How to Make Christmas Cards in Photoshop CS3
Adobe Photoshop, one of the most widely used graphics applications, has a wide range of applications in advertising, art and product design. One popular use for Photoshop is in the design of Christmas cards. Although many of these cards are produced by professionals, there are many amateurs who make Christmas cards for their friends or family, or to give away to customers to promote their business.
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Instructions
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1
Load an image onto your computer that you would like to use as the background for your card. Transfer the image from a digital source like a camera or CD, or scan it in. If you scan the image, set your scanning software to at least 600 dpi (dots per inch) to ensure a high-quality scan.
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2
Open Photoshop. Select "File" and click "Open." In the dialog that pops up, change the increments to inches. Make the document width and height a standard card size, such as 5 x 7. Make the resolution 300 pixels and click "OK."
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3
Select the "Paintbucket" tool from the palette on the left side and use it to fill the canvas with a color for the border of your card.
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4
Select "File" from the menu, then click "Open." In the dialog, browse to the file you loaded in Step 1 and click "Open."
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Hold down the "Ctrl" key and click "Preview" in the "Layers" panel to select the image. Use the "Copy" and "Paste" functions under "Edit" to place the image in the card document.
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Select "Edit," then "Transform" and click "Scale." Use the handles that appear at the corners of the image to resize it to fit the canvas. Some cropping may occur.
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Select the "Rectangular Selection" tool, and in the options at the top add a "Feather" setting. The exact size will depend on the size of your image and how wide you want the border to be. Use the tool to select the central part of the image where you don't want a border.
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8
Click "Select" from the menu and hit "Inverse." Hit delete on your keyboard to produce a faded border effect.
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Select the "Custom Shape" tool from the tool palette. In the presets, select a Christmas-themed shape, such as a snowflake. Draw the shape on the card. Repeat this, or add other shapes, such as a tree or teddy bear.
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Select the "Text" tool from the palette, and in the options at the top change the font style, size and color to what you want for the card. Type in your message. Select "File," and click "Save." Name your file and save it as a JPEG.
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References
- Photo Credit christmas card - santa image by araraadt from Fotolia.com
