Wondering how to make T-shirt designs with unique distressed textures? In this tutorial, I will show you a few simple and effective ways to create a design for vintage distressed T-shirts. We'll use different types of textures, brushes, and mask layers, and then combine these methods.
But what if you're looking for Photoshop T-shirt designs that are ready to use? In that case, you can always visit Envato Elements to find hundreds of T-shirt design templates, like the one below. Scroll down after this grunge T-shirt tutorial to find a top selection of Photoshop T-shirt designs!
Do you prefer video tutorials to learn new Photoshop skills? Then watch this cool video from the Envato Tuts+ YouTube channel to learn how to design a shirt in Photoshop:
What You'll Learn in ThisDistressed Texture PhotoshopTutorial
- How to make your own distressed textures and brushes
- How to make a distressed T-shirt design using transparent PNG textures
- How to make a distressed effect in Photoshop using JPEG textures
- How to make distressed T-shirt designs with Photoshop brushes
- How to combine textures and brushes to design a distressed T-shirt
What You'll Need
- Free Metal Texture
- Typography Hand Lettering Coffee Quotes
- 24 Distressed Texture Brushes
- 15 Grandpa's Textures
- 14 Distressed Ink Overlays
1.How to Make Your Own Distressed Textures and Brushes
Step 1
Let's learn how to design T-shirt graphics with the free texture I created for you. You could also create your own just by taking a photo of any metal surface (even with your smartphone!). Open the metal texture in Photoshop and then Double-Click on the background layer to rasterize it.
Step 2
After that, select the layer and pressShift-Control-Alt-B to convert the image to black and white.
Step 3
Hit Control-I to invert the colors of the image, and then go to Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast and use the following settings: Brightness: 132;Contrast: 100.
Step 4
Go to Select > Color Range and then select white with the Eyedropper Tool and set the Fuzziness to 50.
Step 5
Once you've selected the white area of the texture, press the Delete button, and then Control-D to deselect.
Step 6
And for the last step, Double-Click on the layer and put a tick on Color Overlay, and select black with Normal Blend Mode and 100% Opacity. After that, just save the texture in transparent PNG file format.
Step 7
Now, let's make a brush from our texture. Open the PNG file and select a part of the document with the Lasso Tool (L). I added a white background layer here, so you can see the texture better.
Step 8
Go to Edit > Define Brush Preset and press OK to create a new brush.
Step 9
Let's set up the brush. Hit the Brush Settings icon and use the following settings:
- Shape Dynamics: On; Size Jitter: 100%, Angle Jitter: 100%
- Scattering: On; Scatter: 129%.
In the next sections, we'll discover how to use these brushes/textures and any others.
2. How to Make T-Shirt Designs With PNG Textures
Step 1
Before starting to create a distressed vintage tee texture, let's create a new document with the following settings:
- 2000x2000 px
- 300 dpi
- Background Color: Black.
Step 2
Go to File > Place and then select the lettering for your distressed tee shirt design. Once you've placed the image, press Alt-Shift-Control-I to invert the colors of the lettering.
Step 3
Now we are ready to create a distressed texture Photoshop effect! Let's place one of the textures from the15 Grandpa's Texturespack. I chose distressed Photoshop overlay №3.
As you can see, our vintage T-shirt design already looks pretty cool!
And here is a variation with the texture we created previously, applied the same way:
Step 4
The important thing here is that you need to apply the distressed Photoshop overlay only to the lettering layer. If you make the background Invisible, you'll see that distressed texture applied to the whole document.
Step 5
So, to add the distressed texture Photoshop effect only to the desired layer, you need to select the layer with your texture and then Right Click > Create a Clipping Mask.
Step 6
If you want to make your vintage distressed T-shirts look even older, let's apply another texture. I chose texture №14. Don't forget toCreate a Clipping Maskfor this new texture.
This is how our distressed T-shirt design looks now:
Step 7
If this still doesn't look grungy enough, let's add one more texture (I selected texture №4) to our vintage shirt design.
3.How to Make a Vintage T-Shirt Design in Photoshop Using JPEG Textures
Step 1
Now, let's try to use JPEG textures from another pack and apply them to our vintage distressed T-shirt design. Place texture №13 from the14 Distressed Ink Overlayspack above the lettering andCreate a Clipping Mask.
Step 2
Change the Blending of the texture to Hard Light, to make our distressed effect Photoshop design less evident.
Step 3
Now, let's add a distressed texture Photoshop effect one more time. I chose texture №3 and changed the Blending Mode to Multiply and the Opacity to 50%.
Here is our vintage T-shirt design with JPEG textures applied.
4.How to Make a Distressed Effect in Photoshop With Brushes
Step 1
Now, we'll use distressed Photoshop brushes to create a design for distressed shirts. Let's create a new layer with the Alt-Shift-Control-N shortcut.
If you want to learn how to install distressed Photoshop brushes, check out this amazing tutorial:
- How to Install Brushes in PhotoshopMelody Nieves13 Nov 2019
Step 2
Select any subtle distressed brush and paint on this new layer with black. Combine a few brushes to make your design for distressed shirts truly unique, and don't forget to create a clipping mask!
Here is how the distressed graphic T-shirt design looks with our own custom brush applied to it:
Step 3
Another way to use the brushes to add texture to a distressed graphic T-shirt is with a mask. Select the layer with your lettering and press Add a Mask.
