Intermediate Section

Interlaced Scanline Effects

With & without using a native Photoshop filter: Halftone Pattern...

Creating 'Scanlines' from scratch;

not using a filter.
The following method of creating the
scanline effect allows us more control over
the thickness of the lines. Which in turn can
produce more variations of the look when
applied to our images.
I don't think any sample images are
needed to explain this method. It really is
very easy to visualize and understand.

Method 1: Creating the effect from scratch, without using a filter. (more variation)
Method 2: Using a stock Photoshop filter

This won't take very long to explain either, it's quite easy to learn.

We'll start by creating a simple 1x2 pixel line pattern.

Create a New Document that's 1x1 pixels in size. White Background, RGB, and 72dpi.

Press Ctrl+0 (zero) to make the image 'fit the screen'. Since it's only 1 pixel square, Photoshop will
simply zoom into the image using the maximum amount. You should see just a white square. Now
switch your Background colour to black. Then under the Edit menu choose Canvas Size.... Change
the height of the canvas to 2 pixels, and click OK to apply the change. What you should now see is a white
pixel above a black pixel.

Now press Ctrl+A to select All. Under the Edit menu choose Define Pattern. For the sake of a test,
create a New Document (Ctrl+N) and make it around 300x300 pixels with a white background. Then
create a New Layer in the document. Under the Edit menu choose Fill..., then within the 'Contents'
menu in the Fill options window, change the option to 'Pattern' and click OK to apply. Now you should be
seeing a thin horizontal striped pattern fill the canvas. If there were some content on the Background layer or
other coloured layers below the striped one, you would set the striped layer to Multiply to produce the
scanline effect over top of the layers below it.

Increasing line thickness:

If you wanted to create a pattern where one of the lines is twice as thick as the other is, all you'd have
to do is increase the canvas's height to 3 pixels instead of 2 (step 2). And if you wanted to create a
line pattern where both the white and black lines are 2 pixels thick, just start off by creating a 1x2
pixel image (1 pixel wide / 2 pixels high). Then, as in step 2, expand the canvas but instead make the height 4
pixels. That will add 2 black pixels below the 2 white ones you started with, making a 2 pixel thick stripe
pattern. Try it!
 GURU TIPS:
1. Don't forget, you can also just fill a specific selected area with the scanlines; instead of the whole
layer. Or, you could fill the whole layer, and then 'clip' that layer to a 'clipping path' (masking shape)
created on a layer below it. Or, you could fill the whole layer with the scanlines, and use a 'Layer Mask'
to block-out specific areas of the lines.
2. Try setting the 'scanline' layer to Screen mode if you want the white lines to create the effect. It has a
different look than using the black lines.
3. Try applying one of the artistic filters to the scanline pattern, using some low settings to create a subtle
texture in the effect.
4. Add a Layer Mask to the scanline layer that uses a 'White to Black' Linear gradient as the mask. That
will create an effect whereby the scanlines will fade out at some point over the image. If you used a
'White to Black' Radial gradient for the layer mask, the scanlines would fade near the outer edges of
your image. If you applied the 'Clouds' filter to the layer mask, then you'd have more of a 'gritty', hitech
look.
5. You can also use other colours for your lines besides white & black. That can produce another type of
look or style to the effect; which might be more suited to a specific design.

This ends method 1.

Continue Reading:
Interlaced Scanline Effect - Method 2: Using the 'HalfTone Pattern' filter.
Intermediate Section
Interlaced Scanline Effects
With & without using a stock Photoshop filter: Halftone Pattern...

Before we begin, i must say right-off-the-bat

that i'm quite surprised at how many people
like and want to use this effect, but don't
even know that Photoshop 5 & above
already come with a native filter to produce
the effect. I've had numerous emails asking
about it, or asking where folks can find a
tutorial on how to create the effect. This
immediately tells me that folks just aren't
being adventerous enough with Photoshop.

Get in there and start playing with the over 90 stock effects filters that come with the program!
There's a world of creative effects just waiting for you to find them! Trust me! ;)>

Method 1: Creating the effect from scratch, without using a filter. (more variation)
Method 2: Using a stock Photoshop filter

Creating 'Scanlines' using a Photoshop filter; 'Halftone Pattern...'

The following method will explain how to create a 'scanline' effect using one of Photoshop's stock filters called
'Halftone Pattern'. This filter is part of the 'Gallery Effects' filters that come with the program.
NOTE: this method will only seem long because you're doing it for the first time. Once you know what to do, it
takes only seconds to create the effect. Plus, i'm adding in some extra info for you here (of course!) ;)

Ok so first off, we'll need to know a couple of things about what this filter does. Basically, it will create
an interlaced, or 'scanline' effect. But more specifically, it can create the effect using 3 different styles:
Circles, Dots, and Lines. We'll be using Lines here; you can experiment with the other two.

When choosing the 'Lines' style, one thing to note is that you have some control over the thickness and
spacing of your lines. This is partly dependant on what setting you use for the 'Contrast' option. Generally i set
the contrast to 25 percent if i have the 'Size' set to 1. This will produce black lines that are 1 pixel thick,
separated by a 5 pixel white line. Any line size above 1 i set the contrast to 50 (which is the maximum). And
another thing to note about this filter is that the smallest 'even' line thickness it will produce is 3 pixels; it will not
create a 1 pixel line followed by another 1 pixel line. The smallest even stripe pattern it produces is a 3 pixel
thick line followed by another 3 pixel thick line. (even though the 'Size' setting says 1)

Look at these examples: (your Background colour will determine the line colour)
 Size set to 1 / Contrast set to 25. Size set to 1 / Contrast set to 50.
:Evenly spaced 3 pixel thick lines. :1 pixel thick lines spaced 5 pixels apart.
:Background colour doesn't matter. :Background colour was black.
Ok so now that we're a bit more familiar with how the filter operates, let's create our own example.

Start then by creating a New Document (Ctrl+N). Make it 100x100 / RGB / White Background / 72dpi.

Note: We would normally apply the filter directly in our working document, on its own layer. But
for now, we're just seeing how the filter works.

Now set your Background colour to black, and open the Filter menu and go to this submenu: Sketch/
Halftone Pattern.... From the options menu in the filter choose 'Lines'. Set the slider to the extreme left
- 1 pixel, and the 'Contrast' slider to 25; that will give us evenly spaced, hard clean lines. We'll pretend
here that we want a 3 pixel scanline effect. Click OK to apply it.

And finally, if you want to apply the pattern to an image you've created, simply create a New Layer
above all the layers that you wish to apply the scanline effect to. Name the layer 'Scanlines'. Then set
this layer's Blend Mode to Multiply (That mode removes the white).

GURU TIPS:
1. Create other scanline variations by duplicating your first scanline layer, and use the Move tool and your
arrow keys to nudge the duplicate layer up a few pixels. Set the duplicate's Blend Mode to Mupltiply
also. This can produce an uneven line effect with an interesting and different kind of look.

NOTE: when using thicker lines, also adjust the 'Contrast' setting up until you see the lines
become sharp and clean. But should you desire a somewhat 'fuzzy' or blurred effect (a
more true HalfTone effect), don't adjust the Contrast setting at all.

2. For a different looking effect, try using Screen, Overlay, Softlight, or Difference blend modes. And for
a completely different effect, set the Blend Mode to Dissolve, and drop the layer's Opacity down to
anything between 10 & 80 percent. To 'invert' the effect, just press Ctrl+I to invert the colours.

Experiment with other ways of making this effect look different from how other people are using it. Find your
own 'style' for this effect.

I hope this information has been inspirational to you.

Have fun!
Mark (aka theKeeper)...