Trick Photoshop: Valentines Cards Part 1

Monday, November 9, 2015

Valentines Cards Part 1

With Valentine's Day coming up, I have been asked to post a tutorial on making one. I will show a few things, but it important that you also experiment in the steps I demonstrate.

Step 1 : Open a Blank White layer.

Step 2 : Click the Add New layer button in the Layers pallette and a new Layer 1 forms above the White Layer.

Step 3 : Click the Rectangle Tool from the flyout on the left panel. You will find Custom shape at the bottom of the flyout. Click to select it.

Step 4 : In the top panel click where the arrow points to. You will find a Heart shape. Click to select it.

If you cannot find it, click the small white arrow on the side. It will reveal a dropdown menu where you will find 'Shapes' . You will find the Heart Shape in it.

Step 5 : Draw out the Heart shape. It will be black.

Step 6 : This is how the Layers pallette looks like.

Step 7 : CTRL+Click the Heart shape.

Step 8 : As soon as CTRL+Click a column of marching ants will surround the heart shape.

Step 9 : Click on the Foreground color.

Step 10 : The Color Picker comes up. The Narrow column of color in the middle is called the Spectrum. You will find a slider. Drag the slider to the top where the red is. Click on a shade of red.

Step 11 : Now ALT+Back Space. This will fill the selection with the Foreground Color. In this case it is red. The column of marching ants is still there.

Step 12 : Now click on the Paths pallete and click the icon shown. Hover your cursor over it to read its name. A workpath forms.

Step 13 : Now click back on the Layers pallette.

Step 14 : Click the Horizontal Type Tool from the flyout.

Step 15 : In the top panel click where the arrow points to set the font. I have chosen Impact, which you will find in photoshop. Set the points (size) of the fonts in the next window.

Step 16 : Now I have just gone on typing 'Be My Valentine". You will find that the text is restricted to the heart shape.

Step 17 : Right click the Text layer and choose Rasterise Text. Click on Rasterise Text to rasterise the text.

Step 18 : Now CTRL+Click the Layer thumbnail of the Rasterised Type.

Step 19 : Marching ants appear around the text.

Step 20 : Now click the Gradient Tool from the flyout. Then click on the top panel as shown to bring up the Gradient Editor.

Step 21 : The Gradient Editor opens. I have clicked on one of the Gradient. The small white hand points to it. You can choose any Gradient.

Step 22 : Now drag diagonally with the Gradient Tool.

The Gradient has been applied to the rasterised Text.

Step 23 : Click Back on Layer 1n which contains the red heart.

Step 24 : Go to Filter>Distort>Spherize.

Step 25 : In the Spherize dialogue box drag the 'Amount' to 100%. Click ok.

This is how the red Heart looks after being Spherized.

Step 26 : Now click on the rasterised text layer.

Step 27 : Now apply the Spherize Filter to the text as in Step 23 and 24.

Step 28 : Now click the Add Layer Style Button.

Step 29: Click on Drop Shadow from the popup.

Step 30 : I will leave the Drop Shadow at the default settings. Click ok.

Step 31 : The drop shadow has been applied.

Step 32 : Click back on Layer 1.

Step 33 : Bring up the Drop Shadow dialogue box as in Step 28 and 29.

Step 34 : In the controls of the Drop Shadow I have set the Size at 21, Spread at 4 and Distance at 7. There is nothing hard and fast about the settings. You can apply your own. Lastly reduce the Opacity to 50 %.

The Drop Shadow has been applied to the heart. This is the first part.

The concluding part of the tutorial is here.

Trick Photoshop

Monday, November 9, 2015

Valentines Cards Part 1

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