Making Invitations in Photoshop
Making your own party invitations is an excellent way to create a distinct beginning to a birthday party, wedding or other event. If you have Adobe Photoshop, you can create postcard-style invitations using your own printer or a local print shop. Use your own photos or download Photoshop compatible digital scrapbooking images and embellishments online to make your invitations. Only basic Photoshop skills are needed, and in just a short time you can have custom invites for your party or other event.
Instructions
1. Sketch out your invitation on paper. Decide on the size, formality, colors and style at this point in the design process. For a casual party, choose a simple postcard style invite with an image on the front and the details on the back. This is the most economical choice, and can be printed four to a page. More formal folded invitations require substantially more work and skill.
2. Find the images and files you need. Take advantage of free digital scrapbooking resources online to provide backgrounds and embellishments. You may also use photos found online if the resolution is adequate. When using Photoshop, files with JPG or PSD extensions are ideal and easily manipulated. You can also use your own photos.
3. Create a new image in Photoshop using the file menu. To print 4 invitations to a single page, set your image size to 8.5 inches by 11 inches when you open this image. You will then create your actual invitation image at 4.25-inches by 5.5-inches. To create this image, create a new layer from the layer menu with a background set to this size. Add files and images as desired to fit.
4. Use Ctrl-Alt-Shift-E to stamp visible in your Photoshop invitation. This will create a copy of the work you have just done. Use the move tool to move into place next to the first image. Duplicate the layer using the layer menu to create additional copies and place into position with the move tool as you did the first copy. Once you are happy with the end result, use flatten layers on your layer menu to create a high resolution JPG file suitable for printing.
5. Create a new file for the backside of your invitations. This image size should be 8.5 inches by 11 inches, and you will work with a 4.5-inch by 5.5-inch layer to create the printed back of your custom invitation. You can include images, backgrounds and embellishments if you would like or simply use the text tools to create text for the back of your invitation. Include all the party details. Flatten all layers and save as a JPG file as you did for the front.
6. Test print your custom invitations. Plain printer paper works well for test printing and is less costly. Print the front file first, then turn the paper over and print the backside file. Check alignment of text and images as well as image quality. Once you are happy with your custom Photoshop invitation, print onto cardstock and cut using a paper cutter or have printed at your local print shop.
Tags: layer menu, your custom, back your, backgrounds embellishments, digital scrapbooking