In this tutorial I will give you some tips on how to create colorful Christmas background with Christmas tree and glossy balls in Adobe Photoshop CS6. You will learn how to add a Layer Style, draw Christmas decoration with Ellipse Tool, apply brushes, use Custom Shapes etc. Layered PSD file included. So let’s get started!

Final Image Preview

Start working by creating a new document (Ctrl+N) in Adobe Photoshop CS6 with the size 1000px by 1000px (RGB color mode) at a resolution of 72 pixels/inch. Use the Paint Bucket Tool (G) to fill with #FEE686 color the new background layer.

Find a tilable textured pattern, I used this Crisp Paper Ruffles from SubtlePatterns. I would like to thank Atle Mo for this great site, or if you prefer, you can substitute similar pattern of your own.

Open it in Adobe Photoshop and choose Edit > Define Pattern. Enter a name for the pattern in the Pattern Name dialog box.

Next create a new layer and set Fill to 0% for this layer. Click on Add a layer style icon from bottom part of the Layers panel and select Pattern Overlay. Click on the Pattern Overlay dialog and find your own pattern created before in the list of patterns.

We’ve got the next result:

Create the next new layer and select the Soft Round brush of white color (set Opacity to 40% in Options bar).

Use this brush to draw the next white spot on the background.

Choose the Pen Tool (P), set the drawing mode on Shape Layers in Options bar and try to draw the next shape (element) of the Christmas tree to be.

We’ve got the next result:

Click on Add a layer style icon from bottom part of the Layers panel and select Gradient Overlay.

Click in the color bar to open the Gradient Editor and set the color stops as shown. Click OK to close the Gradient Editor dialog box.

We’ve got the next result:

Make three copies of the made element and select the Free Transform (Ctrl+T) command to make them smaller, turning over each one by one, to get the next fir tree, shown on the picture:

On the bottom element of the tree, we’ll represent a kind of highlight, choose the Pen Tool (P), set the drawing mode on Shape Layers in Options bar and draw the next shape as shown. The layer must be situated under the next tree’s element.

Click on Add a layer style icon from bottom part of the Layers panel and select Gradient Overlay.

Click in the color bar to open the Gradient Editor and set the color stops as shown. Click OK to close the Gradient Editor dialog box.

We’ve got the next result:

Next make three copies of the highlight element and select the Free Transform (Ctrl+T) command to make smaller each next copy, placing them the same way demonstrated on the picture. The copies’ layers should be placed in a correct sequence between the fir tree’s elements.

Create a new layer and represent on it a spot, using the Soft Round brush.

The brush color is #012F00.

Using the Free Transform (Ctrl+T) command, we may stretch out and compress in the same time the spot’s layer as it is shown on the next image. The layer must be situated under the layer containing the very first tree’s element.

We’ve got the next result:

Create a new layer and place it above the first tree’s element. Make sure that layer is active, then press Ctrl button and click on the layer containing the very first tree’s element to make the next selection:

Select the Soft Round brush of black color (set Opacity to 30% in Options bar).

Use this brush to paint inside the selection to represent a kind of shadow.

This way we’ll represent shadows for the other elements composing the fir tree.