Dotted Paper in Photoshop

 

This tutorial will show you how to use layer masks and the halftone effect to create a paper covered in dots.

1.  Open a new canvas.  I made mine 3600 x 3600 for a full-size paper.

2.  Fill the canvas with your choice of color using the paint bucket.

 

3.  Make a new layer at 100% opacity.

4.  Fill the layer with 50% gray (Shift + F5).

5.   Go to Filter > Pixelate > Color Halftone.

6.  Apply the effect with a radius of 50 pixels and after making sure that all the angles are the same.

7.  Go the Select > Color Range and choose Shadows from the drop-down list.

8.  On the layers palette, click the mask button to create a mask from the selection.

9.  Click on the layer thumbnail so that the mask is de-selected.

10.  Fill (Shift + F5) the layer with a color.

11.  Make a new layer at 85% opacity.

12.  Fill the layer with 50% gray (Shift + F5).

13.  Apply the color halftone effect, reducing the size of the circles to 40 pixels and changing the screen angles. Make sure that all the angles have the same value.

14.  Go the Select > Color Range and choose Shadows from the drop-down list.

15.  On the layers palette, click the mask button to create a mask from the selection.

16.  Click on the layer thumbnail so that the mask is de-selected.

17.  Fill (Shift + F5) the layer with a color.

18.  Repeat steps 3-10 for a third layer if another color is desired.  Reduce the opacity of the new layer to 70% and the reduce size of the dots to 30 pixels.  Also change the screen angles when applying the color halftone effect.

The dotted paper is now complete.

 

Here is an action that follows the script.  You can make any sized paper and in any colors.

Action