WebTools that Deliver Results: NetMechanic
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Making TV Scanlines
in Photoshop 6
By Nick Ustinov
Revised by Nathan
Segal,* May/2001
TV Scanlines can be used for a variety of different effects, though
the most common is for stylistic enhancement. Here, you will learn how
to create this effect in a few simple steps.
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One of the important things in creating this kind of effect is
in knowing the size of the original image. This is important for
the next step, which is creating an image you will use to make a
TV scanline pattern. In this case, you can work with the Photoshop
Zebra, supplied in the Samples folder and sized to 200 pixels wide.
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Next, you need to create a thick line that you will use for the
TV Scanline pattern. Set the width to 200 and the Height to 4 and
fill the entire selection with Black.
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Now, select View: Show Rulers and Zoom into the image a few times
(CTRL-+) and select either the upper or lower half of this line
and fill the selection with White. This will be used to create the
TV Scanline patter. Go to Select: All, then to Edit: Define Pattern,
and in the Pattern dialog box, click on OK.
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Now, click on the image of the Zebra and access the Channels palette.
If it is not active, choose Window: Show Channels. Create a new
channel by clicking on the New Channel icon or by accessing the
triangle at the top right of the palette and choosing New Channel.
Next, go the menu bar and choose Edit: Fill and in the Fill dialog
box, choose Pattern under the Contents heading, making sure to choose
the pattern you created from the Custom Pattern list.
Note: If you want a thinner scanline, create an image 2
pixels high, etc.
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Now, go activate the RGB channel, then go to the Select menu and
choose Load Selection and click on OK.
From there, go to the menu bar and click on Image: Adjust: Levels.
At the top of the Levels dialog box, there is the heading: Input
Levels and three fields. In the field with the 1.00 reading, change
that to .6 and click on OK.
Deselect the image to see the effect.
Note: Experiment with changing the reading from .2 to .9
for a different intensity.
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*Nathan Segal is a Writer and Artist who is also active
in Stock Photography.
This article first appeared in November 1998.
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