How to Make a Greeting Card Using Photoshop
Greeting card companies make a lot of money selling their designs. Use Photoshop to create custom cards yourself. Preset gradients, or color transitions, and shapes help make artwork easier. You do not need specialized drawing skills to make colorful greeting cards. Build one element and layer it on top on another using Photoshop's Layers capability. Write a custom greeting in a font that matches the design of the card. Make Christmas cards for your first attempt, and print out as many as you want to send.
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Instructions
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Click on the "Background Color" box located at the bottom of the "Tools" palette in Photoshop. Select a deep blue color from the "Color Picker." Click "OK" to return to the main image.
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Choose "File" and "New" from the Menu Bar and sub-menu. The "New Document" dialog box opens. Choose "8x10" from the "Preset" pull-down menu. Choose "Background Color" from the "Background Contents" selection bar and select blue as the background color. Click "OK" to open the image file.
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Choose "Layer" and "New Layer" from the Menu bar and sub-menu. Click on the "Brush Tool" icon in the "Toolbox" palette. Click on the "Brush Preset Picker" icon on the horizontal options bar. The "Brush Picker" menu opens. Scroll down the list and click on "Star 70 pixels."
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Click on the "Foreground Color" box and choose white from the "Color Picker." Click with your mouse on top of the blue background. A star appears. Move the mouse and click again. Repeat clicking and moving the mouse until you are satisfied with the star field.
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Choose "Layer" and "New Layer" from the Menu bar and sub-menu.
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Click and hold the "Line Tool" icon in the "Toolbox" palette. Choose "Custom Shape" from the options bar that opens. Click on the "Shape" selection box located on the horizontal options bar. A menu opens. Choose the "Tree" icon by clicking on it.
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Click on the image screen, drag and release the mouse to create a tree shape. Drag further away from the initial click for larger trees, and drag closer for smaller trees. Keep the trees on the lower half of the page. Continue until you are satisfied with the design.
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Choose "Layer" and "New Layer" from the Menu bar and sub-menu.
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Click on the "Text" icon in the "Toolbox" palette. Choose "Lucida Handwriting" from the "Font Family" selector pull-down menu on the horizontal options bar. Click on the image screen and type "Happy Holidays." Click on the "Move" tool in the "Toolbox" palette. A box appears around the text, called a bounding box. Click on the lower right corner of the box and drag down and to the right. The text gets bigger.
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Reposition the text to horizontally center the screen by clicking inside the bounding box and dragging the text. Continue making the text bigger until you are satisfied with the size. Keep the text in the lower half of the page.
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Click on the "Text" icon in the "Toolbox" palette. Click on the "Create Warped Text" icon on the horizontal options bar. The "Warp Text" dialog box opens. Choose "Flag" from the "Style" option bar. Click on the "Bend" slider and drag until the text box reads "-32." Click "OK" to accept the settings.
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Choose "Layer," "Layer Style" and "Blending Options" from the Menu bar and sub-menu. the "Layer Style" dialog box opens. Click on "Styles" located at the top left of the dialog box. The "Styles" palette opens. Click on the right side arrow to open the "Styles Menu" pull-down window.
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Scroll down and click on "Text Effects 2" then click "OK." Click on the "Bright Red Bevel" preset icon and click "OK." The text fills with a gradient red color and has a cut-out effect that makes it stand out from the background.
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Choose "Layer" and "Flatten Image." Save your image file, and print out your card on the printer. Fold the page in half, making sure that the fold runs parallel to the shorter side of the paper. Write a personal note inside.
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References
- Photo Credit holiday card image by SZILAGYI ANNAMARIA from Fotolia.com
