You've got a clean design and a baseball cap mockup. Everything looks sharp, tidy and suspiciously new. Let's give that artwork a bit of history. In this tutorial, I'll show you how to use my Plastisol Construction Kit for Photoshop to add cracked ink, missing patches and a worn finish, then preview the result on a cap. No decades of wear required.
The process is simple: add your design to a preset, copy the distressed artwork onto a transparent background, then place it inside your cap mockup. Want more wear? Run the result through a second preset.
I'm using my Bowie 1974 graphic throughout, so you can follow the same design from clean artwork to the finished cap.
What you'll need
- Adobe Photoshop on desktop.
- My Plastisol Construction Kit for Photoshop. It includes 20 ready-made effects created from real printed plastisol ink.
- Your own artwork, preferably with a transparent background.
- A baseball cap mockup with an editable artwork Smart Object to preview the design. Have this ready separately from the texture kit.
Save working copies of your files before you start. Keep your original clean artwork somewhere safe, too.
Watch the baseball cap tutorial
The screenshots below come directly from the video. Follow along with the steps, or pause the video whenever you need to catch up.
1. Start with your clean cap design
Here's my starting point: the Bowie graphic already placed on a yellow baseball cap. The lettering is clean, with no plastisol texture applied yet.
- Open your cap mockup in Photoshop (or just your artwork-no mockup is required)
- Find its artwork Smart Object in the Layers panel.
- Double-click the Smart Object thumbnail to open the flat artwork.
- Copy your design, or open your original artwork file if you already have it separately.
Use the flat artwork for the effect. The cap photograph is there to preview how your design will look.
2. Choose your first plastisol preset
Open the Photoshop construction kit and look inside Main Plastisol effects. You'll find 20 preset folders with different levels and patterns of wear.
For this example, I'm choosing preset 05, which removes larger chunks of ink.
- Expand Main Plastisol effects.
- Switch off the other preset folders and turn on 05.
- Expand that folder and the artwork group inside it.
- Find the Your design… Smart Object layer, shown beneath the texture layer in the screenshot.
- Double-click its thumbnail to open it.
Look for the small Smart Object icon on the artwork thumbnail. The black-and-white mask thumbnail controls the cracks; it's not where you paste your design.
3. Replace the sample artwork
The Smart Object opens in a separate document. This is where your clean design goes.
- Paste your artwork into the open Smart Object.
- Hide or remove the sample artwork so it doesn't appear underneath.
- Use Edit → Free Transform to resize and position your design.
- Keep its proportions linked so you don't stretch it.
- Choose File → Save, then close the Smart Object document.
Back in the main kit document, your design now has the preset's cracked texture applied. That save step matters: it's what updates the effect in the parent document.
4. Preview the cracks and adjust their position
Some cracks are difficult to judge against the wrong background. A contrasting colour makes the missing ink much easier to see.
- Find the preset's background colour layer.
- Double-click its colour thumbnail and choose a useful preview colour.
- Zoom in to inspect the cracks and larger missing patches.
- To change where the cracks fall, select the artwork Smart Object layer in the main kit document and move it beneath the texture mask.
- Check that the design remains inside the canvas and that important details still read clearly.
Move the artwork layer itself, rather than the whole preset folder. The aim is to change how your design lines up with the cracks.
5. Copy the distressed artwork with transparency
Once you're happy with the effect, remove the preview backgrounds. You want the cap colour to show through the gaps in the ink.
- Switch off the preset's background colour layer.
- Switch off any other background or extra background texture layers that fill the canvas.
- Look for Photoshop's checkerboard pattern around the artwork and through its transparent gaps.
- Choose Select → All.
- Choose Edit → Copy Merged.
Copy Merged captures the visible result, including the distressed effect. It doesn't flatten or change your layered working file.
6. Put the design back into the cap mockup
Now we'll see what those cracks look like on the cap.
- Return to the cap mockup and open its artwork Smart Object.
- Paste in the distressed design.
- Hide or remove the previous clean version so it can't fill in the cracks underneath.
