In this tutorial, we will go through the steps to create a retro 1960s psychedelic concert poster. This tutorial relies heavily on the use of the Warp Tool, but includes a few other techniques as well. Let's get started.
Step 1
Create a new document with a poster-like size ratio. Visualize how you want the document to be laid out and draw some rough guides with the Brush Tool (B) on a new layer called "guides". I drew several different compartments that will each contain a different piece of text and one that will contain an image.
Step 2
Make a solid color adjustment layer and fill it with a deep purple. Select the Rounded Rectangle Tool(U). Set the radius so that you get a nice rounded edge that you like. Make sure that you set Make Work Path As Checked on the property bar. Now click and drag to make your border. Grab the Pen Tool (P), and while holding Command, click and drag to select the path. Then click in the Subtract Path button on the property bar. Then make a solid color adjustment layer and fill it with an orange color.
Step 3
Now to set the first bit of text. I used a font called Hobo Std for mine. Grab the Text Tool (T) and click anywhere in the canvas. Then type your text. Hit Command+T and scale the text up so that it fits the first compartment. Hit enter to set the transform. On the Layers Palette, right click on the text layer and select Convert to Shape. This turns the text into paths.
Step 4
Go Edit>Transform>Warp and warp the text to fit the compartment. I find it's easiest to start with the corner handles and then adjust the others afterwards. The Warp Tool can take some getting used to, though it's fairly intuitive. Play around with it until you get a good result. Repeat this step for all the text compartments.
Step 5
Now let's go back in and change the color on some of this text. First, I want some of the text to have a stroke. Make the fill color on the 'with special guests' layer white. Then set the layer's blending mode to Multiply. Double-click on the layer to the right of the layer's name to open the Layer Styles Palette. Give the layer a stroke with the settings below. Go ahead and change the colors on the other text to whatever you like. Also, apply a stroke to some of the other text.
Step 6
Many of these old posters were screen printed. Lets give ours a little of that effect. Load the selection of the 'Lumedia' layer by Command+Clicking on its vector thumbnail. Hit (M) for the Marquee Tool. Then hit the arrow keys to move the selection down and to the right. Now hit Alt+Command+Click on the same layer thumbnail to subtract from the selection. Make a new solid color adjustment layer just above the original text and fill it with your secondary color. Set the Opacity to 75% and give it a nudge so it doesn't line up correctly. That way it will look more handmade.
Step 7
The thing that is really going to make this look good and realistic is some texture. I have a paper texture that I got from BittBox that will do nicely. Copy the texture into the document. Then put it at the top in the Layers Palette. Set the blending mode to Linear Light and set the Fill to 25%.
Step 8
Now let's move on to our image that will fill the rest of the poster. I got an image of a female singer from iStockphoto. Duplicate the blue channel by dragging it to the New Channel button at the bottom of the Channels Palette. Apply a harsh curve to it that looks something like below. Do the same to the red channel. Now invert each of the two new channels you made by selecting them and hitting Command+I.
Step 9
Make a new Solid Color adjustment layer and fill it with the lightest color that you used in the poster. Load the selection of one of the channels you made by holding Command-clicking on its thumbnail in the Channels Palette. Make a new Solid Color adjustment layer above the previous one and fill it with one of the other colors from the poster. Do the same with the remaining channel that you created and fill it with the remaining color from the poster.
Now on each of the masks on the solid color adjustment layers, apply a threshold. Go Image>Adjustments>Threshold and drag the slider until you get the detail that looks good to you. Do the same for the other mask on the other color.
Step 10
Now, let's get back to the poster. With the Pen Tool (P), draw a path around the blank area of the poster. Make a new group by clicking on the folder icon at the bottom of the Layers Palette. With the path highlighted, hit the Add Layer Mask button twice to apply the path as a vector mask.
Conclusion
Now drag the three color fill layers from the singer image over to the poster document and put them into the group that you just created. Scale the image to fill the space as you see fit. I flipped mine horizontally to make it fit better.
Our final 1960s psychedelic-style concert poster is below. Have fun with these techniques and this style of design.
Related Posts
Keep reading with more great tutorials and articles!
Enjoy this Post?
We'd love your vote!
Plus Members
Source Files, Bonus Tutorials and
More for $9 a month for all TUTS+
sites in one subscription.
User Comments
( ADD YOURS )Arnaud Alves May 16th
I love this style
Great thanx a lot.
