Hi. This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV. Tourism posters from the 1930s and 40s were
powerful, beautifully crafted images that embodied clean shapes, bold, vibrant colors
and iconic images. I created this one and will show you how to create your own custom
poster using the techniques in this tutorial. You can use your own photo, however, for the
purpose of this tutorial, I provided this image, so you can follow along. Its link is
in the video's description or project files. The first step is to adjust its brightness
and contrast. Press Ctrl or Cmd + Shift + L to invoke Auto-tone, which maximizes the
tonal range in each channel to produce a more dramatic correction. Next, we'll crop it to
a specific aspect ratio and size.
Open your Crop Tool. At the top, open the Width, Height and Resolution.
Click the "Clear" button.
In the Resolution field, type in 300 pixels per inch. This resolution is
high enough to ensure that your image will be sharp if you decide to print it.
Uncheck "Delete Cropped Pixels" and click the checkmark to accept it.
Go to Image and Image Size.
Notice the resolution is 300 pixels per inch. Make sure the mode is "Inches" and make sure
the chain-link is locked, which locks its aspect ratio. Choose a Width or Height that
you want for your poster. In this case, I'd like my poster to be 16 inches wide. Its Height
automatically adjusts to the width. Since I want my poster's height to be 10 inches;
not 12, I'll click Cancel and in the Width field, I'll type in 16 and for the Height,
I'll type in 10. Drag your image to a position wher you want it cropped and make sure there's
enough room for your text. At the top, check "Delete Cropped Pixels” and click the checkmark.
To check its size, go back to Image and Image Size.
The Width and Height of your image is now cropped to your specifications.
It's always a good idea to make a copy of your image or
convert it into a Smart Object . In this case, we'll make a copy of it.
Presss Ctrl or Cmd + J.
Go to Filter and Filter Gallery.
To see your entire image,
reduce its size until you do.
Open the Artistic folder and click "Cutout". I'll make the number of Levels: 8,
the Edge Simplicity: 6 and the Edge Fidelity": 1, however, feel free to experiment with these
amounts to get the combination that looks good to you.
If you want to make the sky into a smooth gradient, first,
open your Magic Wand Tool. Make sure "Contiguous"
is checked and make the Tolerance: 45. Click anywhere on the sky. To include areas that
didn't get selected, Shift-click on them to add them to your selection. Press "Q" on your
keyboard to convert the selection into a quick mask to make sure your entire sky is included.
Then, press "Q" again to revert it back into a selection.
Open your Gradient Tool.
Click the Linear Gradient icon and the Gradient bar to open the Gradient Editor. . Click the
lower, left Stop and the color box, which opens the Color Picker. Click the bluest area
of the sky to pick up its color. To make it a bit richer, click the top and to the right
in the color window and click OK. Click the lower, right Stop, the color box and this
time, click on the bottom of the sky. Then, click OK on both windows.
Go to the top of your document
and press and hold Shift as you drag a straight line to the bottom of
the sky. To deselect it, press Ctrl or Cmd + D. Next, we'll start adding text. I'll be
using these retro fonts in this poster. If you'd like to use them, I provided their links, as well.
Open your Horizontal Type Tool. Since the first character of my word will be here,
I'll click here on my document and make sure the Left alignment icon is highlighted. Choose
a font. I'll use "DecoTech TL Regular". Don't be concerned about its size at the moment.
Type your first word. To change its color, highlight your text and click the color box
to open the color picker. I'll click on a color in my poster to use for this word. Then,
I'll click OK. To enlarge your word, click your Move Tool and open your Transform Tool
by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + T. Drag it to a general position and go to a corner. When
you see a diagonal, double-arrow, press and hold Shift as you drag it out to a size you
like. Pressing Shift retains its aspect ratio. When you like its size and position,
press Enter or Return.
Double-click on an empty area of your Type layer to open its Layer
Style window. Click "Stroke" and the color box. Click a color on your poster that you'd
like or your Stroke and click OK.
I'll make its size: 14 pixels.
Keep in mind, you may want to use different amounts than I'm using in this tutorial,
especially if you're using other fonts or another image that has a different size and resolution.
I'll make the Position: Center and click OK.
Open your Type Tool again,
click below your other text and type out your other words.
To change its color, highlight it and click the color box at the top.
Pick up another color of your poster and click OK.
To adjust its size, as before,
click your Move Tool and open your Transform Tool.
I'll position it and enlarge it.
I'll add another word using the font, "Geomancy Extra Bold".
We'll add a gradient and a stroke. As before,
double-click on an empty area of your Type layer to open its Layer Style window.
Click Gradient Overlay and the gradient bar.
Click the lower, left Stop and the color box.
Click on your poster to pick up a color and click OK on the Color Picker.
Click the lower, right Stop, the color box and click on another color.
Click OK on the Color Picker and the Gradient Editor.
Click "Stroke". Click the color box and pick up another color.
Then, click OK on the Color Picker.
I'll make the size: 10 pixels and the Position: Inside.
I'll add one more word to my poster.
This font is called, "Honey Script Light". I'll open my Transform Tool
and enlarge the text.
I'd like to skew it. To do this, go to the anchor point on the middle of the right side
and press and hold Ctrl + Alt + Shift on Windows or Cmd + Option
+ Shift on a Mac, as you drag it up. I'll reposition it and press Enter or Return.
Open its Layer Style window to add a drop shadow.
Next, I'll show you how to make your text
easier to read by simplifying the area behind it. Make your poster image active and open
your Pen Tool. In this example, I want the area behind the text to be a dark, brown color.
So, I'll make a work path surrounding the area that I'll be filling in with the new color.
Right-click directly on the path
and click "Make Selection".
Make the Feather Radius: 0 and click OK.
Press "I" on your keyboard to open your Eyedropper Tool and click on
a neighboring color that you'd like to fill the selection with. Notice, your foreground
color changed to the color you want. To fill in the selection with this color, press Alt
or Option + Delete. Then, deselect it.
Lastly, let's add a white, outside border surrounding our poster.
We don't want to make it an inside border because it'll cut off important areas
of our poster and be to close to our text. We first need to expand the Width and Height
of our document. To do this, go to Image and Canvas Size.
Your current size is indicated here.
In the Width and Height fields, add another half inch to their sizes. Make the
Canvas extension color: White. Then, click OK.
To fit your poster on your canvas, press Ctrl or Cmd + 0.
This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV. Thanks for watching!