- Use Edit → Free Transform to resize and position the new artwork, keeping its proportions linked.
- Save and close the Smart Object to update the cap.
In the video, I make the design a little smaller after the first preview. You can do the same: reopen the mockup's Smart Object, adjust the size, then save and close it again.
Check both the overall cap and a closer view. The design needs to work at the size people will actually see it, not just when you're inspecting every crack at enormous magnification.
7. Optional: combine two presets for more wear
Happy with the first result? You can stop there. If you'd like more chips and cracks, put the already distressed artwork through another preset.
I'm combining preset 05 with preset 12 in this example.
- Keep a copy of your first result so you can return to it.
- Copy the full-size distressed artwork from the kit using Copy Merged, with backgrounds hidden.
- Switch off preset 05 and turn on preset 12.
- Open preset 12's artwork Smart Object.
- Replace its sample design with the already distressed artwork.
- Save and close the Smart Object, then inspect the result against a contrasting preview background.
The first texture is already part of the pasted artwork. Preset 12 adds another pattern of wear over it. You're applying the effects in sequence, rather than simply switching on two preset folders together.
For the best starting detail, use the full-size first result from the kit rather than a copy you've already reduced to fit the cap mockup.
8. Update the cap with your final version
Transfer the combined effect back into the mockup using the same process.
- Hide the kit's background layers again.
- Choose Select → All, then Edit → Copy Merged.
- Open the cap mockup's artwork Smart Object.
- Replace the previous design with your new version and resize it to fit.
- Save and close the Smart Object.
That's the finished result: more chips, more cracks and a bit more grunge. The cap is still a mockup, but you can see how the missing ink lets the yellow fabric show through.
9. Prepare the artwork if you're getting a real cap printed
The mockup helps you judge the appearance. Your printer needs the separate, flat design file.
- Ask your printer for their required artwork dimensions, file format, resolution and colour setup.
- Export from your full-resolution artwork, before any reduction made just for the mockup.
- If they accept transparent PNG files, hide the backgrounds and export with transparency enabled.
- Ask whether their printing process can reproduce the finer cracks at your chosen print size.
- Order a sample so you can check the detail and colour on the actual cap.
Keep your layered Photoshop file as well. It's much easier to make adjustments when you still have the original artwork and editable presets.
Questions and quick fixes
Why does my design have a coloured rectangle behind it?
A background was probably still visible when you copied the artwork. Return to the kit, hide every background layer, check for the transparency checkerboard and use Copy Merged again.
Why aren't the cracks showing on my cap?
Check that you've hidden the old clean artwork inside the mockup's Smart Object. If it sits beneath your distressed version, it can show through the transparent gaps. Also check that you copied the textured result from the main kit document, rather than the clean artwork inside its Smart Object.
Why hasn't the cap updated?
Save the mockup's artwork Smart Object after making your changes. Saving the kit's Smart Object updates the kit; saving the mockup's Smart Object updates the cap. They're separate documents.
Do I need to install the brushes or actions?
No. I haven't used them in this tutorial. The prepared presets do the work here. The brushes and actions are extras if you want to experiment further.
Can I use the same process for a T-shirt?
Yes. Apply the effect to your artwork in the kit, then place the result into your T-shirt mockup. I've also written a step-by-step Photoshop T-shirt tutorial.
Clean artwork, a little more distressed
You've taken a clean design, given it a cracked plastisol finish and tried it on a baseball cap. You've also seen how to combine two presets when one helping of wear isn't quite enough.
Have a play with the different finishes. Some designs suit fine cracks; others can handle great chunks of missing ink. The kit gives you a quick way to try both.
Get the Plastisol Construction Kit for Photoshop.
If you get stuck, send me a message. Tell me which step you're on and include a screenshot if you can.
About the author
Written by Simon Stratford, type designer and graphic designer. These are my opinions, reached after too little sleep and too much coffee. You can also follow my antics on @itsmesimonok, or leave a comment below. Despite all the opinions, I'm actually quite nice.