Gothic Metal Bars

1. Create a new document (200x25).  Fill it with a dark grey:

2. Go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise.  In the settings, make is Gaussian, Monochromatic, and set it to 2.  Click Ok:

3. This will add some texture to our metal bar.  Now, select the dodge tool.  Set it up so that the range is midtones, your using a 1 px brush, and your exposure it 75%.  While holding shift, dodge the very top of the background.  Repeat with the bottom at 40%.  Zooming in will help you make more detailed effects:

4. This will give our bar more depth, and metallic looking edges.  Create a new document now (200x17).  Fill it with a light grey to dark grey gradient:

5. Add Noise again, but this time, set it to 1.4:

6. Use the blur tool, and a small brush to blend the bottom half of the noise a little.  A size 28 brush at 30% should work fine.  Only apply the blur to the bottom half of the image though!

7. Use the dodge tool (midtones and 75%) and dodge right below the top of the image (1 px down from the top):

8. Repeat using Highlights:

9. Still using highlights, barely dodge the bottom of the image:

10. Create a new layer, and select the pencil tool.  Select a dull shade of brown/orange/red and color over the bright line you dodged out near the top.  Set this layer to color:

11. This will give it a slightly more aged look.  Merge these layers (Ctrl + E), and copy paste them over your original document:

12. These bars alone will make up for good borders.  To add a nice touch, we can add spikes on top of the bars.  Create a new document (8x8) and fill it with a medium grey:

13. Copy paste this into your main document.  Go to Edit > Transform > Rotate.  While holding shift, rotate it to an angle like shown below:

14. Using the dodge tool, make lines going across vertically and horizontally:

15. Use the burn tool to shade in the top left, bottom left, and bottom right areas:

16. Go back with the dodge tool, and highlight all of the edges a little so that you can tell that its apart from the dark metal background:

17. Apply a drop shadow if desired, and copy paste until you are happy with how far they are spread from each other:

18. If using for a content box, just repeat this image over and over:

Good Luck!