make Tartan Plaid in Photoshop tutorial is appropriate for any skill level. However, you should be comfortable working with basic tools such as the rectangular marquee tool and the fill menu. Adobe Photoshop was used for the examples below, but any image editor can handle the process. It should take 15 to 20 minutes to finish it.

In this how-to, you will learn how to create stripes to represent the warp (lengthwise threads) and weft (crosswise threads) of your virtual fabric. Afterwards, you will build a micro pattern that mimics the twill structure common to tartan plaids. Since you will use separate layers as you go, you can easily add a different micro pattern like plain balanced weave over the stripes instead to get a different look.

This example uses the color and proportions of the Abercrombie clan tartan. Although you can find books that give you detailed thread and color counts, you can't always use the exact numbers when creating the seamless texture. Your micro pattern and stripes need to be compatible. In other words, the dimensions of your stripes need to be divisible by the width and height of your twill. Once you find an image size that works, just add or take away threads to get them to fill it out. Remember to try and keep it balanced.

1. Create a new document by typing Ctrl + N.
2. Set the width and height to 140 pixels.
3. Give the file a transparent background.
4. Name the transparent layer warpColors.
5. Zoom in to 400% by holding down Ctrl and tapping the + key until the image title shows the right percentage.
6. Activate the rectangular marquee tool with the M shortcut.
7. Drag a selection around the first four columns and fill with dark grey (#0D0D0D).
8. Fill in the rest of the columns with the following color pattern. You can also use the picture below for reference.

• four blue (#242275)
• four dark grey
• four blue
• fifteen dark grey
• fifteen green (#005514)
• two white
• thirty green
• two white
• fifteen green
• fifteen dark grey
• four blue
• four dark grey
• four blue
• four dark grey
• fourteen blue

1. Once the colors are done, duplicate the layer by dragging and dropping it over the page icon at the bottom of the layer window.
2. Change the rotation of it with Edit -> Transform -> Rotate 90 CW.
3. Make the layer opacity 50%. This option is located in the upper right corner of the menu.
4. Now, you need to save this file and set it aside until later.

Now, you will make a small weave pattern on the pixel level. Once it is blended with your stripes, it will give the appearance of diagonals found on tartans. This can be a time consuming task, but it really does add extra realism to the final result.

1. Create a new document.
2. Set the width to 14 and height to 4 pixels. Give the file a transparent background.
3. Change the foreground color to black.
4. Zoom in to 1600% by holding down Ctrl and tapping the + key.
5. Place a guide line along each 1 x 1 pixel square.
6. Name the layer twill.
7. Activate the rectangular marquee tool with the M shortcut.
8. Drag a 1 x 1 pixel square in the bottom right corner. The guides will help show you how many pixels you are selecting.
9. Fill the pixel with your foreground color.
10. Refer to the image below and fill in the rest of the opaque squares.
11. Select the whole image with Ctrl + A then go to Edit -> Define Pattern. Name it twill.
12. Save the pixel file and close it.
13. Go back to your original file and create a new layer called twillPattern.
14. Fill it with your pattern. Use the shortcut Shift + F5. Then, choose the one you just made.
15. Change the opacity to 50%.
16. Now, you select all the graphic and define the new pattern called myTartan.

Note: To learn how to create other micro patterns, visit How to Make Micro Patterns in Photoshop.

Finally, you will fill a new document with your tile to make sure that it is seamless. Also, you will be instructed on the process of making small fibers that you can use with your digital fabric to give the impression of stray wool hairs.

1. Create a new document with a width and height of 500 pixels and give the file a transparent background.
2. Call the original layer tartan.
3. Fill the layer with myTartan using the shortcut Shift + F5.
4. Add grain by picking Filter -> Noise -> Add Noise. Choose Gaussian and Monochromatic at 15%.
5. If you want a wool look, move on to the Stray Fibers section. Otherwise, proceed to Test It to finish with cotton.

• Stray Fibers:

1. Use Shift + Ctrl + N to add a new layer. Name it fibers.
2. Change your foreground color to white and the background to black.
3. Go to Filter -> Render -> Clouds.
4. Then, add Filter -> Sketch -> Chrome with a Detail setting of 10 and Smoothness of 0. Repeat this step a second time.
5. Pick Filter -> Brush Strokes -> Ink Outlines. Use the following settings: Stroke: 1, Dark Intensity: 0, Light Intensity: 50.
6. Open Image -> Adjustments -> Threshold. This will flatten out the values to just black and white.
7. Go to Select -> Color Range. Change the Select option to Sampled Colors then activate the first eyedropper on the window. After this, click a black spot in your image window and click OK.
8. Delete the selection.
9. Change the layer blend mode to Overlay or Soft Light. Blend modes are located in the top left corner of the layer window. Make the opacity between 25% to 50%.

• Test It:

1. Make a new layer named cloth then drag it under your tartan.
2. Using the gradient tool, fill the background with a black to white transition. This tool can be accessed with the shortcut G.
3. Change the mode on the tool to difference then make a few short horizontal drags. This layer will represent a cloth texture you can blend with your texture.
4. Change the layer blend mode on the layer tartan to Soft Light.

Sometimes tartans are cut on the bias (diagonal). However, it isn't a simple matter to rotate your tartan and keep it seamless. You will need to do a little math and experimentation to accomplish this task. First, you need to make the right and bottom sides match the left and top. Refer to the diagram to see how this works.

1. Make a new document with a width and height of 266 pixels.
2. Give the file a transparent background and call it bgColor.
3. Make a new layer called 45Tartan.
4. Then, fill it with your tartan pattern.
5. Go to Image -> Rotate Canvas -> Arbitrary and use the value 45.
6. Change the background color to the pixel in the bottom left corner of your pattern which is #0D0D0D.
7. Fill the layer with it.
8. Resize the canvas by using Image -> Canvas Size. Make the width 188 and the height 198. The program will warn you about clipping the image, just choose to proceed.
9. Now, you can test your new diagonal tile like usual.