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	Realistic Metal Tutorial Author - Blodo (http://forums.biorust.com/member.php?userid=145)

Finding metal tutorials on the internet has never been a problem - graphics sites are littered with a vast variety of them, detailing simple methods to create shiny chrome, brushed aluminium, and a host of other metallics. Almost all of them, however, lack the worn and dented look present in real life metals. This tutorial provides a very simple way to create more realistic metals using only a few default plug-ins, the dodge tool and the burn tool. Such metals are instantly at home in many designs, and make excellent textures for 3D gaming engines. Still Interested? Read on...

	Step 1: Create a new document of any size, set your foreground colour to #464846, and your background colour to #3C3C3C. Now create a very faint texturing effect by selecting Filter > Render > Clouds from the menu.
	Step 2: Time to run another filter, this time Filter > Artistic > Sponge, with the following settings: Brush Size: 0 Definition: 0 Smoothness: 0 Brightness: -15 Contrast: - 65
	Step 3: Add a little realism to the metal by creating a slight gradient across your texture. In this case, it is perhaps best to use the dodge and burn tools with the brush size set to 300px, and the exposure set to 20%. Use your creative license if you want to create a bumpy or undulating surface.
	Step 4: Now add a few scratches. You can do this with grunge-style brushes, or by grabbing the burn tool again with a brush size of 1px and an exposure of 15%. Draw as many as you like, and add highlights above deeper gashes with the dodge tool. Be sure to make your damage subtle though - don't let the exposure level go any higher than 25%.
	Step 5: You're done! Add further detail at your own discretion, such as rust, lighting effects, and even text. You can see how mine finished up on the left.