How to roughen edges as a layer effect

[Frankie5CD0]

im a graduate architect and do a lot of rendered plans, and to save time and masking when optioneering I almost exclusively try to use blend-if and pattern overlays to groups applied to cad produced pdfs, effectively making a file that will fully re-render when the pdf is updated.

A common request from higher-ups is to roughen the edges of planting beds in plan view, rather than the clean edges of a cad drawing. Is there any way to produce this as a layer effect or something similar? That will automatically respond to below layers and produce a roughened edge, without the need to go round individual planting blocks masking and painting.

many thanks!

[mglush]

Hi @Frankie5CD0

The answer is yes! But, can you show us what kind of look you are going for? Just a screen shot of what you are starting with and a shot of what you define as a roughened look. That would help us be more effective at giving you some options.

Thanks!

Michelle

[Todd_Morgan]

I thought CAD came with filters that do that natively.

[Leslie Moak Murray]

I do it manually by erasing around the edges with a large soft watercolor brush, often at a lowered opacity,  or a crosshatching one. It isn't automatic, as every situation is different, for me anyway.

[mglush]

Hi Leslie!

One of the ideas I thought about is to create a texture layer, and then using a mask to paint in the texture where you need it. Not being able to see the original makes it difficult to give you better options. 

If you have a texture that you are currently using, can you fill a whole layer with it, or at least the areas where you need it? Then hold down the Option key and click the Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel to hide the everything. Next, select a brush with the desired edge softness/hardness and paint with white in the Mask just in the areas where you want the texture to be. You can also vary the amount that shows by the opacity of the brush.

This would give you a consistent texture in your image, and should be pretty fast to create.

If you want to create a texture, some of the other filters would be really helpful (and fun!) to work with. 

If you can show us a sample of what you are looking for, we will probably have some other ideas for you!

Hope this helps!

Michelle