How To Replace Boring Walls With Your Own Patterns In Photoshop

Let’s get started.

How to Follow Along With Our Tutorial

If you want to follow along and see how easy it is to replace a boring wall with your own Patterns, you can download the example image from Pexels.

If you’re using your own image, this tutorial will work best if your background wall takes up the entire image with your subject in front. More complicated images would require additional masking.

Step 1: Create a Black and White Pattern

Before we start editing our main image, we need to create a separate Patterns document that will be used to replace the wall. Once we create and save it, it will be made available for future use in the Adjustment Layers menu under Pattern.

Go to File > New. Or press Ctrl + N. Select Art & Illustration at the top. Select 2000 Pixel Grid. Name the file “Marble Pattern” and press Create. Change the View to Pattern Preview and press OK.

Now, we have set the foundation for our wall replacement. You may also create multiple Patterns so that you will have more to choose from. Not all Patterns may work with your images.

If you have a boring sky, check out our tutorial on how to replace the sky in any photo in Photoshop.

Step 2: Paint the Pattern

This is your chance to get creative. We’ll use the Brush tool along with a special brush to create the marble Pattern. This file will serve as a Pattern that can be accessed at any time in the future for your boring walls or any number of other uses.

Press B for the Brush tool. Press D for default Background/Foreground. Press X to make the foreground color white. Go to Brush Settings > Dry Media Brushes > Kyle’s Drawing Box. Change the Mode to Difference. Make the Brush large. Use the bracket keys [ and ] to increase and decrease the size of the Brush. Paint patterns onto the Background layer. You’ll notice each time you paint over a section that the pattern changes as per the algorithm used in Difference mode. Turn off Pattern Preview. Go to View > Pattern Preview. Press Ctrl + A to select all. Go to Edit > Define Pattern. Change the text in Name to “Marble Pattern”. Press OK.

We have a complete guide on how to use the Brush tool in Photoshop if you need a refresher.

Step 3: Replace the Boring Wall

Once we have created the marble Pattern, we can access the design by using a Pattern Fill adjustment layer. We’ll then separate our subject from the background layer and replace the boring wall with the marble Pattern.

With your main image loaded into Photoshop, go to the Adjustment Layers icon and select Pattern. Choose the “Marble Pattern” that you created from the drop-down menu. Click on the Pattern Fill menu. Play with the Angle and Scale controls to find the perfect look. Press OK. Turn off the Pattern 1 layer preview. Click on the Background layer. Go to Select > Subject. Make the Pattern Fill 1 layer visible. Select the mask of Patter Fill 1 by clicking on it. Make the Foreground color Black. Press Alt + Backspace. Press Ctrl + D to deselect the subject. The marching ants should vanish.

There are different ways to select subjects if you have a more complicated background. We show you how to mask a subject in Photoshop using the Subject Select tool.

Step 4: Recover the Shadows on the Wall

You’ll notice that once we replaced the wall with the marble Pattern that all the wall details vanished along with the shadows cast by the woman. For a more realistic image, you may want to bring back those shadow details. We’ll use Blend If and the Multiply Blend Mode to make this happen.

With the Pattern Fill 1 layer selected, change the Blend Mode to Multiply. Double-click just to the right of the text on the Patter Fill 1 layer to summon the Layer Style menu. In the Underlying Layer, choose the white handle and press Alt + left-click to split it into two handles. Drag the left-most handle to the left until the shadows of the woman start to become prominent in the image. Press OK.

Blend If is a very useful tool that has many applications. We demonstrate this in our article on how to color grade using Blend If in Photoshop.

Step 5: Lighten or Darken the Wall to Your Liking

Now, our boring wall is starting to look a little more interesting. But there may be some exposure adjustments that need to happen to make our subject stand out more or less from the wall. We’ll use a simple Curves adjustment layer to accomplish this.

With the Pattern Fill 1 layer selected, create a Curves adjustment layer. Select the mask of the Pattern Fill 1 layer. Press and hold Alt + left-click and drag the mask up to the Curves layer. Click Yes. Select the Curves layer. Double-click on the layer icon to summon the Properties menu. For a lighter wall Pattern, drag the middle point up as shown. You can save this as a file version or continue to the next step. For a darker wall Pattern, drag the middle point down as shown.

Whether you prefer the lighter or darker wall Pattern (or both), you will maintain the shadows of the subject on the wall. Also, you can always go back and adjust the Blend If and Curves settings.

Bring Some Life to Boring Background Walls

If you’ve followed along, you now know how easy it is to replace boring walls in Photoshop. You’ll never have to worry about pictures that you take with friends and family being ruined by unpleasing background elements again.