Wild West Wooden Sign

Step 1.

Create a new document in photoshop that is 500x500 in size.

Step 2.

Press Ctrl + Shift + Alt + J on your keyboard to create a new layer. Name this new layer "Plank".

Get out the Rectangle Marquee Tool ( ) and make a square selection as I have done here:

Next get out the Polygonal Lasso Tool ( ). Now while holding down the Alt key on your keyboard, deselect the ends of the rectangle selection as I have done here. The key is to make the de-selections random, to appear as though it's a plank of wood.

Fill this selection with black (#000000), using the Flood Fill paint bucket tool ( )

Press Ctrl + D on your keyboard to deselect the selection.

Result:

Step 3.

Press Ctrl + Shift + Alt + N on your keyboard to create a new layer.

Set your foreground color to #4B2B05 (dark brown):

Using the Flood Fill Pain Bucket Tool ( ) fill the entire canvas on this new layer.

Step 4.

Go to Filter->Noise->Add Noise and apply the following settings:

Result:

Step 5.

Go to Filter->Blur->Motion Blur and apply the following settings:

Result:

Step 6.

Now get out the Elliptical Marquee Tool ( ) and make several oval selections all over the canvas as I have done here.

Note: After you make the first selection, you can continue to make more selections by holding the Shift key on your keyboard down.

In all, I've made 27 selections:

Go to Filter->Distort->Twirl and apply the following settings:

Press Ctrl + D on your keyboard to deselect the selections.

Result:

Step 7.

Photoshop 7 & Older: Press Ctrl + G on your keyboard, to group this layer with the previous. Then press Ctrl + E on your keyboard to Merge this layer, with our "Plank" layer.

Photoshop CS / CS2 / CS3: Press Ctrl + Alt + G on your keyboard to create a "Clipping Mask" with the previous layer. Then press Ctrl + E on your keyboard to merge this layer, with our "Plank" layer.

This should leave you with just the plank, all by itself as shown here:

Step 8.

Double click this layer, and apply the following Blending Options:

Drop Shadow:

Inner Shadow:

Inner Glow:

Satin:

Stroke:

Result:

Step 9.

Press Ctrl + J on your keyboard to duplicate this layer.

Go to Edit->Transform->Flip Vertical.

Get out the Move Tool ( ) and position the 2nd plank as I have done here:

Now press Ctrl + T on your keyboard to get out the Freeform Transform Tool.

After you've done this look in the toolbar for the "rotation" value, and do a rotation of: 1.5 Degrees as shown here:

Press Enter on your keyboard to finalize the transformation.

Result:

Step 10.

Press Ctrl + J on your keyboard to duplicate the layer once again.

Get out the Move Tool ( ), and position the 3rd plank as I have done here:

Go to Edit->Transform->Flip Horizontal.

Press Ctrl + T on your keyboard again to get out the Freeform Transform Tool.

And add a rotation to this plank of 1.8 as I have done here:

Press Enter on your keyboard to finalize the transformation.

Result:

Step 11.

Press Ctrl + J on your keyboard to duplicate this layer for the last time.

Get out the Move Tool ( ), and position this 4th plank as I have done here:

Go to Edit->Transform->Flip Vertical.

Press Ctrl + T on your keyboard again to get out the Freeform Transform Tool.

And add a rotation to this plank of 2.0 as I have done here:

Press Enter on your keyboard to finalize the transformation.

Result:

Step 12.

Now go down to our original "Plank" layer in the layers pallet, and select it by clicking on it once.

Press Ctrl + J on your keyboard to duplicate this layer.

Go to Edit->Transform->Flip 90 Degrees CCW.

Result:

Name this layer "Vertical Plank", and drag it below the layer named "Plank" in the layers pallet as shown here:

Result:

Now press Ctrl + T on your keyboard to get out the Freeform Transform tool, on the "Vertical Plank" layer. Resize the vertical plank so that it is a shorter, and fatter than all of the other planks, by placing your cursor near any of the corner boxes/nodes, clicking and dragging your mouse slightly to adjust the size.

Here's how mine ended up after making the adjustment:

Now get out the Move Tool ( ) and position the Vertical Plank on the left side as I have done here:

Step 13.

Press Ctrl + J on your keyboard, to duplicate this Vertical Plank layer, get out the Move Tool ( ) and position this one on the right side as I have done here:

Note: Feel free to resize, or rotate this piece a little bit.

Step 14.

Next we'll create some bolts, that can hold up the planks.

Press Ctrl + Shift + Alt + N on your keyboard to create a new layer.

Name this new layer "Blots", and drag it on top of all other layers, in the layers pallet as I've done here:

Set your foreground color to #646464 (grey):

Get out the Paint Brush Tool ( ), and set it up like so:

Now make 2 Dots, on each end, of each plank as I have done here:

Double Click this layer, and apply the following blending options:

Drop Shadow:

Inner Shadow:

Bevel and Emboss:

Result:

Step 15.

Next we'll make the chain that's holding the sign up.

Press Ctrl + Shift + Alt + N on your keyboard to create a new layer.

Name this new layer "Chain".

Get out the Elliptical Marquee Tool ( ) and make a long oval selection as I have done here:

Using the Flood Fill Paint Bucket Tool ( ) fill this selection with black (#000000):

Go to Select->Modify->Contract with a setting of 4 pixels:

Tap Delete on your keyboard, and press Ctrl + D on your keyboard to deselect the selection.

Result:

Step 16.

Double click this layer, and apply the following blending options:

Bevel and Emboss:

Inner Shadow:

Gradient Overlay:

Result:

Press Ctrl + J on your keyboard to duplicate this layer.

Using the Move Tool ( ), position this 2nd link as I have done here:

Right click on this layer in the Layers Pallet, and choose "Clear Layer Style", doing so will remove the layer style for this layer.

Now press Ctrl + E to merge this layer with the previous.

Result:

Repeat this process a couple times, until you have a chain link with about 8 links in it, as I do here:

Step 17.

Go to Edit->Transform->Rotate 90 Degrees CCW to stand the chain up-wards as shown here:

Using the Move Tool ( ) position the chain on the left side of the canvas as I have done here:

Note: You may need to use the Freeform Transform tool (Ctrl + T) to resize, the chain to fit properly.

Step 18.

Press Ctrl + J on your keyboard to duplicate the chain layer, and again, using the Move Tool ( ) position this 2nd copy of the chains, on the right side of the canvas as shown here:

And that covers the creation of this Wild West Wooden Sign tutorial. Here's what I came up with after adding a little text, and some graphics to highlight the piece a little bit.

The font I used on the final version is called Eastwood Font.

But as you can see this would make a very unique navigation system for a website, there are literally 1,000's of things that you could use this technique with, and I hope I've gotten your gears turning. Good luck, and happy photoshopping!