Preserved Topic: how to create a flyer (Page 1 of 1)

I'm very new to Photoshop and am using 5.5. I have several manuals and tutorial books but they seem to be geared to special effects as opposed to what I'm trying to do. I want to create a flyer consisting of several digital photos on a scanned, screened background image. And I want the final size to be 8.5"x11". How is this done? So far I can only open an image, then I have no idea what to do next. Can you please help?

<edit> ok, here's a half decent ps tutorial site - some icky bits but its not too bad a place to start! http://www.designsbymark.com/pstips/ </edit>

that sounds a little too general for me buddy....
ok, im going to start from the beginning!
1) turn on pc
2) load up ps
3) file/new - there you can choose image height and width (change units to inches with drop down boxes)
4) make image.
number 4 is the tricky bit.
im sorry, all i can say here is that if you come back with a specific question, bit by bit for your flyer, or come back with a rouch pc sketch of the layout, and ill be more than happy to help - but if i were you i would hope that one of the folks in here who know what they are on about get to you first!

ok, one more simpe tip:
once you've opened up the images you want to use in the flyer, and you have your blank image that you got from following above steps, you can cut and paste them in!
simply go to each image, and select all (crtl+a), and cut it, then go to the new image, and paste it!
they will all be on separate layers, ok?
good luck, and i hope to hear from you soon!


[This message has been edited by bunchapixels (edited 11-08-2000).]

in its most simplest form

1. create a new document. size 8 inches x 10.5 (white background,rgb)

2. open all your source images.

3. drag and drop your source images into your new document.

note: I am presuming your digital images have the same ppi? if your using a dig cam, then its likely they will be 640 x480, 800 x 600, 1024 x 768... res at 72ppi.... in this case I would make your new doc with a ppi of 72ppi... its tough to guess though...

drag and drop I hear you ask?.. ok.. in your tool palette (the long thin one with lots of icons) you will want to pick the top right button(move tool)... after you have all your source images open.. click in the image window you want to add to your flyer (to make it the active window) then making sure you have your 'move tool'... drag the image over your new doc file and drop....

that should get you started.... adding text is extra.... <img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/smile.gif">

Lets not forget that for a print flyer, you're going to want to contact your printer about what software he/she wants it in and what their linescreening is at.

Lets pretend that they tell you that their linescreen limit is 300; then you set your image to be 600dpi. If they tell you that they can only print 300dpi, then set your document to 300dpi.

Otherwise, you'll end up with a 72dpi headache, and you'll hate yourself for doing it in such low resolution.

Sorry I can't get more into the subject at this time, but it might be worthwhile to try to digest a thread from some months back on this forum: http://www.ozones.com/forum/Forum3/HTML/000448.html
This doesn't directly address your issues, but it might help some.

Good luck. Don't be shy about asking for help directly from who ever will be printing the flier. Better to get their advice BEFORE you invest a whole lot of time creating it.

You're not going to get very far with a 72 DPI document, and 600 DPI is going to be massive overkill. Somewhere 225-300, probably closer to 250 is a safe zone.

I'm printing this flyer myself on a HP1220C printer...First thank-you all for the suggestions which enabled me to begin. But alas, more information creates more questions. I want 5 or 6 small photos on the 8.5"x11" sheet, and I want them to print VERY clear (not like the distorted little images on the PS contact sheet). So far I can only get two pictures on the 8.5"X11" sheet. How do I get more and still have the high resolution I want? And why does text look so "jaggy" in PS printouts? I expected better quality from high dollar software. I know, I know, I'm not doing something right. May I dare request additional input? Thank-You.

hi again Mark, ok.. heres the story so far..

you got your new doc open...(8x 10.5 inches)
you have 2 images so far dragged and dropped.

Now if you look at your layer palette you should see 3 layers,

a background layer (white)
dragged layer one (image)
dragged layer two (image2)

OK..if you know this much then excuse me for repeating...see those little eyes in the layer palette? they control whether you layer is visible or not....and do you notice that little paintbrush next to only one of the layers?..that makes that layer the 'active' layer. When you want to do an operation on a layer you will need to click in the little box next to the layer you want to work on to make it active.

OK.. lets click on layer 1 (i.e. one of your image layers)... make sure the little paintbrush moves to the checkbox next to that layers icon. Now it is active.

Now we are going to 'resize' that layer inorder to make more room for your other images. (we will repeat this with layer 2 image 2 later and in fact all your images).

Now go to the top menu bar and look for EDIT--->TRANSLATE---->NUMERIC and this should open a little window... look for the scale option , check the box that keeps X and Y in proportion..and enter a percentage... try 50% or mess til ya find a size you roughly guess will work... then hit OK.

You should notice your iamge on the active layer get scaled smaller. Now repeat for layer 2 (image2) making sure to make it active by clicking on it (little paintbrush remember?) now just repeat as necessary with all your dragged and dropped images...

that should work .....


the question about jaggy text?.. well PS is not renowned for its exellent text output, something along the lines of adobe illustrator is better suited. One of the things that also might make it worse is using 72ppi as a base ppi for you new doc, and also the style of font you are using....

very easily you can try with a new doc and try a higher resolution.. like mentioned above maybe 200 or 300 ppi... this will make the file larger in size but will give clearer images and hopefully crisper text.

