Step One: Making a New Document

1. Open photoshop from the dock along the bottom of the screen.

2. Make a new document by going to ʻFileʼ along the top menu and down to ʻNewʼ.

3. Change the size of your new document to ʻCustomʼ and enter the size for an A4 landscape picture: Width = 30cm, Height 21cm, and a resolution of 200dpi (pixels per inch). This is the minimum resolution you can use for your film poster.

4. Choose a transparent background. The chequered background means your canvas is completely blank.

Make your own movie poster

Step Two: Placing Images on your Document

1. Open safari and go to mediatechnician.wordpress.com.

2. Under the photoshop tab, choose the ʻMaking a movie posterʼ option.

3. Download the files ʻBackgroundʼ and ʻCharacterʼ by clicking on the image to open the full size version. Now press ʻctrlʼ and click on the image. Choose ʻSave Image Asʼ and download the file to your desktop.

4. Open the background image youʼve just saved. If you double click on the background image, it will only open in Preview and you wonʼt be able to edit it. You must open the image in Photoshop by staying in Photoshop and going to the ʻFileʼ menu and then ʻOpenʼ.

5. Drag the background image on to your blank document using the ʻMoveʼ tool. The move tool is the top tool in the Photoshop toolbar on the left.

6. Change the scale of the background image to fit. Go to the ʻEditʼ menu and down to ʻFree Transformʼ.

7. This gives you small boxes around the edge of the image. Hold down the ʻshiftʼ key and drag out one of the corner boxes until your image is the correct size.

8. To complete the size change, you need to ʻApplyʼ the transformation. Click back on the ʻMoveʼ tool and click ʻApply.ʼ

9. Move the image around until you are happy with the placing.

10. Save your document by going to the ʻFileʼ menu and ʻSave Asʼ. Call your document ʻmovie posterʼ and save it as a psd (Photoshop Document).

Step Three: Cutting out the Character

1. Open the ʻCharacterʼ file you saved from Mr Witcherʼs blog. Do this by going to ʻFileʼ and ʻOpenʼ in Photoshop.

2. To change your view, you can go to ʻWindowʼ and ʻCascadeʼ then ʻCascade Verticallyʼ to view all the images you have open at the same time.

3. To just view the whole of one of your images, click the ʻcmd ⌘ʼ key and ʻ0ʼ (zero) at the same time.

4. Draw round the outline of the character using the magnetic lasso tool. This is the third tool down in your Photoshop tool bar. You can access this tool by either clicking and holding on the third tool down in the tool bar (the lasso tool) until you can see the magnetic lasso option, or by pressing ʻShiftʼ and ʻLʼ to scroll through your lasso tool options.

5. The magnetic lasso tool works best on images where the background is completely white. This is because there is a clear difference between the subject (our character) and the background.

6. Start to draw around your character with the magnetic lasso tool. This tool automatically clings to the outline of your subject like a magnet.

7. Click and draw all the way around your character until you get back to the point where you started.

8. Your character is now ʻSelectedʼ. We know this because there is a flashing dotted line around the area we have just drawn.

9. Please note - if you go wrong at any point while youʼre drawing, just double click (which closes your drawing and turns it into a selection) and go to the ʻSelectʼ menu and ʻDeselectʼ.

10. To smooth the edge of our selection, go to the ʻSelectʼ menu and down to ʻRefine Edgeʼ.

11. You can alter the options available. Use the ʻpreviewʼ function to see how the edges of your selection can be blurred slightly. Choose a radius of around 20px and click OK.

12. Our character is still selected (flashing dotted line). We can move this selected area over on to out background image by using the ʻMoveʼ tool (top tool in the tool bar).

13. Click on the move tool. Now click anywhere in your selected area and the icon changes to a ʻscissorʼ symbol. This shows that moving this selected area will cut it out. Drag the selected character on to your background image.

14. You may need to click ʻcmd ⌘ʼ key and ʻ0ʼ (zero) at the same time again to view all your image at the same time to view all of your image.

Step Four: Layers

1. Photoshop documents are made up of layers. These can be viewed by going to the ʻWindowʼ menu and ʻView Layersʼ. The layers will be displayed in the bottom right of your screen.

2. The top layer is the one you can see in front of all the others - just like having layers of paper. Layers can be re-ordered to view images in your chosen order.

3. Re-name your layers so that you can easily see which layer youʼre working on. Do this by double clicking on the layer and typing a new name.

4. Re-size your character layer by clicking on the layer, going to the ʻEditʼ menu and choosing ʻFree Transformʼ. Drag the corner box while holding your shift key down. Click on the top move tool when youʼre happy with the transformation, then click ʻApplyʼ.

Step Five: Adding Text

1. Click on the Text tool in the tool bar (the large T).

2. Click on the area where you want to place your text (you do not need to draw a text box).

3. Choose your font style, size and colour from the text menus along the top of the Photoshop screen

4. To change the text colour, click in the small rectangular colour box.

5. You can choose a colour to match your image by using the eyedropper tool. When you click in the small rectangle colour box, you can choose a colour from the menu shown, or move your mouse over your image until you can click on a colour youʼd like to sample.

6. Type in your text and change the colour and size until youʼre happy with it.

7. To add a gradient colour to your text, you need to ʻRasterizeʼ it first. this turns the text into an image, but you wonʼt be able to edit it with the text tool anymore. Click on the text layer in your layers window, then go to the ʻLayerʼ menu, then ʻRasterizeʼ, then ʻRasterzie Typeʼ.

8. Transform the scale of your text (Edit menu and ʻFree Transformʼ).

9. Double click on the rasterized text layer to add effects. Choose ʻGradient Overlayʼ.

10. To change the colour of the gradient, click in the black and white gradient box.

11. You can then click on the small black and white squares to change the colour of the gradient. You can use the eyedropper tool on you image again to choose your own colour scheme.

12.You can add other effects to your text by double clicking on the layer, then choosing from the options available. This movie poster uses the ʻBevel and Embossʼ effect to make the text stand out.

13. Add the rest of your movie poster text using the Text tool

Step Six: Adding Shapes and Saving your Work

Now youʼve added all your text and images, you might want to add some stars to make your film poster complete.

1. Go to the ʻCustom Shapeʼ tool in the tool bar (this appears in the rectangle shape tool menu).

2. Choose the star shape from the top menu bar. If you canʼt see the star shape, click on the small arrow next to the shape on the top menu bar, then load the ʻshapesʼ library. The star symbol is in the shapes library.

3. Choose a colour for your star by clicking on the colour rectangle box on the top menu again. Now click on the area where you want to draw your star, and click and drag to draw.

4. Instead of trying to draw another star that exactly matches your last one, you can just copy the one youʼve just done. This is done by ʻDuplicating the Layerʼ.

5. Click on the star layers from your layers window. Click on the small arrow. Click ʻDuplicate Layerʼ. Now you have anew star layer that you can move to your chosen position.

6. Continue to add stars, industry text along the bottom of your poster, film studio logos etc. until youʼre happy with your completed film poster.

7. Save your poster as it is, with all the layers intact in case you want to go back and edit it.

8. HOWEVER you will not be able to print this version of your poster. To print, you need a ʻFlattenedʼ version, so your document is a real 2D poster. To flatten, go to the “Layerʼ menu and then ʻFlatten Imageʼ.

9. Go to ʻFileʼ and ʻSave Asʼ and choose JPEG from the format options.

10. Once youʼve saved this flattened JPEG version, you can now double click on the JPEG file to open it in Preview and print it from here. Posters will not print on the school printers from Photoshop.

HAPPY

PHOTOSHOPPING!