How to create paper, receipts or newspaper with torn edges

receipt

I was asked by a client to present their final figures in a pitch they were doing in the form of a receipt. I thought it was quite a nice little Photoshop trick and a nice idea. Here’s how.

Draw the outline of the receipt, or piece of paper, with the Pen Tool (P), and turn it into a selection by Cmd/Ctrl clicking the Path in the Paths palette. Switch to Quick Mask Mode (Q) and your selection will turn 50% red (you can change that in Preferences). Go Filter > Pixelate > Crystallize. A cell size of 3 will give you the torn edge effect. Switch back to Standard Mode (Q) to return the quick mask to a “marching ants” selection.

How to do torn edges

Fill the selection with a suitable linear gradient and there’s your paper.

Two typefaces I found that looked similar to the printing you get on these receipts were called FacsimileLL and Dot Matrix. FacsimileLL is above. I used the Free Transform Tool (Cmd/Ctrl-T) to size the type onto the paper. Remember, holding down Cmd/Ctrl whilst dragging the corner points creates the irregular shapes you need.

Lastly, for the drop shadow I, for once, didn’t use Photoshop’s own marvellous Layer Style. I opted to copy the paper layer, darken a blur it and Free Transform it irregularly (holding down Cmd/Ctrl whilst dragging the corner points) so it looks as though one corner is curling up slightly.

My client won the pitch, by the way, these little details really help!

Tags: blur, client, cmd, dot matrix, edge effect, gradient, images, irregular shapes, linear gradient, mask, masks, modes, outlines, palette, paper, pen tool, Photoshop, piece of paper, pitch, presentation, printing, receipt, shape, torn edge, torn edges, transform, trick, type, typeface, typefaces

This article was posted on Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007 at 12:34 pm and is filed under Photoshop.
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4 Responses to “How to create paper, receipts or newspaper with torn edges”

Neil (Web Designer - Essex), on October 4th, 2007 at 12:36 am, said:

A nice little effect, made all the better for helping to win your client their contract!
Rob Cubbon, on October 12th, 2007 at 1:36 pm, said:

Thanks Neil, the client is happy and it’s got me some repeat business!
Anonymous, on May 2nd, 2009 at 3:28 pm, said:

I think the end result is a little sloppy. There shouldn’t be a rough edge all around the receipt, just at the bottom and the top. Also, the sizing is off and it looks more like a post it note. It should be longer.
Richard, on May 21st, 2009 at 6:23 pm, said:

You could just use the real thing and use a dot matrix printer. You can get them real cheap now adays.

Graphic and Web Designer London UK