When you try this you may notice when you drag and drop your images they will come into the new doc in a different size... dont worry about that too much and just use the method above to resize the layers.... using the drag tool (move tool) you can still move layers around after you have dragged them into your new doc.. (as long as you make that layer active!)

ok.. thats all for now.. hope that helps you a little more... good luck with your text, that might give you the hardest trouble...

up the resolution and do some practice prints with just text to see if it gets any better

later.. have fun <img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/smile.gif">

Thanks everyone. It's slowly coming together. New question...Ok, I have 5 pictures on the 8"x10.5" window. They've all been 'resized' 50% using the EDIT-TRANSFORM-NUMERIC process. Now here's the problem. I scanned an image I want to use as a ghosted background. The scanner says the image size is 8"x10", but when I drag and drop it into my "flyer" document it comes in as a small picture the same size as all the others(after I 'resized' them). This occurs even though I didn't 'resize' it like the others. I want it to be full page size, what am I screwing up? Also, how do I "ghost' the image? I almost forgot, can the 'resized' pictures be edited in any way? can the colors be adjusted or can they be cropped etc., or does this have to be performed on the original photos? Do I need to worry about image degradation? MANY thanks for your kind patience.

[This message has been edited by mark grenell (edited 11-08-2000).]

ok.. what you see on your monitor is measured in pixels.. you can have an image that is scanned at 72dpi on your scanner but appears tiny on your monitor... as you increase the dpi of your scan yu should notice that the size of the image your scanning when it gets displayed on your monitor increases...the PHYSICAL dimensions (inches/cm) is NOT changing!!.... important to know....

try increasing your scanning dpi... but what ya can do (especially if you are going to ghost it) , is do the opposite of what you did with the other images.. instead of transforming smaller... go bigger... i.e use positive percentage in your NUMERIC transform... 150% will be half as big again, 200% twice the original size....

now rememebr when you drag and drop, you get a new layer created automatically?... cool.... ok.. this new layer will be at the top of the layer list... what you want to do is grab the layer in the layer palette and drag it down to be the second layer (just above the background layer)
This will place it 'behind' all you other images.....

Now do your 'resizng' (if you havent already)..

now comes the fun part..

the ghosting...

notice in the layer palette again , at the top right there is an option that says 'opacity'? it should be readintg 100%.. either enter a lesser number or click on it and you should get a slider that allows you fade the 'opacity' of this layer, and hence give you a 'faded' or ghosted image... also on the left of the opacity option you will notice a different box that has 'layer mode' options... again it should be defaulted to 'normal' ..try using a different mode, maybe overlay, or soft light.. depending on teh colour of your background you can get some good faded efects this way also....

enjoy!

~Vp~

Hi to all. I wanted to let everyone know that I am the proud 'parent' of a healthy 1/2 oz. baby flyer! It has 5 (count 'em) color pictures, a text caption, a text box with a dropped blurred shadow, AND the background is ghosted! (I'm so proud.) In time, I'm sure it will grow to full fledged 'flyer maturity'. But for now it generates the oohs and aaahs that only a newborn can. And I owe it all to the kind help received from this forum! Thank-You everyone! (Of course, please be forewarned that I'll be seeking continued guidance in raising this 'flyer' to adulthood.) Again, I appreciate your patience and help. (Photoshop really is an awesome program.) M.G.

~Gives Mark and his baby flyer a nice snug jacket~

Welcome .... and here ya go...swallow these cute little gold capsules and strap yourself in...it only gets better <img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/smile.gif">



"Last thing I remember, I was running for the door I had to find the passage back to the place I was before. Relax said the nightman, we are programmed to receive. You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave..."

lol Mark.. you and your young'un are gonna fit in well around these parts! <img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/smile.gif"> welcome to the 'funny farm' !!!

Mark, glad you found us. Now I know this is a PS forum, and I know you're very happy with your new flyer, but for your flyer and other flyers you may be looking forward to in the future to grow up big and strong, you may want to consider Adobe's Pagemaker. If you use a lot of text the combination of PS and Pagemaker can really be a killer team. PS doesn't handle text as nicely as Pagemaker does, and Pagemaker can't do jack with pictures, but together...(sigh)
Together they can conquer the world.
Anyway, welcome aboard. How's your new jacket fit?



[This message has been edited by mobrul (edited 11-09-2000).]

[This message has been edited by mobrul (edited 11-09-2000).]

Wow! Have I been distracted today. The snuggly little jacket looks very cute.
But...you won't believe this...I, er...now have 4 more little flyers running around. I love it! What power! (Quite possibly I may need to exercise some 'flyer' birth control.) Anyway it's been fun. I have a dog-and-pony show to attend this weekend and needed some quick flash to capture the attention of potential clients. It could not have happened without your help. Thank-You very much. MG.