Background Textures
Choosing the right background texture for your website or design project can be tricky. Our series teaches you how to work with and incorporate background textures, as well as where to find stunning graphics to work with.
Whether you’re looking for tips on using and incorporating background textures in your designs, inspiring new styles and trends to explore, or guidance on what looks good (and what doesn’t!), we’ve got you covered.
Latest Background Texture Articles
4 Jul 2024
25+ Best Grunge Background Textures & Overlays for Photoshop
Grunge textures are known for their distressed, weathered appearance, offering a sense of depth and intensity that can transform ordinary designs into extraordinary visuals.
In this post, we bring you a mix of the best grunge background textures and overlays you can use to apply that same look to your designs.
The beauty of grunge lies in its imperfections—splashes, scratches, and worn-out surfaces that tell a story and evoke emotion. These textures can add a unique character and a rebellious flair to both digital and print media. And you’ll find various backgrounds and overlays representing all those vibes in this collection. Have a look.
26 Jun 2024
20+ Best Paper & Newspaper Background Textures
Today, we are bringing you a collection of the best paper background textures, featuring aged, vintage, crumpled, newspaper prints, and many more.
Textures can significantly elevate the visual appeal of a design, adding depth, warmth, and character that draw the viewer’s attention. Paper and newspaper backgrounds are especially versatile, offering a range of styles from classic and sophisticated to grungy and rustic.
Each of the textures included in our list has been handpicked with quality in mind. Whether it’s for designing a vintage-themed flyer, a rustic invitation, or an intriguing website background, these paper and newspaper textures can be your secret weapon to captivating and retaining your audience’s attention.
Dive right in and be sure to check out the free newspaper backgrounds at the end of the post.
7 Mar 2024
25+ Best Paper Textures (Ripped, Torn, Vintage, Watercolor & Folded Paper)
Today, we have a creative collection of paper textures that brings together a plethora of styles, capturing the unique aesthetics of ripped, torn, vintage, watercolor, and folded paper designs.
The versatile beauty of a simple paper texture can add depth and a tactile charm to any artistic canvas. From the romantic nostalgia evoked by an old paper texture to the dynamic energy of a ripped paper texture, each of these resources is a testament to the transformative power of textures.
Each texture on this list promises to breathe life into designs, offering both paid and free options tailored to various needs. Explore them all below and be sure to download the free textures.
29 Feb 2024
20+ Best Halftone Textures & Patterns for Photoshop
Halftone textures and patterns, with their dotted gradients and monochromatic schemes, offer a unique blend of old-school charm and modern sophistication.
In this curated selection, we shine a spotlight on the best halftone textures and patterns available, emphasizing their versatility, ease of use, and the distinct flair they add to any design.
From subtle, fine-grained dots to bold, dramatic patterns, each texture in our collection is chosen to inspire and enhance your creative projects, bridging the gap between traditional print aesthetics and contemporary design trends.
So whether you’re working on a vintage-themed project or just want to add a dose of sophistication to your project, this collection has all kinds of halftone textures to choose from. Have a look.
What is a Background Texture?
A background texture is an image, color or repeating pattern that has adds an element of depth to the background of a website. A good background texture helps add focus to foreground elements by providing ample contrast, such as a gray patterned background with red buttons or bright-colored text.
The trick to using textures is that they have to be subtle and actually fall into the background so that foreground elements are easy to read and understand. It can be a delicate balance and a good “eye test” – can you read and understand the design from a distance at ease – is often enough to establish whether a background pattern or texture works for the design.
3 Tips for Using Background Textures
When picking a background texture, look for something that will add contrast to the design and complement foreground elements. A background texture can be subtle or bold, but really matters is that the texture itself contributes to the overall design and helps users focus on the main messaging elements in the foreground.
Try these tips to create a background texture that is functional and beautiful:
- Go Simple and Understated: A common background trend is a pattern that’s a nearly invisible element that contributes to overall readability and usability while providing depth or visual interest. Simple background textures tend to have small or tight repeating patterns and can be almost any color.
- Incorporate Trends: A trendy background texture makes your design feel modern and fresh. It’s a signal to users that the website design is dedicated to a positive user experience. While trends can change quickly, background textures tend to follow other design trends. Geometric elements, dark themes, and watercolors are the must-have background textures of 2018.
- Use Color or Gradients: It’s hard to find a tool that’s more engaging than great color. A strong color palette or gradient can create a background that will draw users into the design. Color and gradients are great design tools because they work so well with other elements. Use a background color palette or gradient with geometric shapes, images or repeating elements for a strong background texture.
How to Create a Background Texture in Photoshop
One of the quickest ways to create a background texture is to create it in Photoshop. You can turn almost any image or element into a pattern that can repeat throughout a design.
The pattern tool in Adobe Photoshop allows you to create an image that is repeated in the area you fill. Photoshop actually comes with a handful of pattern presets that are a good way to experiment with this technique.
To create your own pattern, use the Rectangle Marquee Tool to select the image or element you want to copy for the pattern. This can be anything from a fun icon, swashes of color, or a grouping of polygons. Set the feather to 0 pixels.
Click Edit, then Define Pattern. You’ll also have the option to name it here.
Then apply the pattern to your shape or canvas using the paint bucket or fill tool. (Just make sure to select “Pattern”.)
Another option for creating a background texture includes adding a color overlay, transparency or blur to an image. By making the image less sharp and softer in Photoshop, you can use it as a background texture; images with plenty of dark and light or varying color areas will have a lot of depth. Images that aren’t highly detailed but are sharp and easy to understand often work best.
How Do You Pick a Background Texture?
The right background texture can help add emphasis to a design in all the right places. It can seemingly fall away from the design or serve as a focal point.
From subtle textures to shapes and styles that are designed for impact, a good background texture gives your website the right feel. Users won’t even really see it if it works well, although this element can be an integral part of the design.
Pick a background texture that works with other design elements to create something that users want to interact with.
Backgrounds Add Depth to Projects
A great background texture can add depth and visual interest to your overall website design. The trick to using textures is that they have to be subtle and actually fall into the background so that foreground elements are easy to read and understand.
Use of background textures is one of those design trends that changes almost all the time, so it is important to stay up-to-date on modern techniques so that your design doesn’t look dated.
7 Modern Background Texture Packs
Looking to get started with a beautiful pack of background textures? Here are ten of our favorites to get you started:
Dark Waves
Geometric Textured Backgrounds
Hand Illustrated Line Patterns
Bold Patterns
64 Watercolor Textures
Abstract Linear Geometric Backgrounds
Blurred Space Backgrounds
