Photoshop's filters are commands that create realistic images of real-world phenomena and materials. Though Photoshop doesn't have a filter specifically for creating perforated vinyl, you can use the Noise and Radial Blur filters to help you create this image. Vinyl recording discs, or "records," are familiar examples of perforated vinyl. Creating an image of such a disc shows you how to use the filters just mentioned.
Create Canvas
- The first thing you need to create a Photoshop image of a vinyl record is a new painting canvas. Create that canvas by clicking the "File" menu "New" command, then clicking "OK" on the dialog box that appears. Now add the record's base color, which is dark gray or black. Click the upper color swatch in the "Tools" panel, then click a dark gray color from the window that appears. Click the "Edit" menu's "Fill" command to fill the canvas with the color you chose.
Filters
- The first filter needed to create a perforated vinyl record is Noise. This filter creates the mottled light and dark values characteristic of vinyl records. Apply the Noise filter by clicking the "Filter" menu's "Noise" command. Use a second filter, Radial Blur, to distribute the noise radially around the canvas. This gives the impression that the canvas has the circular shape appropriate for a vinyl record. Click the "Filter" menu's "Radial blur" item to apply Radial Blur.
Perforation
- One easy way of creating the vinyl record's perforation, which is its central hole, is to use the Elliptical Marquee tool. Click the "Tools" panel icon showing an ellipse to run Elliptical Marquee. Press "Shift" and "Alt" simultaneously to indicate you want to draw a perfectly circular perforation. Drag a short distance on the canvas's center to grow the perforation, then release the mouse. Press "Delete" to complete the perforation.
Highlight
- Vinyl records show a distinctive highlight that you don't see on some other objects. By simulating this highlight in Photoshop, your vinyl record will therefore appear much more realistic. Start the highlight by clicking the "Tools" panel icon shaped like a rectangle with varying shades of gray. This runs the "Gradient fill" tool. Click the mouse above the record's perforation to specify the gradient's top edge, then drag to us below the perforation to specify the bottom edge. Release the mouse to paint the highlight and complete the vinyl record.