Step 4
Let's take a heavy grunge brush from the pack and then select the mask of the layer (or use Alt-Right Click to open it) and add a few strokes.
This is how my retro T-shirt design looks now:
And another variation of the final distressed graphic T-shirt design with our own brushes:
5.How to Combine Textures and Brushes to Create a Distressed Graphic T-Shirt
Step 1
To design a distressed T-shirt, we'll use all the methods we've discovered before. Let's Add a Mask to the layer.
Step 2
This time, we won't use the brushes on the mask, but we'll paste the texture onto it. So place and resize JPEG texture №1.
Step 3
Now, we need to select the whole texture using the Rectangular Marquee Tool, and then press Control-C.
Step 4
After that, Control-Right Click to open the mask of the layer, and then hit Control-V to paste the texture.
Step 5
Delete the layer with the texture, and then select the mask of the lettering layer and press Control-I to invert the image.
Step 6
Select the mask of the layer one more time, and go to Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast and use the following settings: Brightness: 105; Contrast: -15.
Step 7
Now, let's add a layer with PNG texture №2, and Create a Clipping Mask.
Step 8
And in this step of creating our retro T-shirt design, let's add a distressed texture Photoshop effect using JPEG texture №12 with Hard Light blend mode and 50% Opacity.
Step 9
And finally, let's save our vintage shirt design, make the background layer Invisible, and then just save the image as a transparent PNG file.
Awesome Work, You're Now Done!
Today, you've learned how to create T-shirt designs using different techniques. I hope you've enjoyed the tutorial and you have a lot of retro T-shirt design ideas now!
You may be wondering where I found these amazing mockups for the previews of our distressed texture Photoshop design. The answer is Placeit's T-shirt design maker! Placeit is an amazing site with hundreds of T-shirt mockups and T-shirt design templates, which you can use and customize in a few simple clicks! Try your retro T-shirt design ideas on different mockups here to find the best preview of your product. You don't need any special T-shirt design software to use Placeit, since it works right in your browser.
5 Top T-Shirt Design Photoshop Templates From Envato Elements
Now you know how to design a shirt in Photoshop and how to recreate a cool Photoshop weathered look. But if you're looking for a T-shirt grunge texture and a design that's ready to send to print, check out Envato Elements.
This subscription-based marketplace offers you unlimited T-shirt design templates, T-shirt distressed textures, product mockups, graphics, and more. Everything's included for a flat monthly fee. Here we've selected five top T-shirt design Photoshop templates you can download and use right away!
1. Drink Hot Cocoa Vector T-Shirt Design (AI, EPS, JPG, PNG, PSD, SVG)
If you like T-shirt distressed textures for your designs, you'll like this cool option. The T-shirt design Photoshop template features a Christmas typography design with a distressed style.
This T-shirt grunge texture comes in eight helpful formats, including a vector design so you can resize it without losing quality.
2. Surfing Vintage Sports T-Shirt Design (AI, EPS, JPG, PNG, PSD, SVG)
Create awesome designs with this vintage tee texture inspired by surfing. The Photoshop T-shirt design is also perfect for posters, mugs, and more.
This vintage sports T-shirt will make cool merchandise, and it comes in eight file formats. Easily recreate a Photoshop weathered look with this design.
3. American Football Retro Sports T-Shirt Design (AI, EPS, JPG, PNG, PSD, SVG)
Use Photoshop for designing T-shirts like this one. The retro sports T-shirt design is inspired by college varsity style and football insignias.
You can also use this vintage tee texture on mugs, posters, flags, and more. The download includes a T-shirt distressed texture as well.
4. Meowtain Doodle T-Shirt Design (JPG, PNG, PSD)
Do you like unique custom team shirts? This cool T-shirt design template is a great option for your next project.
The flat vector illustration looks fantastic on custom team shirts and other types of merchandise. Use Photoshop to design T-shirts with unique textures like this!
5. Halloween Momster Print T-Shirt Design (AI, EPS, JPG, PNG, PSD, SVG)
This distressed T-shirt design is great for Halloween! If you want to recreate a Photoshop weathered look in your T-shirt design, this is a great option.
The T-shirt grunge texture will grab everyone's attention. And the best part: the download includes eight file formats so you can work with this distressed T-shirt design on many platforms.
Discover More Cool Tutorials and Resources
Want to learn more about how to make T-shirt designs or find the best distressed effect Photoshop actions? Check out our awesome tutorials and articles:
- How to Make an Old Paper Texture in PhotoshopIvan Gromov22 Sep 2020
- How to Make a Distressed Effect Photoshop ActionIvan Gromov22 Jul 2021
- 31 Creative T-Shirt Design Ideas (Using a T-Shirt Design Maker)Nona Blackman11 Aug 2019
- How to Create a Retro 90s Grunge Photo Effect in Adobe PhotoshopMelody Nieves29 Sep 2020
- 50 Dirty, Filthy Grunge Photoshop Effects TutorialsDanny Outlaw29 Aug 2019
- 44 Best Typography T-Shirt Designs (Cool Customizable Text Designs)Nona Blackman25 Oct 2021
- How to Create a Typographic T-Shirt DesignDaisy Ein21 Oct 2021
- 35+ Best T-Shirt, Clothing, and Face Mask Mockup (Generator) Model Templates (Online)Melody Nieves26 Aug 2022
Editorial Note: This post has been updated with contributions from Maria Villanueva. Maria is the Associate Editor of the Tuts+ Design channel.
