top of page

Engraving Effect with Photoshop


Here is how to create an Engraving Effect with Photoshop!

As a Graphic Designer and Website Designer, I often have designs that would work well with "engraved" graphics. I mean, the type of engraving effect that looks like art on the dollar bill for example.

My talented sister, who is a super talented Graphic Designer and artist, found this amazing Engraving Effect using Photshop Actions and shared it with me – it's great for turning photos or other colored art into engravings!

I had some trouble figuring it out based on the instructions on the Actions download page, so I created the above video to help me remember how to use it.

Here are the basic steps:

This Action set comes from a cool UK designer who created the action set, find it here: blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/freebies/free-engraved-illustration-effect-action-for-photoshop I wanted to also to have it available at my Google Drive link above in case this page ever goes away on SpoonGraphics.

1. Load the Engraving Patterns file into your Photoshop Presets folder: Applications > Photoshop Folder > Presets > Patterns folder

- Drag the "Engraved Effect Patterns (Load First).pat" into the Patterns folder.

2. Then, open Photoshop, and open the image desired to "engrave." Note: it has to be a flattened one layer Photoshop file to work. Select your Paint Bucket Fill Tool which is hidden under the Gradient tool in the Photoshop toolbar. Once you have the Paint Bucket Tool selected, in the top click on the dropdown with "Foreground" selected and choose "Pattern".

3. Still, with the Paint Bucket Fill Tool selected, now load the Pattern into the Pattern dropdown at the top. See video on how to do this.

4. Now you can Load the Actions in your Action Window, see video to see how to do this, then you can Play one of the three actions in the Engraving action set, then hit Return or approve each action "step" until you get to the final results (it takes a lot of clicking on return button to get there, so be patient).

Voila, here's an example of one that I created from one of my watercolor octopus illustrations:

Engraved Octopus Illustration by Idelle Fisher - Engraving effect created by Photoshop Actions:

Engraved Octopus Illustration by Idelle Fisher -  Engraving effect created by Photoshop Actions

Below is the original Engraved Octopus Illustration with the Engraving effect layered over the original colored illustration, which is neat for creating a "colorized" engraving effect with Photoshop:

Engraved Octopus Illustration by Idelle Fisher - Engraving effect created by Photoshop Actions

Below is the original Engraved Octopus Illustration without the effect:

Original Engraved Octopus Illustration by Idelle Fisher - Engraving effect created by Photoshop Actions

View more of my work in my illustration portfolio »


11,080 views

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


Reach out with questions or for a free design estimate:

As a website designer and graphic designer, I love sharing great tips and tools that make designing easier. As part of my website design services, I train clients on how to update their websites or to do their own SEO (search engine optimization), so I post many of these tips for my clients to train them how to use Wix and other tools to keep their website up-to-date. Keeping websites current is the best way to get found and to keep people coming back to your website. 

Check out all my Design & SEO tips and resources in my blog

bottom of page