Thread: [Award Winner] Local-scale tree texture in Photoshop CS3

Originally Posted by Vandy

Have you used any PS CS3 features / functions that either aren't available or couldn't be adapted to PS CS2?

Thanks Ravs and Vandy! Much appreciated.

I'm not sure. I skipped from PS 7 to CS3, so I don't know what was added from CS2 to CS3. However, the original tutorial posted on Cartotalk—from which I adapted these instructions—predates the release of CS3, so my guess is that it will work unchanged.

I'm pretty sure it would even work in version 7, although I was only barely getting my feet wet with that version when I upgraded.

A small update to the method:

If you save your texture in its own PSD file and Place that file in your working document, it will become a "Smart Layer." A Smart Layer has some significant advantages in a non-destructive workflow. Since it's actually a separate file, anything you do to it changes only the copy in your document, not the original. You can go in and adjust the original, and it will automatically update in the working document when you save it. In addition, in CS3, a filter applied to a smart layer becomes a "smart filter," which acts like an adjustment layer—so finally you can apply a blur non-destructively, which answers my objection to Hoel's early comment that the texture would look better blurred.

Genius!...thanks for making it easier to understand and follow