How to Create a Christmas Card Using Photoshop CS3

Homemade Christmas cards can be simple, but heartfelt.

Christmas cards are a great way to show your friends and family that you are thinking about them on the holidays. A homemade card is a way to personalize this tradition. A graphics editing program like Adobe Photoshop CS3 will simplify the card-making process, allowing you to design a single card that can be printed multiple times. You can even personalize the text that will be printed in each card. For additional simplicity, your card should be a double-fold card, which will allow you to print the card on just one side of the paper--single-fold cards would require you to print on both sides of you paper.

Instructions

1. Create a new image in Photoshop CS3 by clicking on the "File" menu and choosing "New." Set the size of your new image to 8.5 inches wide and 11 inches high. The resolution should be set to 150 dots per inch. Click "OK."

2. Open the "View" menu and choose "Rulers." This will give you measurements on your image to make it easier to arrange the elements of your card.

3. Click the "Line" tool in the toolbox, and click and drag a vertical line at the halfway point (4.25 inches in from the left). Use the ruler to help guide you. Then, click and drag a horizontal line at the halfway point (5.5 inches from the top). This will divide your card into quadrants.

4. Design the front of your card in the lower right quadrant. The "Custom Brush Shape" menu under the Paintbrush tool in Photoshop CS3 includes a variety of winter-themed brushes such as trees, snowflakes and holly. Choose these brush shapes and click once on your image to add that shape. A soft, round brush can be used for snow.

5. Click the "Text" tool and click in the top left quadrant. This will create a text box into which you can type a personalized Christmas greeting, which will appear on the inside of your card. After you have typed your message, click and drag the text box to the center of the quadrant.

6. Right-click the text box and choose "Free transform." Right-click the box again and choose "Flip vertical." This will invert the text so that it is upside down. Because you are folding the card, inverting the text will cause it to appear upright when your recipient opens the card.

7. Add another design to the top right quadrant if you want an image to be on the inside of the card on the left side. Flip this design vertically as well.

8. Add embellishments or text to the bottom left quadrant if you would like any decorations to appear on the back of the card. This quadrant does not need to be flipped.

9. Click on the "File" menu and choose "Print." Leave the default settings unchanged and click "OK."

10. Hold the paper so that the printed side is facing you, and fold the top half of the paper behind the bottom half. Use the printed lines as a guide to help you fold. Then, fold the left half of the paper behind the right half.

Tips & Warnings

• The "Flip" command will cause the selected graphic or text to rotate around its own midpoint. This means that when you invert it, it will stay in the same spot on the page.

• If you want to retain a digital copy of the Christmas card for other recipients, or to use it as a template in next year's Christmas card, save the file by clicking on the "File" menu and choosing "Save As." Choose the file type PSD, which will retain all of the original information without applying compression. Enter a file name and click the "Save" button to save the card.

References

• Adobe Tutorials: "Creative Christmas Cards"
• PSD Tuts Plus: "How to Create That Last-Minute Holiday e-Card in Photoshop"
• Techie Buzz: "How to Create a Christmas Card from Scratch using Photoshop;" Shohini Sengupta; December 2009