Many digital artists and illustrators like to use pearls and chains in their creations. But how to create a pearl chain in Photoshop? Well, it’s actually pretty easy and straightforward. In this tutorial, I show you how you can make a chain in Photoshop in five quick steps. Let’s get into it!
Many artists like to use pearls as accessories and props in their photographs and digital creations. While it is no problem to find premade pearls that you can add to your image, it is much harder to find an entire pearl chain that meets your specific requirements…
Fortunately, it is pretty easy to create a pearl chain in Photoshop!
In this quick & easy Photoshop tutorial, I’ll be showing you step-by-step how you can make shiny pearls and chains at just a couple of clicks. So here we go!
How do you make a chain in Photoshop?
To create a pearl chain in Photoshop, you'll need to follow these five easy steps:
Here's how to create a Pearl Chain in #Photoshop in 5 EASY steps!
Can you make pearl chains in Photoshop?
Yes, you can absolutely. And it’s not even as hard as you might think. I love to work with pearls, especially in my surreal creations. I feel they are some great props that can add a soft, feminine touch to an image. But sometimes I also use them as a major element of the composition, such as in ‘oblivion.‘.
In my recent work ‘Dearborn‘, I created all the long pearl chains hanging from the antlers in Photoshop – at just a couple of clicks with the mouse. It’s really easy and doesn’t take long. And in this tutorial, I’ll show you how to do it – step by step!
If you don’t have Photoshop yet, you can start a free 7-day Photoshop trial here. And if you are a student or a teacher, you can go ahead and claim your 60% Photoshop discount now.
→ View the Making of ‘oblivion.’
- Grab your FREE Photoshop Pearl Layer Styles
…and there’s still a little goodie waiting for you! I have uploaded the Photoshop Layer Styles that we are going to use in this tutorial to the Freebie Library. You can go there and download them for FREE!
The package includes 3 shiny pearl layer styles as well as the PSD file with three pearl chains that you can altogether customize to your liking.
But now, without further ado, let’s get started with this tutorial on how to create a pearl chain in Photoshop!
Easy Step-by-Step Photoshop Tutorial
How to create a pearl chain in Photoshop
STEP 1: Create a new layer in Photoshop
If you haven’t yet, then first of all create a new file. Open Photoshop and click on File > New in the top menu. Enter the desired width and height, and the resolution (standard is 72 pixels/inch).
Now you can create a new layer by clicking on Layer > New > Layer… in the top menu. Alternatively, you can also click on the ‘Create a new layer’ icon at the bottom of the layers panel.
STEP 2: Use the Ellipse Tool to create a chain-like shape
Next, go ahead and select the Ellipse Tool from Tool Bar on the left.
You might not directly see the Ellipse Tool on the Tool Bar. By default, the Rectangle Tool might be visible. If that’s the case, simply right-click on the little downward arrow and select the Ellipse Tool from the drop-down menu.
Once you have selected the Ellipse Tool, move the cursor across the canvas. You will see a round shape that you can easily adjust in width, height and form by moving the cursor accordingly.
Make sure that ‘Shape’ is selected for tool mode in the top menu.
Pro Tip: If you want to create a perfectly round circle, hold the Shift key while moving the cursor across the canvas.
You can always readjust the look of the circle by transforming it accordingly without losing any quality. The shape is a vector that you can scale up and down as many times as you wish without any quality loss.
In order to scale the shape, go to Edit > Free Transform (or Edit > Transform > Scale) in the top menu. Optionally, you can also use the keyboard shortcut CMD + T on a Mac or CTRL + T on a Windows PC.
STEP 3: Customize the Shape settings
Now that you have adjusted the shape that you want to use to create a pearl chain in Photoshop, it’s time to customize the Shape settings.
Most importantly, make sure that you have selected ‘No Fill’ (the icon with the diagonal red line) for Shape fill type in the top menu.
For ‘Stroke’, you can pre-select the color that you want to use for the pearls. However, you can always change the color later on using ‘Color Overlay’ in the Layer Styles section. (I’ll show you how in this tutorial.)
Now we are coming to the part where we are actually creating the pearl chain in Photoshop! For that purpose, click on ‘Set shape stroke type’ in the top menu bar. That’s the little icon with a line and a downward arrow right to the selected Fill color.
Once you have clicked on the icon, you will see a selection of stroke types. Click on the dotted line at the bottom. You will notice that the solid line of your circle transforms into little dots that will eventually form the pearl chain.
You can adjust the size of the dots by moving the slider that will appear when you click on the downward arrow in the ‘Set shape stroke width’ icon. Move the slider up or down to increase or decrease the size of the ‘pearls’.
When you have found a size that you like, you can go ahead and adjust the gap between the pearls.
To do so, click again on ‘Shape stroke type’ (now the little dotted line that you have previously selected in the top menu). In the drop-down menu, click on ‘More Options’ at the very bottom. A pop-up window will open and you can enter a number for the Gap width. You can choose whole numbers or decimals, such as 2,5. Once you’ve entered a value, you will see your pearl chain change accordingly on the canvas.
