Tutorial: Design your own Christmas Card with Adobe Stock and InDesign CC

With festive season just around the corner, we’ve partnered with London-based designer and creative extraordinaire Freddie Made to help inspire your Christmas card creations this year.

Freddie’s simple step-by-step guide to using Adobe Stock will help you achieve _the _most original Christmas card designs, certain to impress your loved ones over the festive season.

We’re looking forward to seeing how Freddie’s creation helps inspire yours! Tweet us at @AdobeUK and let us know how you got on in our comments section…

1.Choosing the background

Search Adobe Stock using the Libraries tool in Photoshop, find an image of snow or another festive backdrop, which could work for your card.

Tip! The latest updates on Adobe Stock allow you to save a preview and use a watermarked version, meaning you don’t have to commit to buying until you know it’s right.

2.Building on your background

Next, search Adobe Stock for a ‘Snowy Forest’ and you’ll find a broad range of options. Pick your favourite and simply add your chosen image to your composition. Use the Blending option, set the Blend mode to darken and merge the snow seamlessly over the forest layer behind -you can also use the Eraser tool on a Low Hardness setting to neaten up the edge.

Then, find an image of falling snow and paste this over your two-image composition.

You then need to move this layer to the background by simply apply a Clipping Mask to the layer matching it to the forest image. Add Screen Blend mode to remove all the darkness from the layer, and you’re left with snow falling seamlessly into the forest.

3. Adding a Puddle

To add a puddle to the foreground, search for one in Adobe Stock and place it within your collage, use the Magic Wand tool and select the white area around the edge.

Press Select > Similar to and click on any other white areas within the layer. Next** Select > Inverse** and finally add a Layer Mask to remove all the white areas completely.

Selecting Opacity, adjust the setting 60% and change saturation to -30 using the Saturation tool to blend the colours nicely into the snow.

4. Adding the Pebbles and Carrot

Once you’ve found a black pebble that could work for a pair of Snowman’s eyes in Adobe Stock, mask the pebble using the edit in Quick Mask mode. Then, set the hardness high on the Paint Brush tool and paint over the pebble. Click edit in Quick Mask again to make the selection and then select the Layer Mask tool to remove the rest of the image. Repeat this step with a carrot.

Click on the pebble, press Alt and drag it to duplicate a second eye.

With the carrot and pebbles masked, add a Drop Shadow of 30% opacity, using distance 4, speed 1 and size 2.

5. Using Visual Search on Adobe Stock

When looking for your rabbit, try out Adobe Stock’s Visual Search tool and select the first image you like, drag it into the search engine and you will find similar images in depth and tone. Select your perfect bunny before dropping it into your composition! Repeat this step to find a hairdryer.

6. Adding the Rabbit and Hairdryer

Once you’ve selected your rabbit and hairdryer, place them into the composition and flip horizontally using the Transform tool.

Set the Blend Mode to a dark colour to remove the white background and if needed remove any objects from the rabbit’s paw using the Eraser tool.

Add the hairdryer, again using the darker colour blend mode and flip it horizontally and place it in the rabbit’s paw.

Adjust the colour using the Saturation tool to match the orange of the carrot.

7. Extending the Cord

To add a cord to the hairdryer, draw a horizontal line with a brush stroke of 3px, then transform the path using the Warp tool followed by the Arc preset, Rotate and place at the end of the existing cord.

8. Licensing Images within Photoshop

Once you have decided you are happy with the images, go to your Library menu and right click to license the image, Photoshop will automatically save over the watermarked previews with the high res image. Save your PSD file.

9. Placing your creative in InDesign

Finally, save your work and open a new document InDesign to make the card template. To do this, Click** File > New document**. Choose the size of your document, set the number of pages to two, select facing pages and orientation landscape. Add two columns with a gutter of 0.4mm and all margins also set to 0.4mm.

Click File > Place and select for your PSD file to place it on the front page of your card.

10. You’re now Christmas Ready!

Finish your festive card by adding a personalised message! Once you’re done click save and your card is now ready to print!

Watch the tutorial below!