( )Ndrey May 16th
great!
( )Tyler Bramer May 16th
I’m not particularly a fan of this style but a fast and easy way to create an old styled poster nonetheless. The only thing that seems off to me is the image of the girl after you convert it to match the poster. It just seems a little too harsh. But then again, I suppose that’s the way things were back then. Great job.
( )iMike May 16th
WOW, that is a cool effect. I’m sure im going to use it sometime
( )adrienne May 16th
cool
( )Michael Ewon May 16th
So cool, so cool. I must prove it when I got some time over. Thanks for the tut:-)
( )Razvan May 16th
Nice tut, I like the style.
( )seanmccoy May 16th
Yeah, I definitely agree with Tyler. I think it’d be nice (though time intensive) to do a pen-trace tool selection of the girl picture just to get some smoother curves and have the effect that the poster was hand drawn/illustrated as opposed to combined.
Nice effect though, I will definitely be testing it out with some new fonts and colors ASAP!
( )Kim Dolleris May 16th
Pretty cool !!! Thx!
( )Daniel Holter May 16th
Nice job.
AGAIN.
Bastards.
( )jaunzim May 16th
awesome…
( )PSDTUTSLOVERJEAH May 16th
rly cool great effekt !
THX 4 sharing love this :PPPPPPPp
( )JPH May 16th
Very cool.
( )Daniel May 16th
Wow, not many steps - great result
Daniel
( )John May 16th
Nice. Good inspiration.
( )Ben Griffiths May 16th
Wow, the end result on this looks great! Thanks!
PS, I can’t resist - It’s Groovy!
( )Diego May 16th
god job, nice tut bro
( )alifaan May 16th
awesome tutorial.
( )Nate May 16th
Very “Groovy” dood
( )Ruben May 16th
Aw nice! The paper effect really did it. Lovely and very useful, thanks for sharing!
( )kamel May 16th
very nice my man
and Tyler Bramer please stop your stupid comments.thanks.
( )Marco May 16th
That outcome is really amazing! Especially like the really good fit of the picture in this artwork.
Keep it up guys!
Greetings,
( )Marco
Wouter May 16th
Nice to see how you are working with simple LineTool.
Great
( )goldenthunder May 16th
SWEET! This is so cool and yet so easy! Thank you!
( )Erika May 16th
I’m not a fan of the girl either - she seems out of place - but I swear on everything I was JUST looking at that James Brown picture from iso50 (I think) and trying to figure out how to warp my text like that…. and it NEVER dawned on me that THIS was how it’s done! Wonderful little tip, guys.
( )D. Carreira May 16th
Cool effect! That’s a method we can use to do great posters!
Thanks ,David Carreira
( )Hank May 16th
This is really cool! tHX:
Working with those spaces is a nice idea.
( )mahalie May 16th
This is a great tutorial. When I saw the photo of the girl at first I thought *really!?* but the filters applied look awesome and I think it does fit into the final product. It reminded me to be open to seeing potential in images and shapes I might normally shy away from.
( )Medium May 16th
I would like to see more modern stuff, BUT !!
Great tut !
( )Its awesome !
Carlos May 16th
Really great tutorial. Simple effects, great finish. The only thing I would say is the gree could be a little less harsh but other than that really very great!
( )Johan May 16th
Yeah way not. Thanks
( )aGS May 16th
Very cool, Congrats!!!
( )Lamin Barrow May 16th
Totally awesome. I like the paper texture trick.
( )glsmaster May 16th
looks pretty nice
( )Deddy May 16th
I like, I like.
( )SpazZ May 16th
Really cool result, I like its simplicity!
( )Mihai May 16th
I love this style.Way to go
( )Constantin Potorac May 16th
I consider this to be a very great tutorial. Really nice and very few steps also the final result is great.
Congrats
( )liam May 16th
Decent outcome, very nice.
( )LOSWL May 16th
Excellent tutorial!!…….I guess knowledge is power, because I never thought of drawing guides for warped text…beautiful skill to add to my arsenal..LOL :O)…..thanks for sharing!!
( )Josh May 16th
Not sure of the need to convert the text to shape… if you needed to modify something you would have to recreate it… what about a smart object?
( )Francisco S. May 16th
Haha Yea FILMORE!!!
I live on the Filly,
Cool Tut!
