Grafpedia

In this tutorial you will learn how to create an romantic Valentine’s day postcard.

You will also learn how to create a nice 3D box with a pattern applied to it in different perspectives.

I am sure someone will be happy if will receive a card on valentine’s day.
Want to download this PSD file ? Register for a VIP account and get instant access to over 70.000 items for designers

Create a new document with the following size: 800 x 800 pixels
Set the foreground color to #f40003 and the background color to #550000. With Gradient Tool I will add a radial gradient over my background layer.

And here is the result.

In the following steps I will show you how you can create a 3D box with a nice pattern applied to each side of the box
I will create a shape with Pen Tool. For this shape I have used the following color: #7c0101

I will add a simple layer style

After that I will create another document with the following size: 33×33 pixels. I will select Custom Shape tool, and from the default presets I will choose the heart shape. I will add a heart over this small document

As you can see from my previous image I will add a simple 1 pixel stroke.

I will go to Edit > Define pattern. I will choose a name for this heart pattern and I will click on OK

I will switch to my valentine’s day card document, and with Pen Tool, I will create the left side of the 3D box.

I will add the following layer styles

This is how my left side of the box will look like

Now I will duplicate the left side, and I will go to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal. I will move the shape to the right, but as you can see something is wrong. The small heart pattern is not aligned properly.

So if you wonder how to fix this small issue, here is the trick. Go back to the small document, and select the layer with the small heart.
Go to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal

From this document create one more time a pattern, and add this patter to the right side of the box. As you can see the pattern look very good right now.

With the same technique I will create a nice reflection for this box. Please note that you need to create another two patterns from the small heart document. this time you need to flip the heart vertically, and after that you can flip the heart horizontally. You can see how your patterns must look like in your pattern panel.

Here is how my reflection will look like

Select both layers ( with reflection ) and press on CTRL+E. This shortcut will merge the layers into a single one and in the same time the new layer will be rasterized.
I will select Eraser Tool, and with a smooth round brush I will delete the bottom part of the reflection layer.

With Pen Tool I will create the top side of the box.

For this layers I will add the same layer styles

Here is my result

Under these two layers I will add another shapes. Both shapes will serve us as a shadow. You can use a dark color, and then you can lower the layer opacity to 20 %

At the bottom of the layout you will find a download link. This button will allow you to download the PSD file for this tutorial, and also a set with Photoshop brushes.
Load the brush set in Photoshop because we will need it for the following steps.
Select Pen Tool, and create a path like mine

Make sure you have the Path panel open ( window > paths ). Right click on the path and choose duplicate Path.
Press on CTRL+T, and then go to Edit > Transform Path > Flip Horizontal Move the path to the right side until you compose a heart

Make sure you have the path selected in your path panel. Create a new layer ( press on CTRL+Shift+Alt+N ), and then bring the brush panel to make some changes, like in the following image

After you have the same setting as mine press on the ” Stroke path with brush ” button from the bottom of the Path panel.

Make sure your foreground color is set to white, and then press on the small button.
This should be your result

Select the other path and press one more time on the small button. Your result should be similar with mine

Now you need to make some changes to your brush panel. From the Scattering settings make sure you check the ” Both axis ”

Select each path one by one and press on the small button ” Stroke path with brush ”

I will create a new layer, and with Brush Tool I will make some drawings until I fill the bottom part of the box with tinny stars

With Pen Tool I will create another path

One more time I will press on ” Stroke path with brush ” button

Now download the following set of brushes, and load them in Photoshop
27 hi-res Photoshop hearts brushes
Create a new layer right above the background layer, and make some random drawings with a heart brush you like. You can use your own scattering, and shape dynamics settings.

Near the edge of the document I will add another hearts. This is my final result. I am sure someone will be happy to receive a similar greeting card.

Want to download the PSD file for this tutorial? Register for a VIP account, and download over 70.000 items for designers at an incredible price: 49 $