How to Make Movie Posters Using Photoshop

"A Bonny Lass"

One of the hottest collectible items is the movie poster. Aside from any monetary value, we appreciate posters' beauty and the incredible skill that it took to make them. But thanks to Photoshop, you don't have to simply collect other people's movie posters. You can make your own. There are as many different styles of movie poster as there are genres of art. The steps below will yield one of the most common types.

Instructions

1. Open a new document. Make the size 24" by 36" and the resolution at least 300 dpi. Also set it to CMYK. These settings will make it easier to have your poster printed. Give the document a name, such as "Poster 1," and click OK.

2. Open a background image you want to work with. This image could be something such as a beach scene, a snowy landscape or clouds. Make sure that it meets the resolution and size requirements. If it does not, you can go to Image and click Image Size. You can then begin scaling up the image's resolution and pixel width/height in 10% increments.

3. Select all, then copy and paste the image into a new layer in Poster 1. Now use the Move Tool to better place your image on the canvas.

4. Open an image you want to use as your foreground subject. This could be a person, a couple, a dog or anything except more landscape. Now repeat steps 2 and 3.

5. Use the rectangular Marquee Tool to select the bottom part you would like to remove. Then go to Select and choose Feather. Set the feather to about 40. Click OK. Now hit delete. The top foreground image should blend gradually into the bottom background image. Just add your text, and you are done.