RESOURCES
Open the poster template to follow along with the steps below, and see how the collage came together.
Add these files to your Creative Cloud Libraries, then mix and match elements.
Angela Lukanovich is a print and graphic designer based in North London. Hailing from a classic fashion background, she specializes in vintage trend forecasting and retro prints, and she and builds patterns and templates for the purveyors of colorful art.
Need help getting started? Find a couple photos to collage with, open up Angela’s poster template file, and add her interchangeable patterns and elements to your Library. Then check out these tips on how to add some flourish to your cut-outs with the drawn elements Angela is giving away.
Place your pics.
Open up a blank Photoshop file, size it 1200 x 1600 px, and drag your photos onto it. In the Layers panel, right-click on the photo layers and choose Rasterize Layer.
Make your cut-outs.
Use the Polygonal Lasso Tool to cut around the subjects in your photos. Once your subject is selected, go to Select > Inverse, and then delete that selection — the rest of the photo around your subject. (Tip: The rough lines of the tool help suggest a hand-made collage.)
Set your background color.
At the bottom of the Layers panel, click the half-black circle (when you hover above it, it’ll say “Create new fill or adjustment layer”), and choose Solid Color. Pick your color, click OK, and drag that layer to just above your background layer.
Collage time.
Drop in decorative elements from the Library called “80s Abstract Clip Art and Templates by Angelainthefields.” Just drag them into the file and play around with their position.
Add a poster border.
Make a new layer, then go to Select > All. Go to Edit > Stroke, ignore the color but pick a thicker width (Angela used between 100 and 150 px for her template), and set the Location to Inside.
Add a pattern to that border.
Drag in a pattern file; scroll down in the library to see them. Stretch the pattern to fit your canvas, and make sure it’s above your border layer. Right-click on the pattern and choose Create Clipping Mask. The pattern will clip to the border you created.
Soften it.
Flatten the image by going Layer > Flatten Image. Duplicate the layer by right-clicking on it and selecting “Duplicate Layer …” With the duplicated layer selected, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Then go to Filter > Noise > Add noise.
Finesse and flatten.
Set the blending mode for the layer to Lighter Color and adjust the opacity as you like. Flatten the image again, and you’re all done.
