1. Create a new Photoshop document (File> New or Ctrl+N). For this tutorial, we've created a 800x600 pixels document.
   
   

   New Photoshop Document
   
   
2. Set the background color to 50% grey. You can edit the background color by clicking on the background color in the toolbox.
   
   

   To create 50% grey color, simply enter 50% in the Brightness field.
   
   
3. Now we'll add some noise to the image. To do this, use the Add Noise tool (Filter> Noise> Add Noise). Select Uniform and checkmark Monochromatic. The Amount you specify will determine how visible the metal grain will be.
   
   

   The Add Noise Tool
4. Use the Motion Blur tool (Filter> Blur> Motion Blur) to blur the grain.
   
   

   The Motion Blur Photoshop Filter
5. Now we need to enlarge the layer to hide the edge effect caused by the Motion Blur filter. To do this, use the Rectangular Marquee tool (M) to create a selection of most of the brushed metal area.
   
   

   Selection
6. Use the Transform tool (Edit> Transform> Scale or Ctrl+T) to scale the selection to the document's size.
   
   

   While stretching the corners, hold the Alt key to stretch all four corners. Press Enter to exit the Transform tool when you're done.
7. The metal texture is complete, but it doesn't look realistic because of a lack of lighting. If you are using this tutorial to create a texture for a 3D modeling software, you can now import this texture to your software and let your 3D modeling software handle the lighting effects. If you want to add lighting with Photoshop, continue to the next step.
8. To add a lighting effect to this texture, simply use the Lighting Effects filter (Filter> Render> Lighting Effects).
   
   

   Experiment with different settings in the Lighting Effects tool for different results.

Final Results

Final results of metal texture with lighting applied

Comments (15) >>

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written by JOrtiz, July 16, 2008

everything was going great up to the transform. After that Iwant to do the light effect and is not available. What's wrong? Any help please

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written by Guillaume, June 12, 2008

ou puis-je trouver le flou cintique sur CS3 ?

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written by scib, March 11, 2008

Got to the transform, pressed enter all ok. But then the Lighting Effects wasn't availalbe. Where am I going wrong?

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written by good, February 13, 2008

sir...i did as u've written in the above tutorial..but stuck on one point... after scaling the texture... and pressing enter what is to be done.. i mean if i want to use the text. in 3ds max do i save it??

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written by w3nky, January 14, 2008

it's easy, but so usefull :)
ty

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written by Kyle Sevenoaks, November 08, 2007

To make this more realistic, select all but the black before you apply lighting effects.

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written by dhana, September 29, 2007

haayz duh.. so what's the use of this textur tutorial?

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written by ghyoom, September 08, 2007

Thank you !!
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written by amura_2406, May 05, 2007

hmm.. this stuff nice too
sound soooooo easy,
better give it a try

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written by Lorie, May 01, 2007

I did it and it looks like his, but I would like to able to make it look more detailed, too :)

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written by rellonaut, April 06, 2007

This is very easy to follow. The directions are clear and get strait to the point. But if you don't feel like making the Brushed Metal from scratch, there's always the Brushed Metal style, under the style menu. This is the little box that has all sorts of predefined styles, I know for fact its in CS2...

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written by Matt., October 31, 2006

mmhmm.. This is good. But it needs to be developed. Easy to follow.

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written by Rc2001, October 26, 2006

Yes, I must agree smooth effect, but I wud do a lil more work on it to make it look like metal. In 3d this is cool but more detail is needed to bring the model to life.

100% tutorial is extremely easy to follow!!!!!!!

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written by Steve Arthur, October 13, 2006

Cool effect, really easy to creat and looks just like example!

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written by Gary, August 12, 2006

What happened to to all of Denny Tangs tutorials? I want to create a shaft of light using a feathered selection so it loks like a ray of light

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