I want to create a birth announcement for a friend...

[mstark70]

I have CS3 and I have several pics I took of my best friends baby girl. As a gift I wanted to create a special birth announcement and/or 8x10 collage of 3 or 4 of the pics. I am not sure where to start. Do I have to buy templates or can I create these things myself from scratch? Are there any templates available for free? Thank you to anyone willing to help me out.

[Nicole]

You can definitely do it yourself without buying templates

I'd start by creating an 8x10" document so that you can see exactly what proportions your photos will end up on your page and also ensure that you don't wind up with a document that only fills a fraction of the page.

Then I would create a layer for the background of the announcement, you could make this a solid colour or you could create a patterned background using brushes, etc. For example, check out these brushes from Obsidian Dawn: Baby Photoshop & GIMP Brushes | Obsidian Dawn

Next, I'd paste the pictures onto the document and you'll wind up with a new layer for each of your images. Just move those around, rotate them, resize them, etc until they're the right shape and size.

You could also use the brushes to finish decorating the page.

Last of all, add your text.

Hope that's a little helpful.

[Free]

Just do me a favour and DO NOT use a font called Papyrus, it's hideous, I really can't see how people possible think it looks good!

Miss M also makes some awesome brushes, something in there might be useful.

Good luck and don't forget to show us what you came up with.

Cheers
Free

[mstark70]

Thanks, I will be sure to try these things out. I really appreciate the help and you bet I will post and share anything I come up with.

[no.absolutes]

Here is one that I've recently done. I always do announcements in 4x6 so they can be easily printed and mailed to everyone. This one is rather simple, due to the nature of the photos, but often times I use digital scrapbooking tools (embellishments, alphas, papers, etc) and the results are often great. Here is another simple example, a mock announcement I made after my son was like a year old lol

[Joey the girl]

Originally Posted by Free

Just do me a favour and DO NOT use a font called Papyrus, it's hideous, I really can't see how people possible think it looks good!
Free

hahaha, you know Papyrus does have it's place, but I agree that it's totally overdone! I see it everywhere, so by now, it's one of the few fonts I can recognize by sight. I agree, there are much better fonts to use.

[Dayna]

I also have my own design company. Take a look.

say it right designs

[mstark70]

I am not sure if these will be my final drafts, I may keep playing around. I was just really trying to get used to all the tools and adjustments to make things work out. I thought I would share what I have come up with so far:

This one is the 8x10 collage:


This is the 4x6 birth announcement:

[AnneWynne]

Very cute announcements. Your friends will be so pleased.

You can find a couple of birth announcements along with lots of other stuff (including some really good tutorials on how to use it all) at CoffeeShop Free PS/PSE Actions!

I also second no.absolutes recommendation to explore digital scrapbooking for stuff for making cards, etc. Lots of free stuff out there.

Cheers,
Anne

[mstark70]

Originally Posted by AnneWynne

Very cute announcements. Your friends will be so pleased.

You can find a couple of birth announcements along with lots of other stuff (including some really good tutorials on how to use it all) at CoffeeShop Free PS/PSE Actions!

I also second no.absolutes recommendation to explore digital scrapbooking for stuff for making cards, etc. Lots of free stuff out there.

Cheers,
Anne

Thank you so much, I checked it out and this is what I created so far...a 16x20 Storyboard...