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Chalkboard
by Matt Kloskowski
ExtremePhotoshop.com

Hi and welcome back. This week we're going to learn how to create chalk writing on a
chalkboard using a custom brush. Why you ask? Well, I can't say its because my inbox
has been filling up with requests for this effect. Unfortunately though, you're sometimes
at the mercy of my experimentation in Photoshop. Not everything I do has to be directly
related to a client - sometimes its just fun to play in Photoshop for no reason
whatsoever. That is how this effect was born. So sit back, relax, forget about work for a
while, and pretend you're back in 5th grade (maybe easier for some of you than others)
watching the teacher write your homework on the board... Hoping that she goes easy on
you.

Step 1: Start out with a blank canvas. 500 x 500 pixels should work fine. Fill your
background with this color - #4D6B44.

Step 2: Now, select the brush tool and open your brush palette (Window->Brushes). The
brush I'm going to use ships with Photoshop. Its called "Spatter 14 pixels". See my
screenshot below for a preview.
Step 3: Now make sure you have brush tip shape selected on the left side of the brush
palette and make your settings similar to mine here.

Step 4: Now select "Shape Dynamics" and change your settings to match mine.

Step 5: OK, you now have your brush (or chalk). Its time to write. There are a few
ways you could do this. The first and easy way is if you have a pen tablet. Just create a
new layer, select the brush tool and start writing on the canvas. You can do this with a
mouse but it is much more difficult to write legibly. This gives you that real handwritten
look on the blackboard.
Step 6: The second more difficult way is to add some text on a new layer like I have
here.

Step 7: Then go to Layer->Type->Create Work Path. This will create a new work path in
your paths palette from your text. Then hide your text layer and create a new layer on
top of it. Make sure the brush tool is selected (with your new brush of course) and go to
the Path's Palette. Click on the text work path and click the stroke path button at the
bottom of the palette. It should leave you with something like this.

Step 8: Either way is cool I think and they can both have their advantages depending
on the look you're going for. Here is something that I created that made the task a little
more fun.
I hope you enjoyed this weeks column. I will have my final PSD file as well as the brush
that I used up on my web site (www.extremephotoshop.com). Please stop by and let me
know what you think of the new site too. Also, feel free to send me any questions. Send
them to Extremephotoshop@yahoo.com. See ya...

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