Easy Grooves

1, We will use a simple object and create grooves in it. Make a selection as wide as you want your groove and 2 pixels high.



2, Now go to Image|adjust|levels. In the middle input box type 2.0, click OK. Now use the arrow keys to nudge your selection up one pixel. Go to Image|adjust|levels again and this time put 0.4 in the middle input box. Click OK. Repeat this if for however many grooves you want.



3, This should be the end result.



4, If you reverse the numbers, or reverse the order in which you input them, you get some nice ridges. There are an endless number of uses for this technique, one is creating screws, which I will demonstrate below.



5, Make a circle selection and fill with the sunburst (round) type gradient from the upper left to lower right, using white to black.



6, Now adjust the levels as above on the screw. Ctrl-c to copy this and then ctrl-v to paste for however many screws you would like. On each screw laye hit ctrl-t (transform) and rotate each screw randomly for a more realistic effect.