Smashing Texture Contest Results

Last week was really full of hard work for us. The response to Smashing Texture Contest was impressive and overwhelming. We have received over 740 e-mails from over 600 participants, resulting in far more than 2000 photos. The result, however, is not just literally zillion of textures, but truly brilliant textures you can use in your private and professional projects for free. Thanks to all participants — without Smashing readers this texture gallery wouldn’t be possible.

What came out of it?

A variety of interesting, exotic or creative textures from all around the globe. Wood, stone, metal, nature, ice, sand, fabric, paper, glass, fire, food and plastic textures. A large number of daily routine things observed from a completely new perspective.

This one is going to be big. Smashing Magazine’s readers have created a quite smashing texture gallery:

Some entries couldn’t be processed, for instance because no name was provided, no files have been attached or empty files have been sent. Entries without descriptions or files had pretty bad chances of getting published in the textures gallery.

What can you do with it?

You can use all textures we present in the gallery for both private and commercial projects for free, without any restrictions whatsoever. However, you are not allowed to offer these files for download; please respect the interestes of over 300 participants of our contest. Please also consider the license information attached to the .zip-archives you download from our server. When it comes to usage of textures, different photographers may have different opinions and intentions.

Since we have received numerous textures, it was just impossible to present all of them in one post. It would also be unfair to present only few of them. Therefore we have categorized all entries and sorted them in 12 categories. It took some time but the result is quite impressive.

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Smashing texture photographer at work: photo by Lucia Vega Miranda

The file size of .zip-archives is between 1 and 15 Mb (depending on image resolution) which makes over 700 Mb space storage. This is also a reason why we have decided to not offer all textures in one single archive. It is very likely that due to huge amount of data and manual work some links contain errors — please inform us about them. And sorry for inconvenience.

Winner

Finally, probably the most important information. The winner of Canon Digital Rebel XT 8MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 Lens was determined randomly from all valid entries we’ve received. The winner is not related to Smashing Magazine in any way.

And the winner is… Linda Estes. Congratulatons, Linda! We should have already contacted you.

Editors’s Pick – 30 Brilliant Textures

Haris Ferizovic
Beach towels. This photo was taken last summer at Croatian coast in city of Orebic.
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Daniel Hosie
This photograph is of a interesting wood pole in Frankenmuth Michigan.
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Zilda Borges
Collage of torn paper.
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Paul Weingartz
Light trails
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Ljubica Rapaic
Macro of a dandelion. The shot was taken with Canon EOS 400D / Canon EF-S18-55mm.
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Andronicus Riyono
A beautiful piece of Indonesian Batik.
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Paulo Ordoveza
This is a closeup of a Barong Tagalog, the formal national costume of the Philippines. The barong is a thin, transparent overlayer made from a sheer mesh of pineapple-based fibers, embroidered with elegant designs, usually leafy plants and ethnic patterns. I wore this particular barong for my wedding, one year ago this June.
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Istvan Vasil
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Anees
When we went to a trip in coonoor, karnataka we visited a fancy store. The shot is an inside view of a lamp shade which was hanging there.
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Tom Karels & Ryan Beals
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Olivia Kjellander Hook
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Michael Smith
The inside of an old Adidas sandal.
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Ng Ay Hoon a.k.a Jas
This photo is took in my house’s garden. It is a table with chess board textures.
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Kyle Gillen
Well, sometimes inspiration is just at your fingertips
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Mariella Johns Smith
The palm of a hand.
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Priscilla Louzada de Sena
Metal gate written by lots of young people.
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Tiago Hillesheim
Roof of British Museum, in London.
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Angelie Baral
Lights above an escalator in Paris
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Toh
Photo of a young banana leaf taken in Martinique
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Krissy Bertram
Picture of spiked punch, blue berries and strawberries
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Bogdan Günther
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Jim Ferguson
This image is of a rusted out tank at an abandoned mill.
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Jenn Rodriguez
Rusty car on the beach at Fort Funson, San Francisco.
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Angelie Baral
Detail of a redwood sawed section
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Mihaela Stoica
Water in an aluminium pot.
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Ljubica Rapaic
I was working on a design projects with some ink and watercolors, and I took photos of a glass with water in which I washed my brushes. The shot was taken with Canon EOS 400D / Canon EF-S18-55mm.
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