Texture

The Texture tool offers advanced controls to blend texture and image overlays into the image. Textures can give your photos unique new looks, especially when you want to achieve a vintage or grungy feel.

• PNG overlays: PNG files with transparency can be uploaded as textures. These files are then used to add special effects to photos, including watermarks, text, emoticons, and other decorative elements.
• Easy placement: New overlay elements can easily be moved, flipped, rotated, resized, and placed anywhere within the frame. Blending modes and masks precisely control how the object interacts with the original image.
• Overlays in Templates: Once applied, an overlay can be synced across multiple images or saved in a custom Template for future use.
  

Applying a Texture

1. Click the Texture Selection drop-down menu to visually browse textures in a grid. Choose a texture file on your hard drive. JPEG, TIFF, and PNG files work best.
   • Texture Selection. Use this drop-down menu to visually browse textures in a grid. Custom textures are shown right after built-in texture overlays.
     
   • Click the + symbol to load a new texture to your library (only shown in the All Textures and Custom groups).
     
   • Click the group’s list at the top of the tool window to choose the Show Custom Textures… option to load your own textures or folders into the menu. To do this, just copy the items into the folder that is revealed on your hard drive.
     
2. Use additional controls as needed to refine the texture.
   
   • Place Texture button. Moves and resizes the texture image.
     • Drag the corners of the texture to proportionally scale the texture.
     • Drag from the sides to stretch the texture.
     • Textures can be rotated by positioning the mouse over a corner until the cursor changes to a curved arrow.
   • Flip/Flop buttons. Swap the direction of the texture image.
   • Opacity. Use the Amount slider to control how the image is lightened or darkened based on the texture layer.

*Note: Be sure to blend
Many of the built-in textures look best with a Blend Mode. Be sure to open the Advanced Settings area and try modes like Screen or Lighten when a texture has a dark background.

3. Refine the texture using the Advanced Controls as needed.
   
   • Blend Mode. Use a Blending Mode to change how the texture mixes with your image.
   • Brightness. Adjust how light or dark the texture is.
   • Contrast. Increase or decrease the dynamic range of the texture.
   • Saturation. Adjust the intensity of the color in the texture.
   • Hue. Change the colors in the texture by rolling the hue.
4. If desired you can also mask a texture overlay. Click the Mask button at the top of the Tool controls and choose from Paint Mask, Radial Mask, or Gradient Mask in the dropdown menu.
5. Apply the texture to just the areas you want using the mask brush.
   

*Note: Add your own texture library
To add a single texture just, click the + icon at the end of the texture list and browse your computer for a texture to add. This icon is only shown in the All Textures and Custom groups.
To add a group of textures, select Show Custom Textures… from the Texture Selection dropdown list. Then drag and drop your custom textures to the folder that opens. We recommend keeping fewer than 50 textures loaded at a time for better performance. Be sure to use subfolders if you’d like to organize your menu.

*Note: Working with Layers?
While LuminarAI doesn’t support traditional layers, you can use a Texture overlay in the Local Masking tool to combine multiple images in one document. These overlays can be blended or masked as needed. !(center)