So, for this tutorial I will show you how I made a magical postcard, which was a postcard from Narnia.  There are many different ways to accomplish this 3 starred task, so the techniques I used are few of many.

1. First, I did a little research of what a postcard actually has on it.  Here’s one from ZEE INTERWEBS:

This doesn’t look too inviting, huh? You should pick a nicer background image (or create one!). Also, notice it has stamps on it.  This is done if you were to send it and during mail circulation so it’s up to you whether you want to add them or not. I did because it looks a bit empty without them.

2. Find a picture for the background and for the back of the postcard. I got mine from google images.

3. Photoshop time!

The Front:

Since a postcard background is usually a picture, I didn’t do much to it, but add text and another picture layer of a lion’s head.  You can use the text tool, picking different, fun fonts and increasing the size.  I wanted to add a bit more pizzaz and fantasy to mine so I found a pic of Aslan’s (the lion) head and opened it in photoshop.  I pasted it into a new layer and decreased the opacity in the layers menu so that his ominous head could look as if it were abiding over the land.  This inspired me to use a catch phrase of “The lion’s land” next to the “Narnia” title.

Now that you have an inviting photo and title of the place everyone will be jealous that you pretended to travel to, you can write a fake message. Check the image size of your background pic and make sure that the image you are using for the back of the postcard is the same.  You can do this by going to image>image size. First, just check the background picture, then actually adjust the back of the postcard image.

The Back:

Open the image of the back of a postcard in Photoshop. I erased the bit that said postcard and place stamp here with the eraser tool.  Then I added two text layers on either side of the card.  I used the handwriting font so it seemed more personal.  Write anything from, “Wish you were here!” to talking about something grand in the fantastical land.  Then add an amazing address.

For the stamp with the lion’s head I actually found it on the internet and copied and pasted. For the second stamp I found a pic of the fawn, Tumnus from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. After copying and pasting a new layer I added an object layer of a circle.  Then, I used to the text tool on top of the circle to create a stamp-like text around the fawn.  (Delete the circle afterwards.) If you want them in the same document just add the image sizes together, open a new document of the added sizes and copy and paste the two images.  I hope this makes sense…Good Luck!