> PHOTOSHOP USER>^ MARCH 2017[0 88 ]
› › HOW TOStep Six: We only want this image as a faded back-
ground, so in the Layers panel, click on the image
below Artboard 1 to make it active, and reduce the
Opacity to 30%. This is enough for it to just show in the
background. With the image layer still selected, click on
the little padlock icon (near the top of the Layers panel,
to the right of the word “Lock”). Now your background
can’t be accidentally selected or moved.Step Seven: Next, we want to add text to the front
of the card. I’m going to use my own branding here,
but you’ll want to use your own logo. First, you’ll want
to sample the colors from your logo and add them to
your library. So open your logo in Photoshop, switch to
the Eyedropper tool (I), click on the first color, and then
open the Swatches panel (Window>Swatches). From
the panel’s flyout menu, choose New Swatch. Name
your swatch, and turn on the checkbox to add it to your
current library—do this for all the colors that you want
to use from your logo.Step Eight: I’m going to use a Typekit font for the
front, which is part of your Creative Cloud package
(Type>Add Fonts from Typekit), but you can use your
own brand font if you want. I want to use a fun font,
so I chose Wigwag Deluxe, as it’s a bit Disney-ish, and
since we’ll be in Orlando, well, why not! Get the Type
tool (T) from the Toolbar, and in the Options Bar, select
your font from the font pop-up menu and click on the
Center Text icon. You’ll have to experiment with font
size, as you need the text to sit within the bleed guide-
lines so it doesn’t extend too close to the edge of the
card (for mine, I went with 18pt). You can add extra
guides to help you with this, if needed.
Switch to the Move tool (V) and drag your text to
the center of the artboard using the smart guides. With
the Type layer active in the Layers panel, click on one
of your logo colors that you saved in the Libraries panel
to apply that color to your text (I used the DC Blue from
my logo).