( )Rata May 16th
¡Muy chulo!
Like it.
Thanks
( )Has.n May 16th
Cool, very cool job!!
( )giackop May 16th
that’s cool.. i made something similar but i hand drawn everything and after that i traced it with illustrator.. this is way better!! thanx
( )Danny May 16th
That’s so cool
( )Joefrey Mahusay May 16th
Great Job!
( )Rjton May 16th
very good
( )i like this site
Andrew Houle May 16th
Great Tutorial. I love the site!
( )Aminur Rahman [aka Tom R] May 16th
this style is repeatedly used often online, not the best i’ve seen though. but good enough.
( )Janizz May 16th
Great Job!
( )Mukarram May 16th
Yep… have seen b4 but …If its showing on PSDTUTS den it must be a GOOD ONE.
( )Seraphim Collective May 16th
Great Tut!
( )BogDinamita May 16th
I’ve never really had it for this style, but great job definetely
( )Alberto May 16th
QUOTE:
seanmccoy wrote:
Yeah, I definitely agree with Tyler. I think it’d be nice (though time intensive) to do a pen-trace tool selection of the girl picture just to get some smoother curves and have the effect that the poster was hand drawn/illustrated as opposed to combined.
Nice effect though, I will definitely be testing it out with some new fonts and colors ASAP!
( )T Jay May 16th
great style!, I love It)
( )Grant Friedman May 16th
Great tut Kyle!
( )Pomeranc May 16th
Hey, that’s cool!:)
( )ays May 16th
sorry, but what does CMD stands for?
( )SnakeJake May 16th
Thanks. I like this. Not sure if I’ll ever be able to use it somewhere.
( )Monya May 16th
Excellent tutorial, I love the style. Thanks for sharing.
( )fisch79 May 16th
cool!
Reminds me of the good old pychedelic Rob Zombie album artwork
( )Jam May 16th
But, I have to say, I agree with Tyler and Alberto in the idea of doing a pen-trace tool selection of the girl picture just to get some smoother curves and have the effect that the poster was hand drawn/illustrated as opposed to combined. And to be honest, the ways to make the same things are porportional with people minds thinking, so, I think here you all find a lot of interesting photoshop tips. This site really rocks!.
( )English is not my mother language so despite of this fact, I hope I made my self understand. I salute ypu all.
Sean Hodge May 17th
Hi all. I really like this tutorial as well. Great work on the text especially.
Some people have mentioned doing a pen trace of the girl to get a cleaner design. That’s a good suggestion. The way Kyle creates different adjustment layers and applies a threshold to the image in Step 9 is a good preparatory step to doing that actually. It’s a way to simplify what you are going to trace. So, it makes it fairly easy to add that to this tutorial. Good suggestions. Thanks.
( )Tama May 17th
nice effect… I’ve just done a similar work http://mt14.quickshareit.com/share/immagine1ec02c.png but I did it entirely by hand… This is easier and faster! :3
( )Great choice for the band!
Zach May 17th
One of the best tutorials on here! I’m gonna use this for sure. Thanks a lot Kyle
( )Kyle Pero May 17th
I think a pen trace would be nice too. Its great that this tutorial got you thinking about ways to improve it and thinking about how you would do it differently. Thats the point right? My job is done.
( )Kyle Pero May 17th
@ Josh. Converting to a smart object will rasterize the text. While its true that you can scale a smart object down, then back up without losing quality, you can never scale the smart object larger than the original with out losing quality.
If you Convert it to a shape you maintain the clean edges and have more flexibility because you can still modify the individual points on the paths that make up the letters.
( )Shane May 17th
Ooh - very nicely done tutorial that’s got numerous applications - thanks a lot for sharing.
( )Kyle Pero May 17th
@Josh UPDATE: You are right about being able to edit the text at a later time, my mistake, but the reason that I changed mine to shapes is that I did a little customization to some of the paths that make the letters. I didn’t include this in the tut because I wanted to keep things simple.
( )Baris May 17th
Great Tutorial. I need that for a bithday flyer. Thank you psdtuts.com
( )Sean Hodge May 17th
Hey all, some great comments. In case anyone wants to research the conversation between Kyle and Josh further here is a link for a simple tut on warping text when it’s a Smart Object: http://tutorials.watchandlearnphotoshop.com/tutorials/ps/warp_text.html
I also recently wrote a Tools and Tips roundup article on this topic, so there are some other tuts there you might want to look into: http://psdtuts.com/tools-tips/tools-tips-smart-objects-and-smart-filters/
It’s great to see more topics related to the design come up in the comments. We’re already seeing designers trying this out and posting work learned from this design in the PSDTUTS Flickr group. Good job Kyle. Thanks.
