Preparing the Image

• 1). Obtain a high-resolution image of the kind of wood you would like to render. You can either find the image on the Internet or take a picture yourself using a high-quality digital camera.
  
  
• 2). Open the image in Adobe Photoshop to touch it up. Using the clone stamp tool, remove any knots and blemishes you do not want to see in the rendering. Do this by holding down Control and selecting an unblemished area that is similar to what you are trying to replace. Then color over the blemished area.
  
  
• 3). Adjust the hue and saturation of the image until you get the desired look. You can find these settings under the Image File bar.
  
  

Rendering the Texture

• 1). Open the adjusted image in a 3-D modeling and texturing program. There are several freeware titles available that work very well for rendering. (See Resources.)
  
  
• 2). With the texturing tools, apply a bump map to the image using a negative of the wood image. This will give the image a feel and texture. Depending on the software you're using, the program should have a texturing toolbar or window that will allow you to open the texture file and apply the map. Several detail settings should accompany this toolbar or window.
  
  
• 3). Apply several lighting effects to the scene the image is in. To do this, bring the texture into a scene and begin creating light sources. These will usually be on the toolbar to the left. It is recommended to apply at least two spot effects and at least one fill effect. When you create the light sources, you will have many option settings. Change these to apply subtle differences to the texture. Use different lighting colors on these sources to give the wood a realistic look.
  
  
• 4). Go into the program's "render" mode and set up the scene for the part of the wood you want to render. Adjust camera angles and anti-aliasing levels.
  
  
• 5). Perform a high-resolution, high-quality render of the scene. Save the output image to a desired location. The button for this is usually located at the top of the screen or in a View/Render file menu.