Protector Postcard

I got this from Photoshop for Designers: Working with Illustrator. I created a vintage postcard. Despite the title, Photoshop was NOT in the tutorial. They used Bridge, and di not use the function in Bridge that transfers to Photoshop. I went very rogue on this project. Particularly towards the end.

First I downloaded the exercise file. I decided I didn't like it and changed everything. This was my first "rogue" moment. I changed the background color. Then I changed the font on the words and the words themselves. I kept the yellow color though.

Then I created a new layer and typed Anywhere. I increased the vertical scale to 150. Afterwards I changed each letters font size so it got smaller as the word went on. Next I did effects warp and effects 3D extrude and bevel. I did something so the shadow was in two colors.

I added "& Everywhere" because I thought it would fit my story better. I repeated the same steps as above, but made the font size bigger as the word went on. I also made it so it warped the arc down rather than up.

I remember there being some obstacles, but I can't remember specifics. I did this about two weeks ago. I am fairly certain I overcame them though.

Next I did a lot of work with selecting and layering. This essentially made it so the actual letters (2D part) were separate from their effects. This made it so later on I could clip the photos on there. I think there were obstacles, but none were so frustrating I actually remember what they were at this point.

One of my favorite steps was finding what photos I was going to use! I went to google images and picked some of my favorites that had diverse color, so it wasn't monotone and truly looked like they were from "everywhere," and were similar to things in my worlds.

Next it wanted me to use Bridge. This was the first obstacle I actually remember. It did not do the function the video wanted me to. At all. At first the photos wouldn't open, then the next day they did, but the tool they wanted wasn't working. I clicked the photo and it took me to Photoshop, but that is not what the video wanted. I spent about a day and a half trying to solve this problem. Eventually my solution came and that solution was to give up. I just didn't do that part at all.

So with me going totally rogue for about two whole block periods, I went to photoshop where I edited my photos.

I did not edit all if my photos (especially when I changed my plans and didn't have enough photos. None of the photos I got the second time I edited). However, I did edited at least 9 out of 19. I may have done 10.

For the first "n" (which is the demogordan) I did a lot of copying and moving. Even though I couldn't get my favorite sort of seam in the "n," I was proud of the photoshop job. I wish I could've expanded this letter, but by the time I realized I could do it the way the guy did it and have what I wanted, it was too late. It was one of the few times I regretted not going rogue (but not enough to change it. I easily could've with an extra class period and taking away some photos).

The first "y" I just did a filter.

1st "w" I changed the hue for the eyes, making them purple.

1st "h" I used the healing brush to remove the strings. This made it look like the objects were really floating. I don't know if this comes through in the letter if you didn't know if they were floating, but I could tell.

I did not edit the next two e's in "ere." I may have edited the r but I don't remember. I remember cropping it, but I think that may have been when I was taking a screen shot of it.

"&" I used the burn and dodge tool to darken and brighten some areas of the photo.

I did not edit anything for "Every"

For "where" in "Everywhere" I edited "wher."

"w" I used the burn and dodge tool again.

"h" I played with the brightness and contrast to make it brighter.

"e" was weird. I used the sharpen tool. I also selected the eyes to make them bigger.

"r' I used the dodge tool

Then I put the images inside the letters. This took one or two times to get it right, but after that it took about one to two minutes tops to do each letter.

1. Pick the picture you want.
2. Move it to the layer with the corresponding letter, make it into one layer.
3. Move the letter to the top, so it is above the picture.
4. Make clipping mask.
5. Click the picture and use the shift key to scale it. Move and rotate with the selection tool to get the desired area shown.

The main issue with this was making sure you were clicking the picture within the layer, not the entire layer, when scaling and rotating and moving.
Also originally the clipping mask button he used wasn't working, so I found a way to do it through the barn on top.

After that I outlined the letters and applied a drop shadow. Finally I made it look "vintage" by using an old layer with nothing it and creating a gray rectangle on it. It covered the entire postcard. Then I clicked pixelate, color halftone, and made it the smallest radius possible (4). I clicked transparency then  soft blend. At first it didn't work and looked like it deleted all my layers (which made me panic for a hot second), but I did ctrl-alt-z until everything went back to normal. Then I turned on visibility on all my layers and tried again. This time it worked.