How to Create a Wood Sign in Photoshop

A wooden sign created in Photoshop.

People like wooden signs. They seem comforting, like a part of childhood or a glimpse into the past. They seem warm, unlike neon or chrome. They seem homemade, and, with Adobe Photoshop, they can actually be homemade. With Photoshop, you can get that country feel for a bed and breakfast or for a wood-carving shop .

Things You'll Need

• Computer
• Adobe Photoshop
• Printer
• Imagination

Instructions

1. Create a new file at least 400 dots per inch resolution at the size you want, say 8.5-by-11 inches. Select the Shapes tool from the Tool bar. Its default shape is a rectangle. If you hover your cursor over it you can choose the shape you want. Aside from standard rectangles and ellipses, you can draw a shape or use a preset shape with the Custom Shape Tool.

2. 

   Use the Custom Shape Tool to create a frame. Then go to the Styles palette which is set at default to have only basic styles. The palette has a popup menu with a variety of additional styles such as Abstract, Buttons, Text Effects. Select each of these in turn, and when the popup appears, choose Append. Going through one by one, you will add all the styles to the palette.

3. Roll the mouse over each of the styles slowly. Information will appear telling what each is called. Choose the one called Wood. This will change the frame you created to the wood style. You can use the Layer>Layer Styles submenu to tweak the wood look. You can make it darker or lighter, add texture, to make it harder or softer looking. In the same submenu, choose Drop Shadow to give more of a feeling of depth. You can adjust the shadow's shade, distance from the frame and softness here. If you use Drop Shadow, remember the settings---or save them with the New Style button---because you will need to use the same settings on the text.

4. Draw another shape, this time a rectangle or an ellipse. Select the same wood style you created for the frame. Position this shape in the middle of the frame without touching the sides. This will be the actual sign.

5. Type your sign's text using the "T" on the Tool bar. This will be a new Layer and will move independently of the frame. You still want to use the same wooden style you created, but this time in the Layer Styles submenu, choose a different color using Color Overlay. Orange or yellow will stand out and not clash with the wooden effect. You can change the opacity of this color in the submenu so the text, while still appearing as wood, stands out from the background.

6. Use the Custom Shape Tool again to create the effect that the center sign is supported by the frame. Arrows will work as well. You can give them a different texture such as brass or copper, or you can stick with the wood theme. Using the Custom Shape Tool again, you can create rivets of another color, something metallic, to hold your arrows in place.

Tips & Warnings

• Experiment. Just because there are presets for "wood," you don't have to settle for those. By experimenting you can create custom signs and learn more about what Photoshop can do.