How? Greeting cards using Photoshop 7

sedohre

Hi, does anyone know how or if I can use photoshop 7 to create (and then print) greeting cards? if not can anyone recomend a free program that I could download.

Thanks

Vivid.ie

You can make christmas cards using photoshop 7 however it is usually best to use programs such as indesign or quark for this type of work.

forbairt

Will you be printing them yourself ?

I'd recommend you get the dimensions of the card you want then open up a image that size and away you go ?

big_moe

i use an A4 page in landscape with a ruler line down the centre... does the trick for me anyway.

sedohre

Thanks for you replies

I have only access to Photoshop 7 which I'm not au fait with anyway, I wish I had indesign or quark, even though I would shill have to learn how to use these programs too.

Yes I would like to print them myself I have the use of a Epson printer R1800, its a good one I believe. I would like them to be of Photograph quality and maybe use actual photographs and then put words and extra imagery layered on top, certainly on the front cover anyway. Some wording and imagery on the inside also

A step by step guide would be great.

Are there any opensource or free software out there?

Wez

I've often wondered why people are such fans of indesign and especially Quark for doing things like this.. I'm just wondering out of curiousity, I still use them, just I don't see a problem using photoshop for things like this, especially if it's all you have! I know there's a reason that they're around, but the only thing I find them best for is their quick to use functionality, but they have less functions than photoshop, and you can't adjust brightness/contrast/saturation like you can in photoshop.

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It's easy enough Sedohre, you've pretty much explained how to do it yourself.. Presuming you're on a pc, create a new document at whatever size and resolution (300dpi) you want them. Then open the photo you want to bring in, drag it across to your new document (call it Card for this quick guide) and it will become a new layer.

Hit Ctrl - T to select it for transformation, resize to whatever looks best on the Card layout, you'll most likely have to do this unless you can make the Card any size you want (I'd reccomend the size of the photo if you have a choice, otherwise just the same proportion).

Then you can use the Type tool (T) to add text, you can find some nice free fonts on Dafont.com which you can drop into the Font folder in Control Panel and then use for your card (aswell as other applications).

You can find some nice brushes on Deviantart.com and maybe make a cool border around the image, or just for effect. http://search.deviantart.com/?section=browse&qh=boost%3Apopular+age_sigma%3A24h+age_scale%3A5&q=photoshop+7+brushes
When using these press Ctrl>Shift>N to create a new blank layer and select the desired colour you wish to use for the new brush.

Your idea doesn't sound too complicated, so it should be easy enough! Even the final step there, you don't need it but it could add to your design. Simply bring them into the Photoshop>Plugins>Brushes folder and you might need to restart photoshop to see them (click the right facing arrow on the brush icon up the top left of the screen and load them from there). Also, you can use the Move tool (V) or the arrows (shift accelerates)to move the individual layers around. Make sure to save as either .PSD or .TIFF with layers if you want to come back to it and still be able to move things around.

Hope that helps! If you have any more questions, just ask!

sedohre

Wow, thanks a million Wez. Thats great. I really appreciate your detailed reply. And thanks for offering your help if I need to ask you again.

Sed:)