( )Sean Hodge May 17th
Also, Smart Objects are good. Non-Destructive editing is helpful, but it’s not always the right call. Sometimes you need more control than it would offer. Kyle points out the example of converting text to a Shape. Then you can get in and edit individual points. Thanks.
( )Dave May 18th
Sorry guys, I disagree. This tut was bad. Please, do explain WHY you do this stuff, otherwise people won’t learn anything. I am sure I am not the only one who couldn’t reproduce this tut, and I am not new to Photoshop. For example I didn’t understand at all what exactly you are doing around with those channels (step 9). Also I wasn’t able to reproduce Step 10 at all.
Please don’t just write step-by-step, also add 1-2 lines explaining WHAT you do and WHY, because learning WHAT you do and WHY is the essential thing here.
Result is great though, but I totally failed reproducing steps 9-10, because I didn’t understand what I am doing and why I am doing it. You just gave step-by-step instructions there which didn’t work for me so I gave up…
( )Mac Tips May 18th
Very cool tutorial. I like the final effect.
( )Constantin Potorac May 18th
At first I was a little scared but the tutorial turned out to be very interesting and nice.
Great job
( )Maureen May 18th
Very cool! I’ve been looking for a tutorial like this for ages.
( )HWHP May 18th
good job, but its hard to understand the process to create… really hard job try to do step by step
( )Qbrushes May 18th
this was something very new to me. thanks
( )Seek May 18th
Excellent ! Love the LSD fashion
( )Don-Yool May 19th
Great Tut!
( )ritsel May 20th
From step 8 this tutorial is not good. The steps are not clear to follow
( )Michele May 22nd
I’m using CS2 and not able to use the rounded rectangle.
( )Joe May 27th
I agree with Dave on May 18th post. I feel I am pretty savvy with Photoshop on both a PC and a MAC and I am just scratching my head at step nine. I have been playing with the channels, creating adjustment layers, etc. and I am nowhere near creating what I am seeing on this tutorial.
If you could just give a click by click run through I think I would understand, because I am about to give up as well…
Thanks for the tut anyway, I think it has a lot of potential!
Joe
( )Shikaru May 27th
i cant make a convert to shape. only Rasterize type and convert to smart object.
( )But both of them. when i warp them they become quality loss. :S
SpainReadThisBlog May 28th
Easy but powerful! great job.
( )Arjan May 28th
Hey, anyone that checked out this tutorial with a plus account, does it have the psd file available for download?
( )Simen Sorthe May 29th
Nice tutorial, but what happens in Step 10? And in Step 9 I don’t understand what “With the path highlighted hit the add layer mask button twice to apply the path as a vector mask.” means. Click where? And why? My result by following this tut twice, is not a good poster.
Please! Write clearer, not everyone knows where everything is, and the steps should explain why you do it, so that we can learn, not just copy!
( )Enerhiya May 30th
Im confuse with the image. Step 9 confuses me.
( )SEO-PRO June 3rd
A great effect! I’m going to do a Jimi Hendrix one! Thanks for the post!
( )shin June 3rd
nice on… groovy
used to do it all in illustrator then import to photoshop for photographic effect
i Heart PSDTUTS
( )Jaxx June 9th
God save the stumbleupon! And thank you greatly. I’ve been seeking how to create stylistic pics for my club in second life. and that would totally work like teh awesome!
( )richa June 12th
hey thanks…..nice tut.
( )Dave C. June 22nd
Sorry to piss on the parade, but this really is no a very strong design. The typography is weak and if you compare this to classic posters of the 60’s you’ll see just how bad this representation is. Photoshop is not a replacement for good design. If you want to see examples of quality poster design, check out Gigposters.com where the experts in the industry gather to showcase their work. There’s plenty of reference material there.
( )Alphane Moon June 22nd
Nice one, I like it!
( )Max June 26th
Sweet
( )Josef June 26th
This is QUALITY!
( )Needed this effect for a job im in!
thanx
Mansoor July 24th
Thanks for Posting.
