How to Create Paper Texture Effect in Adobe Photoshop | Tutorial

Paper Texture Effect in Photoshop

This short tutorial creates a crumpled paper texture from scratch in Adobe Photoshop and then uses it as a displacement map so text or an image looks printed onto the paper. It takes only a few tools and a couple of minutes.

Step 1: Build the folds with a gradient

1. Create a new document and select the Gradient Tool with the default black-to-white gradient.
2. Set the gradient type to Diamond (the fourth type) and the mode to Difference.
3. Drag several gradients of different sizes across the canvas. Each drag adds another set of creases, so more drags means more wrinkles.

Step 2: Emboss and adjust

Go to Filter > Stylize > Emboss and set the height and amount until the folds look right. Then press Ctrl+L for Levels and lift the mid-tones so the paper is light, pulling the shadow slider in slightly if you want stronger creases.

Step 3: Add paper grain

For a second, more realistic version, repeat Step 1 and before embossing go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise with Monochromatic ticked and a low amount. Too much noise will break the effect later. Then Emboss and Levels as before. To tint the paper, add a layer filled with a colour (yellow in the video) set to Multiply.

Step 4: Save a bump map

Hide the colour layer so only the black and white texture is visible and save a copy as a PSD, for example bump-texture.psd. This file drives the displacement.

Step 5: Displace text or an image

1. Turn the colour layer back on and add your text or place your image on top.
2. Convert that layer to a Smart Object (required for the filter).
3. Go to Filter > Distort > Displace. Use small values for text (5 and 5) and larger for images (10 to 25), and choose the saved bump map file.
4. Set the layer’s blending mode to Multiply so it blends into the paper.

Because it is a Smart Object, you can double-click the Displace entry later and raise the values until the edges follow the creases convincingly.

Conclusion

Diamond gradient in Difference mode, Emboss, Levels and a little noise give you a believable paper in minutes, and saving the black and white version as a displacement map is what makes anything placed on top look printed rather than pasted.