Graphics Tips
Adobe Photoshop Tip: Faux Jaguar Fur Type
By: Rick Yaeger
During MacWorld NY 2002, Apple came under fire for many things including charging an annual fee for .mac service (the free for life service previously known as iTools) and for offering no special deal for Mac OS X users who upgrade to version 10.2. As if those weren't bad enough, Apple defaced its own "X" logo by covering it in simulated Jaguar fur. Why would they do such a thing? Sorry I can't offer an answer to that question. I can however offer a suggestion on how you might do the very same thing.
As with our Ubiquitous Aqua Type tutorial, we at MacMerc do not condone the use of Faux Fur Type in any way. We only offer this tutorial for entertainment purposes. The techniques shown below, when used separately, are harmless but when used together as illustrated below without restraint, people may get hurt.
Step 1: There's more than one way to skin a cat. (There may very well
be, but I only know this way)
The first thing we'll have to is create some Jaguaresque texture. I
suppose you could paint all those spots in by hand. If you want to go that way,
suit yourself. For the rest of you that want Photoshop to do the work for you,
follow me.
I'm starting with a 7" x 2" 300ppi RGB file with a white background layer — for the purposes of this tutorial, I will assume you are working on a file of the same dimensions and resolution.
Create a new layer, fill it with White and name the layer "Jaguar Fur".
Under Filter choose Texture>Stained Glass. Set the filter to a 25 pixel Cell Size, 18 pixel Boarder Thickness and 0 Light Intensity and click "Okay." This filter will map out the basic spot pattern.
Invert (Command-I) and then go under Filter again and choose Sketch>Photocopy. I've used a Detail setting of 6 and a Darkness value of 50 to simulate the holes in the middle of the jaguar spots. The texture still looks too sharp and angular, so obviously we have to do a little more filtering.
Under Filter, choose Pixelate>Pointillize and set the Cell Size to 10 pixels before hitting "Okay." Now we've got spots on our spots and, not only that, they are totally the wrong color.
Before we apply the final filter on our spots, set the foreground color to R: 10, G: 6, B: 0 (practically black, but not quite) and the background color to R: 225, G: 164, B: 59 (a nice dark orange).
Now choose Filter>Sketch>Stamp and set the Light/Dark Balance to 1 and the smoothness to 7. Nice spots.
From spots to fur: Go to Filter>Noise>Add Noise... and use a setting of 10%, Gaussian and Monochromatic and click "Okay."
If you look closely at the Jaguar'd X on the Apple web site or on the Mac OS X 10.2 box, you will notice that the grain of the fur follows the lines of the letter...well, forget it, this tutorial is already running long so you'll just have to deal with what you get.
Go to Filter>Blur>Motion Blur... and set the Angle to 90° and the Distance to 10 pixels. Click "Okay."
Go to Filter>Distort>Ripple and set the distortion Amount to 20% and the size to Large. Click "Okay."
Now sharpen the fur by going to Filter>Sharpen>Sharpen. Now that you've Sharpened once, Sharpen again.
The jaguar skin is done. Now we just have to apply it to something.
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