( )Excellent Tut.
sad July 24th
thanks a lot for the tutorial!!
( )HYP3dd August 17th
[IMG]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e18/HYP3dd/photoshopclubposter.jpg[/IMG]
( )Traz August 27th
very nice, thx !
( )Xenogears August 29th
http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/2396/poster1ok7.jpg
nowhere near as good as the model, but still fun to look at, right?
( )Trevor August 31st
I agree with Dave when he said the tut was poorly written.
( )The writer leaves to much information.
He needs to explain where and how hes going something
for people like myself trying to learn Photoshop and when
Photoshop users like Simen Sorthe who are more experience using
Photoshop have trouble following your steps a light should go off…
Dan September 7th
Nice. I did my dissertation on the evolution of the psychadelic poster earlier this year. Had to create something similar, but used Illustrator to give me more control over the type. Should’ve used your technique though!
( )JB September 14th
When you explain it, it seems so simple, so evident
( )I’m glad I could find such a brilliant tutorial! I’m looking forward to putting my own printed poster on the wall.
Thanks!!
Steve Smith September 29th
To those that complete this project. I write the blog entitled ” The Way Back Machine” and I have posted a link to this tutorial and have asked my readers to create psychedelic posters. If I get enough of a response I will set up a gallery online to display these posters. If you are interested stop by The Way Back Machine for more information.
Thanks for a great tutorial.
( )hartss October 2nd
Very nice man dude!
But how am i goning to do dis in ps 0,7 ? Its like totally diffrent man!
peace
( )NetOperator Wibby October 4th
I absolutely love this tutorial! Reminds me of the classic Scooby-Doo cartoon. Ah, good times. =D
( )Jake October 6th
Hey,
( )For step 10, when using the pen, make sure to select “exclude overlapping path areas”, otherwise you’ll get a mask opposite of what you want.
Kirstin October 15th
I’m so confused by this tutorial, each step is not very well described.
( )kweno October 25th
Absoulutely Fantastic! excactly what iv’e been looking for! Great, keep it up!
( )Dr. T November 6th
:O Great!!!!
( )sam November 10th
this is awesome looking and seemingly easy. however, i tried it, and i found it very difficult and pretty much failed entirely, because you don’t explain how to use the warp tool. help!
( )blackjak December 8th
How do you make a solid color adjustment layer?????
( )booboodesign.nl December 22nd
http://i42.tinypic.com/2zz50u9.jpg
translation: happy holidays - love, fortune & health - 2009
too much LSD I’m afraid, sorry!
( )Presley January 18th
Thank you so much for this. I did almost an exact replica for the first one, then built off of it, and I love these posters so much. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, and this post was so perfect for what I wanted.
( )mike d January 30th
Great starting point. For a more authentic result, look to pieces from the art nouveau movement (decorative elements and fonts). The concert posters borrowed heavily from this style.
here’s a good example:
( )http://www2.lib.virginia.edu/exhibits/sixties/gifindex.php?line=170
Cs3 February 13th
Very Bad Tutorial NOT CLEAT AT ALL!!!!
( )but seriously you suck at it im relly frustrated that you add like 3-4 steps in each step
on step 5 you dont explain how to make the white FILL??
Step 8 How the hell do you apply a ” HARSH CURVE??”
Step 9 and 10 W**?
If your going to make a Tutorial do it right, take your time w/ it
Tutorials are so that even BEGGINERS can understand
newby March 8th
what program was used for this
( )?
a helpless sixties lovah March 15th
Dearest of all,
( )I must be a real nuttah (I’m new ’round here), but can anyone tell me which programma one should use to create such an marvellous poster (A)?
rambazamba March 17th
yeah, thank you for sharing!
( )thanks alot
Lena March 20th
It’s really nice!
( )Thank you, I’m gonne make one for my birhtday!
chris March 27th
I get the grunge papaer and the warp terxt, but none of the colour effects work on the picture i am trying to use. How do you create the colour adjustment layers?
( )chris March 29th
I found how do to do it now, also someone else having problem with solid colour adjustment layers - solution is to click the circle that is half white and half black on the bottom of the layers palette then choose solid colour. I am glad I worked this out, thank you,
( )phastel May 8th
very helpful, i learned somethin’. thanks!
( )dominique May 19th
I love its cool looking to me
( )Syd June 26th
Mine turned out well. Nice tutorial
( )