5 lovely graphic backgrounds to add simple texture to your design

Creating graphics digitally can often lead to stark images. But adding some texture to your work can give it an organic feeling that brings it to life. Graphic backgrounds are the easiest way to do this because they don’t interfere with the rest of the image. In fact, a graphic background can enhance an otherwise blocky design, but you need to be careful not to go overboard. Subtle texture can go a long way, so here are 5 graphic background textures you can use to enhance your graphics.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

How to use graphic backgrounds

Before you jump in, just a few words on what you might consider once you have your graphic ready! First, consider how the texture can enhance the piece. Does it need to be consistent? Does it need to be thicker or busier in one area of the graphic and simpler in another? How transparent should it be? Asking these questions can help you place your graphic backgrounds in such a way that they make the piece better not busier.

If you need a brush up on some design skills that definitely apply to implementing a graphic background, check out this article, full of tips and tricks that’ll enhance any design!

1) Acid Wash

Starts at: $16

This cool texture can be bold or subtle, depending on how you implement it into your design. Play around with layering it on top of itself to create levels!

What you get:

• 40 high-resolution acid-wash textures (each texture has aproximately 2500 x 3500 px)
• “Acid Wash Machine” – structured PSD that you can build your own colourful acid wash texture (there is version for portrait and landscape, 2480×3508 or 3508×2480 px, A4 format)
• With these textures and “Acid Wash Machine” you can make hundreds of new colorful textures
• More than 140 free hand-drawn vector shapes and forms in EPS files (one object=one file). You can use these great shapes as object for your textures (look at promo images for examples)
• 4 PS actions for adjusting textures (2 actions are for reducing texture of paper surface, 1 is a special action for creating “SpaceArt” from your Texture and 1 Action is for better handling with textures into PSD File)

2) Watercolor Paper Textures

Starts at: $5

A comprehensive set of digital watercolor paper textures, featuring smooth to rough styles, in various colors and tones. Great to use as backgrounds and overlays for digital watercolor, painting and sketching.

What you get:

• 80 files
• JPG format
• 12 x 12 inches (3600 x 3600 pixels)
• 300 dpi resolution
• Seamless: can be tiled and repeated

3) The Ultimate Halftone Collection

Starts at: $10

Very large collection of 80 rough halftone textures in different shapes and sizes such as corners, edges, gradients, pages and stains. Raster and vector format included.

What you get:

• A PDF document with thumbnails and file names of all the objects.
• 10 corners
• 16 edges
• 10 frames
• 8 gradients
• 18 pages
• 19 stains

4) 4K Plastic Wrap Textures

Starts at: $10

A pack of 23 plastic wrap textures, perfect for album covers or tour posters. These textures are ALL a stunning 4k resolution! Don’t limit yourself to just thinking of this as plastic wrap. These organic lines can be used in many creative ways, and layered on top of each other to create cool, unique graphic backgrounds!

Best used in Adobe Photoshop, but works with any photo editor!

5) 24 Seamless Fabric Textures

Starts at: $14

Finding a quality seamless fabric texture is frustrating, but they make such gorgeous background graphics. This texture pack makes it easy with 24 seamless fabric textures for your design needs! Very versatile and easy to customize.

This pack includes:

• Vector versions of each texture (in 4 .EPS files)
• PNGs of each texture (1800×1800 pixels at 300dpi)
• Photoshop brushes of each texture (up to 2500×2500 pixels)