Make sure that Dash in the first field is set to 0.
STEP 4: Apply Layer Styles
In step no. 4, we are going to transform the flat dots into beautiful looking pearls. Therefore, we will need to apply a couple of layer styles in Photoshop.
1. Bevel & Emboss
The first style we are going to use is the Bevel & Emboss style. To do so, select the layer with the dotted line on the Layers Panel and click on the little ‘fx’ icon at the bottom of the panel. From the list that pops up, select Bevel & Emboss. This will bring you to the Layer Style Dialog Box.
With Bevel & Emboss selected on the left, you can go ahead and adjust the settings to make the dots look like actual pearls.
Important: Please keep in mind that the Bevel & Emboss settings to achieve a certain effect always depend on the size of your pearls and the size of your image. So the settings I’m using below as an example are just a baseline. You might have to tweak the numbers a bit to obtain the same results.
First of all, make sure that ‘Inner Bevel’ is selected under Style at the very top. Then you should have Technique set to ‘Smooth’, Highlight Mode set to ‘Screen’ and Shadow Mode set to ‘Multiply’.
When you have everything set up that way, you can see some highlights and shadows add a certain shape to the dots.
- Grab your FREE Photoshop Blend Modes Cheat Sheet
So far so good. But how do you make the pearls shine in Photoshop?
Well, it’s pretty easy. Just play around with the Depth slider to adjust the look of the highlights. Usually, you will keep the slider in the lower end to not make the highlights appear too pointed.
Direction lets you determine whether the source of light comes from the top or from the bottom. Choose what fits your composition.
Size lets you again adjust the look of the highlights. Fiddle around a bit with the Size slider to see how your pearls look best.
The Soften slider basically allows you to blur the highlights.
Two very important settings are Angle and Altitude in the Shading section. You can either type in degree numbers or move around the crosshair cursor within the circle. This allows you to adjust the size and position of the highlights. Depending on where you place the crosshair cursor, the dots will look like pearls or more like sequins.
The Gloss Contour settings let you fine-tune the look of your pearls. Depending on what contour you choose, the highlight will be more in the middle or at the edge of the pearls. Just click through the different contours to get an idea. Contours that tend to look pretty good for pearls are Linear, Cone and Slope.
As an example, I have used those three different Gloss Contours in the sample image below. From top to bottom: Slope contour, Cone contour, Linear contour.
Lastly, you can change color and intensity of the Highlight and Shadow Mode. To modify the color, simply click on the little color swatch right to the mode and choose a color of your liking.
To reduce or increase the intensity of the highlights or shadows, move the Opacity slider up or down.
One final setting we are going to make under Bevel & Emboss is adjusting the Contour. To do so, tick the Contour checkbox on the left (just below Bevel & Emboss) and make sure the Contour tab is selected.
After that, you can adjust the Range of the Contour by moving the slider left or right. Choose a percentage value that works for your specific image. For my image, 50% turned out to look best.
So far so good. You’ve already accomplished the major steps of creating a pearl chain in Photoshop. Congratulations! Now we are coming to the fine-tuning…
2. Inner Glow
Adding an Inner Glow is just the cherry on the cake. It’s not absolutely necessary, but it is a nice little extra because Inner Glow adds a shiny rim around the pearls. So let’s go ahead and activate the Inner Glow style.
I didn’t make a lot of changes to the default settings. The only thing I changed is the Size.
3. Color Overlay (optional)
As I promised you above, I’m going to show you a quick method to change the color of the pearls. Regardless of what color you originally picked for the Stroke color of the Ellipse Tool, you can always modify it in the Layer Style Dialog Box.
Simply select the Color Overlay tab, click on the color swatch right to Blend Mode (red by default), and pick a color of your choice using the color picker that will pop up. It’s that simple!
STEP 5: Create the chain string
Creating the string is super-easy. First off, you’ll need to duplicate the layer containing the ellipse shape. Simply right-click on the layer and select Duplicate Layer from the pop-up menu. Alternatively, you can also press CMD + J on a Mac or CTRL + J on a PC.
Now, with the the Ellipse Tool selected on the Tool Bar, go back to the top menu and set the shape stroke type back to a solid line. Decrease the thickness using the shape stroke width slider so the string looks adequate in relation to the size of your pearls.
All that remains to do now is scale down the ellipse shape a bit so it is positioned at the center of the pearls.
And that was it. You’ve just created a pearl chain in Photoshop!
- Grab your FREE Photoshop Pearl Layer Styles
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I hope that this tutorial on how to create a pearl chain in Photoshop was helpful. If you found any value in it, please feel free to share it with other artists so they can also learn from it!
If you are using anything of what I’ve showed you in this post, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram @ginangiela, or post a link here in the comments. I’d love to see your creations! Make sure to sign up for my email list below so you don’t miss out on new Photoshop tutorials, perks for subscribers and other cool stuff. ♥
