Here are some examples using the same singer photos but different patterns. You will need to add 6-7 singer photos, using masking to remove the backgrounds, positioning one poking out the top, 2 poking out the sides and one main one at the bottom. The side ones need to have the bottom edges match the lines/curves of the pattern.
Square
Start with a new PS document, 1000 x 1000 px.
Rectangle
Select the Rectangle tool. Make sure it has black fill, no stroke.
Draw a rectangle.
Go to the Options Bar and set the size to 800×800px.
Then move it to the center, a bit from the bottom like this…
Pattern
Add a new blank layer, rename it “pattern”.
Go to Edit > Fill (or SHIFT+F5). Use the drop-down menu …
Choose one of the ones in the Retro folders…
Here’s what they look like…
Clipping Mask
Turn the pattern layer to a clipping mask so it only shows inside the rectangle area.
Rectangle Stroke
Select the Rectangle layer and add layer style … Stroke.
Set it to a color from the pattern or another medium/dark color that goes with your pattern. Increase the thickness/size to 10.
Collapse the layer style…
Background Color
Select the Background layer and add an adjustment layer above it … Solid Color.
Select a light color (you can start with the same color as your rectangle border or another color from your pattern and then make it a light shade of that color)
Unlock and delete the Background layer.
Text
Make the pattern layer active.
Then add Text. Set it to Copperplate Gothic Light, size 72 to start.
Click near the top of the canvas and type the name of your album. Some suggestions include “Top of the Charts”, “Best 90s Rappers”, “Pop Collection”.
Click off in an empty area of the layers panel to set the text.
Then make the layer active and CTRL+T – unlink it so you can stretch the text as needed.
Move/resize it so it’s as wide as the rectangle, just on the edge of it, and a bit from the top like this…
Change the text color to one of the pattern colors or another color.
Isolate Singers
Before starting this stage, hide the text, pattern and rectangle layers…
You will need to add photos of at least 6 singers. Make sure the photos are good enough quality (the rectangle is 800x800px so they need to be at least width 600px).
First Photo
Add the first photo, rename the layer.
Then CTRL+G to put it into a group/folder.
Rename the folder “photos”.
Select the photo layer again, then go to the Properties and Remove Background.
Hide the photo layer before adding another photo so you can see it clearly.
More Photos
Add 5 more photos/singers.
- Paste the picture in and rename the layer.
- Go to Properties tab and Remove Background.
- Clean up using the Brush tool (black)
- Hide the layer before pasting in the next photo
Make sure the mask part of the layer is active. Use the Brush tool to clean up. Make sure colors are set to defaut (black = foreground)
- Start with a size 40-60px
- Don’t forget to use the square brackets [ and ] to make the size bigger/smaller.
- Softness:
- if you are brushing along hair, make it totally soft (0% hardness)
- If you are brushing to shape arms, make it a little bit soft (90% hardness), start with size 40px
Here are some more examples of things you might need to clean up…
Your singer layers should look like this…
Size/Position Singers
Show the pattern, text and rectangle layers again.
Top Photo
Choose a photo that will peek out the top a bit. Make the photo part of the layer active. Then CTRL+T to move/rotate it so it’s poking out the top a little bit.
Make sure the transform tool is set back to locked so the people stay proportional, don’t get stretched/squished.
Select the Wand tool. Make the pattern layer active…
Click in the colored area where you want to cut off the singer photo…
Make sure your colors are switched so white = the foreground.
Select the mask part of the photo layer again.
Then click on the Delete key to empty that area. Then Deselect to get rid of the dotted outline.
Switch colors so black = foreground. Then with the Brush tool on the mask part of the layer…
…brush/erase the areas below that line/color area to hide it as well…
Main Photo
Decide which photo will look best at the bottom/center, the biggest. Make sure the layer is at the top. Select the photo part of the layer and CTRL+T to resize/move it along the bottom.
Use the Rectangle Marquee tool to select the bottom area…
Switch color to white, and make the mask part active, then Delete.
Deselect, then select the photo part of the layer, CTRL+T to move it up so you see all of the rectangle border…
Side Photos
Position & size 2 photos off each side so a little bit is sticking out…
Other Photos
Position the other 2 singer photos in the middle/top area. Position them so they’re tucked behind the other pictures and don’t see the bottom edges…
Here are examples using different patterns…
Mask Bottom Edges with lines/curves
Make sure the color is set to white for this step.
For the side photos in front, use the Wand tool on the pattern layer, select the bottom edge color area, then make the mask part of the photo layer active, and Delete.
Then switch the colors so black = foreground. Use the Brush tool and brush out any extra bits of the photo showing below the bottom edge…
Optional: Hue/Saturation adjustment
Add an adjustment layer … Hue/Saturation
Play with the Hue & Saturation sliders to get the colors you like.
