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15 Jun 2007 10:43 PM, by devvv (Bernhard Stockmann)

Old Parchment Paper

This tutorial is a bit aimed on fantasy-fans! I will show you how to generate an old parchment paper. You can than add an old map, a photo or just plain text to it!

This article has been written using GIMP 2.3.11. It's divided into 15 steps and takes about 25 min to complete for an average user. 82863 times read so far. Category: Special FX, required skill: 3 of 5

39 comments have been posted so far.

Available in other languages:

  1. 1
    Open a new file: 400x500 px and set the background color to black.
    Screenshot of step 1
    Click to enlarge
  2. 2
    Create a new transparent layer, fill it with #bc8b46.
    Screenshot of step 2
    Click to enlarge
  3. 3
    Go to Filter / Noise / RGB Noise and use these values as input:

    Independent RGB Channels: checked
    RED: 0,20
    GREEN: 0
    BLUE: 0
    ALPHA: 0
    Screenshot of step 3
    Click to enlarge
  4. 4
    - Filter / Blur / Gaussian Blur: 10px.

    The noise-effect should be still very little visible-
    Screenshot of step 4
    Click to enlarge
  5. 5
    Now, we're going to bring some depth into play. Open the channels tab (Dialogs / Channels). Create a new channel there, name it "knittern" or "crinkle" which is the english word for this.

    Opacity to 100%.
    Screenshot of step 5
    Click to enlarge
  6. 6
    Click the just created channel to make it active.

    Apply Filter / Render / Plastic Noise. Activate "Random".

    Values:
    --------
    Random: on
    X: 2,3
    Y: 3,3
    Details 15.

    You get this kind of picture:
    Screenshot of step 6
    Click to enlarge
  7. 7
    In the channels tab deactivate the eye-symbol to make it invisible.
    Screenshot of step 7
    Click to enlarge
  8. 8
    Change to the layers-tab and click the brown layer to make it active. Now apply Filter / Light and Shadow / Lighting Effect. In the tabs of the filter enter these values

    Options:
    (optinal) Distance: 2000

    Light:
    ------
    Light1:
    Type: Directional
    Color: White:
    Direction: X: -2,25 Y: 1,75 Z: 1

    Material:
    Glow: 0,5
    Bright: 0,75
    Shiny: 0,12
    Polished: 20

    Bumpmap:
    use the "crinkle"-Channel
    Max Height: 0,01
    Screenshot of step 8
    Click to enlarge
  9. 9
    - Filter / Enhance / Sharpen: 60.

    After that choose the "Free selection"-tool. Draw a selection as seen on the picture.
    Screenshot of step 9
    Click to enlarge
  10. 10
    Now choose Selection / Invert. Cut that part or just delete it using DEL (or CTRL+K in GIMP 2.2).
    Deactivate the current selection by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+A or Selection / None
    Screenshot of step 10
    Click to enlarge
  11. 11
    The next step is to create some more cuts into the parchment. Use the free selection tool for this again. Cut many small cranks into the parchment. You can also do small very thin ones in the middle.
    Screenshot of step 11
    Click to enlarge
  12. 12
    Now we're adding a darker border to it.

    - Right click in the layers dialog. "Alpha to selection". This gives us a perfect selection of the layer.
    - Add a new empty layer
    - Selection / Invert
    - Fill this selection with #7a340d
    - Selection / None
    Screenshot of step 12
    Click to enlarge
  13. 13
    Apply Filter / Blur / Gaussian: 75.
    Screenshot of step 13
    Click to enlarge
  14. 14
    Activate the parchement layer. Choose "alpha to selection" from the right click context menu of the layers dialog again.

    Activate the just blurred layer. Press CTRL+I to invert the selection and the press DEL to delete the unwanted parts. The brown inner shine should be visible now.

    The hard part is done ;) Now you can finetune your parchment paper by using Brightness and Contrast. Or you can apply the depth-effect again if you want more crinkle! Feel free to play around with it.
    Screenshot of step 14
    Click to enlarge
  15. 15
    You can the add a photo to it or write some text or you can also add an old map to make your own treasure map! Have fun!
    Screenshot of step 15
    Click to enlarge

This article is licensed under the following license: Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Austria

Comments

Post your own comments, questions or hints here. The author and other users will see your posting and can reply to it. Of course, you can also ask in the chat.

Comments are chronologically arranged.

