In this tutorial we’re going to look at how to create a Valentine’s Day poster using free graphics here at makebreaks and a brilliant online graphics package which is fully featured yet free to use 🙂
While we’re making Valentine’s Day posters here, you can, of course, change the look and feel of the poster to suit any occasion.
This is the poster we are going to make:
Why Make a Valentine’s Day Poster?
Make a Valentine’s Day poster for a loved one or friend as a gift to show them how much they mean to you and that they are in your thoughts. This might be a romantic themed poster for a partner, a cute ‘I love you’ poster for a child or a simple ‘I appreciate you’ poster for a neighbour.
The posters can be used a substitute for cards or as wall art to decorate a room or bring a smile to someone’s day.
Printing
We’re designing this poster to print on a home printer. However, you can make the poster any size and take to a professional print shop if you require. We recommend printing on good quality paper or cardstock for the best possible results.
About Photopea
We highly recomend Photopea as it is a fully featured, extremely powerful yet free to use application. It opens in your browser, so there is no software to download to your computer. You can use Photopea without opening an account. There is a paid for version which removes the ads, and this is a great way to support the developers of Photopea.
You can, of course, use any graphics software to make this poster, however if you are starting out with digital crafting, we suggest using Photopea.
How to Make a Valentine’s Day Poster
First, grab your graphic! We’re using the heart graphic which is free to download HERE. Then head to Photopea (https://www.photopea.com/) and click on ‘New Project’:
When the new project panel opens, you will see there are a number of canvas sizes ready created. Click on the ‘Print’ header and select the size paper you want to print your poster on. I have selected ‘A4’. You will see that when you have selected your paper size, the document is created at the correct size for you.
You should now have a blank canvas ready to start creating with 🙂
Place the Heart Graphic
Now we are go going to place the heart graphic. To do this click ‘File’ and select ‘Open and place’:
Navigate to where you saved the file and then drag it into place on your canvas. Resize the graphic as you require:
Now would be a good time to save your file. Go to File > Save as PSD and save the file to your computer.
Add The Color Box and Text
Now it’s time to get creative!
We’re going to draw a box under the graphic which will contain the colored background for the text.
Use the rectangle shape tool to draw a shape on your canvas:
The chances are the box you have created is not the color that you want the finished background to your text to be.
It’s easy to change the color, however. Look in the layers panel on the right of the page and double click on the layer with the shape you just drew. Double click on this and it will open up the color selector, then use the eye dropper tool from left hand tool bar and pick a colour from the graphic (or use our free Color Palette Generator).
Tip: Remember, any time you want to edit an element, double click on the relevant layer in the layers panel to activate it.
Add Text To Poster
Now let’s add the text!
Before we do, make sure the arrow icon (select tool) is clicked at the top of the tool bar on the left. Then look at your menu bar and confirm that both ‘auto select’ and ‘transform controls’ are checked. This will make it easier when you want to edit the text or other elements on the page.
Then pick the text tool on the left hand side and add the text. You can choose from a number of fonts (tip: this may just have been a quirk, however I noticed when I was creating this that the font panel appeared to be blank and in order to see the fonts I needed to type something into the search bar – so if you experience the same thing, try that).
To edit the text color or font, double click on the text layer in the right hand layers panel. Another tip 🙂 when I have text on two lines, rather than using a line break (ie press enter to split the lines), I create two independent text layers. This means I can easily move them around as they are not connected until I am happy with how they look.
Export Your Finished Poster
When you’ve finished, it’s time to export your poster. To do this, go to File > Export as and then select your format.
If you are printing on your home printer then JPG or PNG will be good choices. If you are using a printing company to print the poster for you, check with them to see what format they prefer.
And that’s it!
Once you are familiar with the main process, it’s super easy to create posters in a variety of styles for any occasion!
