So how do people change the whole texture of their wallpapers or e-cards? They use certain images to create textures. So what kinds of images create textures? What kinds of textures should you use?
Above, I've included one example of a texture. A texture can cause changes to the light and color of a scan. They can also cause a scan to look older, shinier, and more. They are what make each wallpaper/e-card look better than their scans.
Remember the previous post on layers? That's what textures use. First, go on google or devianart and type in what kind of texture you'd like. Are you making a sad card? Search up textures like "old paper", "grunge", etc. Are you making a happier one? Search up things like "bright texture". You can also search up certain shapes for your scan or color such as "red texture", "butterfly texture", "blurry texture", etc. Save them as images.
Go back to your program whether it is GIMP, Photoshop, or whatever. When you've finished choosing what part of the scan you'd like to use, add the image/texture you'd just saved as an image and open it up as a new layer. From there, you can choose effects from the layer. My favorites are "overlay" and "screen", but play around with it until you find a perfect one. (I believe there's different ways to find these buttons for different programs, so if you need help looking for these functions, look it up on Google)
Sometimes, you won't be able to find the perfect texture right away. That's fine. Look at other people's wallpapers. Sometimes, they contain links to where they got their textures from. You can save those and use them later on. As long as the image doesn't have actual drawings on them, and is just like a little design, you can use the image as a texture. I recommend also keeping a folder in your computer marked as "textures" where you can store all these images.
Have fun!
Quick overview:
[x] Textures can be found on Google and devianart.
[x] Just save the "texture" as an image, and use functions such as "screen" and "overlay".
[x] As long as it is a design of some sort, the picture can be used as a texture.