4 rating(s) with 5.0 of 5 stars in average

  1. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Mon Jul 16 11:58:18 2007 James, 16 Jul 2007 11:58 AM

    Fantastic tutorial! This has given me the know-how to make the minimaps on my hl2 mod look rustic and old fashioned. Thank you!

  2. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Tue Aug 7 06:44:43 2007 Chelmite, 07 Aug 2007 06:44 AM

    I'm running gimp 2.2.12. DEL doesn't do anything. What's the equivalent function from the menus?

  3. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Tue Aug 7 09:06:30 2007 lala, 07 Aug 2007 09:06 AM

    wow

  4. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Mon Aug 27 12:19:29 2007 cemkalyoncu, 27 Aug 2007 12:19 PM

    @Chelmite: you can use Ctrl + K or edit -> clear

  5. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Sat Sep 15 08:55:26 2007 ali, 15 Sep 2007 08:55 AM

    selam

  6. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Mon Sep 24 14:52:54 2007 rwacles, 24 Sep 2007 02:52 PM

    Nice Tutorial! I've been looking for this. Thanks


    Click to enlarge

  7. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Thu Oct 4 02:51:20 2007 yht, 04 Oct 2007 02:51 AM

    What program are you using to do this? I have windows xp2000 with word perfect. Will that work?

  8. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Sun Oct 14 12:24:06 2007 PhotoMan, 14 Oct 2007 12:24 PM

    Does anyone have a GIMP 2.2 version of this tutorial? Options do not match.

  9. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Sun Oct 14 12:33:55 2007 devvv, 14 Oct 2007 12:33 PM

    you may use the new gimp 2.4 release candidate - it is found in our downloads section.

  10. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Thu Nov 15 18:42:42 2007 Snugglie, 15 Nov 2007 06:42 PM

    I'm stuck at #6 <_< What exactly shall I do?

  11. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Thu Nov 15 19:33:30 2007 Snugglie, 15 Nov 2007 07:33 PM

    Never mind, found it. Great tutorial, thanks!

  12. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Mon Dec 31 08:11:15 2007 milliepat, 31 Dec 2007 08:11 AM

    This needs some editing, after step 12, I never got the look. Using Gimp 2.4.2 on Win XP.

  13. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Sat Jan 5 23:54:32 2008 rebaler, 05 Jan 2008 11:54 PM

    helllo okay i was wondering... if you were to say put a desk / wood like background in a layer under the paper layer... to make it look like its on a table , how would you go about making wood / desk texture? also in stead of a wood/desk textue what if you were to make everything but the letter invisable... i dont know how to make a area invisable..

  14. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Sun Jan 20 22:29:00 2008 elmister, 20 Jan 2008 10:29 PM

    Step 6 (Gimp 2.4)
    Filters / Render / Clouds / Solid Noise

  15. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Wed Jan 23 16:28:15 2008 coche, 23 Jan 2008 04:28 PM

    Great tutorial thx. I've a lot of fun doing it!

  16. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Sun Feb 17 14:09:35 2008 anna, 17 Feb 2008 02:09 PM

    You can make that effect using coffee, can't you? Does anyone know the best way to do it?

  17. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Mon Feb 25 16:52:10 2008 justin, 25 Feb 2008 04:52 PM

    same here, after stpe 12 i couldn't get the look right, at all. greta tutorial though, and does anyone know how to work with text, it just runs off the layer, i can't seem to edit it at all.

  18. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Fri May 9 21:01:36 2008 hucane2000, 09 May 2008 09:01 PM

    Very cool, Thanks it was fun learning
    how to use the filters to manipulate the different layers.

  19. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Sun Oct 26 03:04:58 2008 sandra, 26 Oct 2008 03:04 AM

    I'm using version 2.6.0 so some of the options can't match. For example, there's no channels tab!

  20. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Sun Oct 26 12:58:28 2008 devvv, 26 Oct 2008 12:58 PM

    the channels are found through the menu WINDOWS / DOCKABLE / Channels in 2.6

  21. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Thu Oct 30 20:22:30 2008 Sazzy, 30 Oct 2008 08:22 PM

    I am really new to Gimp and any graphics program.
    In step #2 it says to "Create a new transparent layer, fill it with #bc8b46." Again in Step #12 "Fill this selection with #7a340d" I have no idea what the number/letter thing is. Where am I entering those values?

  22. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Tue Nov 11 08:03:34 2008 sandra, 11 Nov 2008 08:03 AM

    [Sazzy] Those number/letter thing as you say are colour codes sort of. Like, FFFFFF is white and 000000 is black.

