# Distress: add vintage grunge texture by knocking out parts of your design

URL: https://helpcenter.readypixl.com/articles/distress
Markdown: https://helpcenter.readypixl.com/articles/distress.md
Section: Pipelines
Summary: Uses a texture image to selectively erase parts of your design for a worn / vintage / grunge look. Built-in masks plus upload-your-own.

Distress takes a second image (the **distress mask** — a black-and-white texture image) and uses it to **erase parts of your main image**. Wherever the mask is dark, the main image stays. Wherever the mask is light, the main image gets see-through.

The result: a worn, grungy, vintage-textured version of your design. Perfect for retro designs, hand-distressed-looking logos, or any look where you want texture instead of clean edges.

## Why this step matters

Distress is the difference between **clean, perfect-looking designs** (which look generic) and **textured, vintage designs** (which sell better in retro / lifestyle / craft markets like Etsy and Redbubble).

Doing this by hand in Photoshop on every design = hours. With Distress in your pipeline, every image in your batch gets the same texture in one click.

## How to use it

1. Add Distress to your pipeline.
2. The tool ships with **built-in distress masks** — pick one from the included library, or upload your own.
3. (Optional) Adjust **Rotation** and **Flip** so the texture sits where you want.
4. (Optional) Adjust **Alpha Threshold** to control how aggressive the distress is.

## The settings

| Setting | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Distress Mask** | The texture image used to erase parts of your design. Wherever the mask is **solid (opaque)**, your design becomes see-through; where the mask is **transparent**, your design stays. Pick one of the built-in textures (or **See all**) or upload your own PNG texture. |
| **Rotation** | Rotates the distress mask before applying. Useful when the texture's natural direction doesn't match your design's orientation. |
| **Flip** | Mirrors the distress mask horizontally / vertically / both. |
| **Alpha Threshold** (0–255, default 80) | How solid a part of the mask has to be before it erases your design. **Lower = more intense** (more of your design gets eaten away). **Higher = more subtle** (only the most solid parts of the mask erase). |

## Common uses

- **Vintage-style designs** — start with a clean text logo, add Distress with a subtle texture mask, get a worn, retro-looking graphic.
- **Hand-distressed-looking logos** — apply Distress to a clean logo to mimic letterpress / aged-paper printing.
- **Stamped or stenciled effects** — combine Distress with Posterize (in Filters) for bold stenciled graphics.
- **Aged-look edges** — apply a vignette-style distress mask to product images for a worn aesthetic.

## Tips

- **Subtle is usually better.** The first time you use Distress, set Alpha Threshold high (subtle) and lower it until you like the look. Heavy distress makes designs hard to read.
- **Stack layers.** You can add a second or third distress texture, each with its own rotation and threshold — for example lines going two directions, each kept subtle.
- **Match the texture to the medium.** Coffee-stain textures suit cafe-themed designs. Concrete textures suit industrial designs. Consistent style sells better than mixed-style batches.
- **Run Distress AFTER Color Removal V2 and Trim** so the texture only affects the actual design, not the background.
- **Use the same mask across a whole batch** for visual consistency. Save the pipeline as a preset so you don't have to re-pick the mask each time.
- **Distress works best on solid-color or high-contrast designs.** Photorealistic images get muddy when you erase chunks of them.

## Things Distress doesn't do

- **It doesn't add color or texture to your design.** It only erases parts of it. To paint texture onto a design, you'd combine with Frames or Watermark Image.
- **It doesn't generate masks for you.** You either use the built-in masks or upload your own. There's no "make me a grunge texture" button.
- **It doesn't selectively distress only certain colors or areas of your design.** The mask covers the whole design uniformly.
- **It doesn't undo by lowering the threshold mid-batch.** Once Distress runs in your pipeline, the eaten-away pixels are gone for that batch run.

## What to read next

- **[Filters](filters)** — related visual-effects tool for non-destructive styling
- **[Frames](frames)** — for combining distress effects with decorative borders
- **[Watermarking designs](../workflows/watermarking-designs)** — workflow that often pairs Distress with brand watermarks