How to Make a Simple Poster in Adobe Photoshop CS4

Click for more information! Plan your design Click for more information! Know your theme. If you are incorporating photos and text, be ready: Know the basic text you want to use. If you are using digital photos, make sure they’ve already been downloaded to your computer.

Open Photoshop Start  All Programs  Adobe Master Collection CS4  Adobe Photoshop CS4 Warning: Photoshop can take a long time to open!

Check Layout Set Workspace = “Essentials”

Create New File Select File  New Give your file a Name & Preset Size “U.S. Paper” is the appropriate size if you’ll be printing from a regular desktop printer. Accept other Defaults before clicking OK.

Select Orientation If you need to rotate to landscape mode, select Image  Image Rotation and rotate the image 90°

Layers Having different items (text, background photo, accent photo #1, accent photo #2, etc.) on different layers is very helpful…. Select Layer  New  Layer and name it according to what you’ll place on that layer.

SAVE YOUR DOCUMENT!!!!

Background Photo Open the photo file using File  Open Select  All Have a new layer ready where you will place your background photo. You will open the picture file and copy it onto your clipboard before pasting it onto the new layer in your Poster Project File (which remains open during copy). Open the photo file using File  Open Select  All Edit  Copy

Paste Photo onto Layer Close background photo file & return to Project File. SELECT the right layer -- Click the named background layer in the Layers Panel (bottom right of workspace). Edit  Paste The image will appear on the selected layer, but you may need to resize and/or reposition it….

Reposition Image Make sure you are in the right layer. (Click on layer name in the Layers panel.) To Reposition the pasted image, click SELECT tool. Click on and drag the image to its new position.

Resize Image To Resize: Edit  Transform  Scale Then click and drag “handles” OR type in size or percent in “scale” toolbar directly. Click on the chain link icon to maintain proportion. Click checkmark icon in toolbar to apply transformation.

Opacity/Transparency The opacity of each layer can be changed in the Layers Panel. Click on the layer name. Type percentage directly or use slider to select opacity.

Lock layer When you have your background photo or any layer looking the way you want it, make sure to LOCK the layer by clicking on the layer name and then the padlock icon in the Layers panel. If you fail to lock a layer, you could mistakenly transform or delete the changes you’ve applied. To UNLOCK a layer so you can apply changes later, repeat the process: click the layer name and then click the padlock icon.

SAVE YOUR DOCUMENT!!!!

Accent Photos Make a new layer for each additional photo. Open the separate photo files one at a time; select only the part of the image you want and copy each selection. Paste the copied photo into its layer in the Poster Project File as you did the background photo. MAKE CERTAIN YOU ARE ON THE RIGHT LAYER BEFORE PASTING! (Other layers should be locked to prevent mistakes.) Resize and reposition photos as necessary. Try other transformations with Edit  Transform. Make certain to LOCK each layer after you’ve applied the desired changes – resize, reposition, opacity.

SAVE YOUR DOCUMENT!!!!

Adding Text Layer Select Layer  New  Layer. Identify the layer as text by giving it an appropriate Name. Each text block will be placed on its own layer.

Adding Text Make sure you are on the correct text layer. (The others should be locked!) Click the Text Tool icon in the Toolbar. Click and drag a rectangular text box on top of your image where you want your text to appear. The cursor will blink inside the box waiting for you to type.

Customizing Text Type your block of text where the blinking cursor appears. Use the Text Toolbar to set your font, text size, paragraph alignment, text color, etc. Click on the Check Mark in the Text Toolbar to apply the text changes to the layer. If you type your text first and then decide to change its attributes afterward, first make sure you are in the correct layer and then use the cursor to select the text before choosing your options & clicking the check mark to apply.

SAVE YOUR DOCUMENT!!!!

Finalize Your Document Remember -- each text block will be place on its own layer. If you are not seeing what you expect, look to the Layers panel. Make sure all the eyeballs are showing so all layers are visible. (Click in the left column of the layer’s row to show or hide the eyeball.) Click and drag the layer rows to rearrange their order – whatever is not transparent in the top-most layer will hide anything on the layers below.

SAVE YOUR DOCUMENT!!!!

Save your document as…. Once you are satisfied with your poster’s layout and your document is complete, save the document as a different file type so it can be emailed or printed easily. File  Save As Most often, you will want to change the FORMAT to JPEG before clicking “Save”.

Congratulations You now have a completed poster file (the JPEG you saved) as well as a working Photoshop project file if you want to make further changes!