  23. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Tue Nov 11 08:04:05 2008 sandra, 11 Nov 2008 08:04 AM

    [Sazzy] Those number/letter thing as you say are colour codes sort of. Like, FFFFFF is white and 000000 is black.

  24. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Tue Nov 11 08:26:05 2008 sandra, 11 Nov 2008 08:26 AM

    oops, sorry for the double comment. anyway, I can't cut/delete that part in step 10. D:

  25. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Wed Dec 3 09:30:36 2008 regards, 03 Dec 2008 09:30 AM

    Tuto très bien fait ! Manque un peu de détails pour les débutants, mais une fois la main faite, c'est un régal !! Thank you :o)

  26. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Sun Jan 11 05:14:50 2009 Merissa, 11 Jan 2009 05:14 AM

    All of this is great for me except step 8. In the bump map section of the lighting effect I do not have the option to choose the crinkle layer I made. I only have a drop down box with 2 of my layers as choices. I'm using version 2.6.4. I really want this to work...can anyone help me with this? Thank you!

  27. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Fri May 1 08:05:55 2009 Doug, 01 May 2009 08:05 AM

    Thanks a bunch for the tutorial! It was awesome, almost magic. When I got through I realized that I wanted the edges to have a smoother look. I waish I would have just checked "Feather Edges" and set it at 2 or so. Also I added one more step which I really liked. Filters > Enhance > GREYCstoration. I maight have done it 2 iterations, other than that, I didn't change any settings. I used Gimp 2.6.4 on Mac Os 10.5.6

  28. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Sun May 17 21:34:04 2009 Xtraspecialj, 17 May 2009 09:34 PM

    Umm, Step 6, I went to Filters|Render| But there is no Plastic Noise selection. I even searched in the manual and there is absolutely nothing like that. A google search for "Plastic Noise" only links to this same tutorial. What the heck is that and how do I get it. I'm stuck, Please help

  29. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Sun May 17 21:45:59 2009 Xtraspecialj, 17 May 2009 09:45 PM

    nevermind, i see it up in the list, disregard my above comment (#28)

  30. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Thu Jul 9 14:38:00 2009 Mahendran, 09 Jul 2009 02:38 PM

    This is awesome..! really great works well :)

  31. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Tue Jan 12 05:06:38 2010 Secret, 12 Jan 2010 05:06 AM

    Thanks! But, I am using GIMP 2.6.7

    Some stuff is not there. Anyways, I did some stuff and some other stuff and made an old book cover. LOL.

  32. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Thu Jan 14 16:08:30 2010 nels, 14 Jan 2010 04:08 PM

    I can't find plastic noise either. What list did you finally see it in? I'm searching manual, googling, have examined the filter menu and sub menu six times.

  33. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Mon Jan 18 06:05:51 2010 ursaminor, 18 Jan 2010 06:05 AM

    For Plastic Noise, try Render>Clouds>Plasma. Click Randomize. Adjust (or not-default 1.0) Turbulence.

  34. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Thu Feb 4 09:27:23 2010 PLASTICisSOLID, 04 Feb 2010 09:27 AM

    Plastic noise is actually Solid Noise.

  35. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Mon Feb 15 06:11:34 2010 EnK, 15 Feb 2010 06:11 AM

    I had a blast walking through this tutorial, and I thank you for your time. Yes, from the last person who left a comment - I couldn't find the "Plastic Noise", so I had a little trouble with that step-by-step. Otherwise, you shoudl be commended. That was fun and educational. I thank you for your time.

  36. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Tue Feb 16 00:53:22 2010 Geeze, 16 Feb 2010 12:53 AM

    "PLASTIC NOISE" is "SOLID NOISE" in 2.6.8...

  37. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Sat Mar 20 22:38:46 2010 Gaz, 20 Mar 2010 10:38 PM

    All you guys commenting with stuff not working, I did it with the latest GIMP version. :P. Plastic noise is found under Filters>Render>Cloud>Plastic Noise. Also, the channels tab is always there. Anyways, LOVE IT. Thanks so much. I really needed this for an English porject.

  38. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Wed Mar 31 16:02:17 2010 Emiliano, 31 Mar 2010 04:02 PM

    For those blocked at step 12... I tried without Select -> None and it works with the same effect as in the tutorial.

    Ciao,
    Emi

  39. http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/old-pergament-paper.html Thu Apr 29 14:06:34 2010 iekie, 29 Apr 2010 02:06 PM

    I'm new at GIMP. How do I add the photo

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