WHAT WE’RE CREATING:

Hey there designers! Renee here to celebrate our Marketplace launch with a Spring wedding invitation tutorial that combines beautiful fonts with patterns, gold foil effects, watercolor effects and textures. We’ll be using both Photoshop and Illustrator to bring our fantasy wedding to life.

HAVE YOU SEEN OUR NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL?

Watch the video tutorial below and subscribe to our new YouTube channel for regular updates direct to your inbox.

Here’s a quick look at the finished piece:

Wedding Invitation


Follow along with this tutorial: Download the freebies

This freebie includes watercolors, vector ornaments and a pattern from Lisa Glanz, a Retro Supply Co. brush and an Aquatype style from Vintage Design Co.

This freebie pack is just a small sample of the resources available in our new Marketplace. Whether you missed something in a bundle or are just looking for something new, the build-your-own-bundle option in our carefully curated Marketplace is sure to please.

Wedding Invitation


TECHNICAL NOTES

We’ll be using several fonts from the Marketplace. From LatinoType, we’ll use Santis, Boho and Trend. We’ll also use Fresh Script by Set Sail Studios.

We’ll also utilize Jessica Johnson’s super customizable and versatile Instaglam action.

Step 1: Borders

Open Photoshop and go to File > New. In the New Document dialog box, enter a width of 5 inches, a height of 7 inches and a resolution of 300 ppi. I’m going to keep my file in RGB so we have all of our original color information in tact, but would probably need to convert the finished piece to CMYK for printing purposes.

Click OK to create the document.

Wedding Invitation

Save your file.

Go to Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color. Name the layer Light Green and press Ok.

Wedding Invitation

In the Color Picker popup, enter a CMYK value of 27/15/70/0, then press Ok.

Wedding Invitation

Select your Rectangular Marquee (m) and at the top of the artboard, change the Style to Fixed Size. Enter 4.8 inches for width and 6.8 inches for height.

Wedding Invitation

Click once on the artboard and position the rectangle in the center of the artboard.

Wedding Invitation

Click on the existing layer mask thumbnail that’s immediately to the left of the layer name Light Green in the Layers palette.

Wedding Invitation

Press d to set your foreground color to black and background to white. Press alt/opt + backspace to fill the selected rectangular area on the layer mask with black (which makes it disappear from view). The press cmd/ctrl + d to deselect.

Wedding Invitation

Hold cmd/ctrl and click on the layer mask thumbnail on the Light Green layer to create a selection around it. Go to Select > Expand. In the dialog box, enter 12 pixels and press OK.

Wedding Invitation

At the bottom of your Layers palette, click the Create a new layer icon. Name the new layer Dark Gray.

At the bottom of your tool menu, double click the foreground color (currently black) and in the Color Picker, enter a CMYK value of 70/60/60/55, then press OK.

Wedding Invitation

Press opt/alt + backspace to fill the selected area with the dark gray color. Press cmd/ctrl + d to deselect.

In your Layers palette, drag the layer Dark Gray below the layer Light Green.

Wedding Invitation

With the dark gray still set as the foreground color, open your Swatches palette and click the Create a new swatch of foreground color icon and name it Dark Gray.

Now double click your foreground color swatch and use the eyedropper to sample the light green border. Press Ok, then press the Create a new swatch of foreground color icon again and this time, name it Light Green.

Step 2: Corners

In the Layers palette, click the Create A New Group icon and name the new group Corners. Drag the group below the layer Dark Gray.

Click the Create A New Layer icon.

Select your Rectangular Marquee tool and change the style to Normal. Hold shift and click on the artboard, then drag down and to the right. As you drag, a perfect square will form and a tooltip will tell you the size as you drag. Drag out to about 1.5 inches.

Wedding Invitation

In the Swatches palette, click on the Dark Gray swatch to set it as the foreground color. Press opt/alt + backspace to fill the selected square with dark gray. Then press cmd/ctrl + d to deselect.

Wedding Invitation

Go to Edit > Transform > Rotate. Hold shift while dragging to the left to rotate in 45 degree increments until you’ve rotated 90 degrees, creating a diamond. Press Enter to complete the transformation.

Wedding Invitation

Use your Move tool (v) to drag the diamond to the top left of the artboard until it creates a corner shape.

Wedding Invitation

In the Layers palette, select the current diamond layer and drag it down to the Create a new layer icon to duplicate it.

Hold shift and use your Move tool to drag the new diamond shape to the right corner.

Wedding Invitation

In your Layers palette, select both diamonds by holding shift while selecting both layers. Drag these layers down to the Create a new layer icon to duplicate them.

On the artboard, hold shift and use the Move tool to drag the duplicated layers down to the bottom corners.

Wedding Invitation

Next up, we’ll add a pattern to our pattern library. Go to File > Open and navigate to the Dots_Yellow jpg from Watercolor Wedding Vol 2. Click Open.

When it opens, go to Edit > Define Pattern. Leave the existing name in the popup dialog and click OK.

Wedding Invitation

Now close the yellow dot file.

Back in the main layout, go Layer > New Fill Layer > Pattern. In the first popup dialog box, change the name to Yellow Dots and click OK.

Wedding Invitation

In the second popup dialog box, click the small arrow to the right of the pattern thumbnail and select the yellow dot pattern we just made.

Change the scale to 14% and click OK. If you want to even out the placement of the dots, use your arrow keys to move the pattern.

Wedding Invitation

Drag the Yellow Dots layer just above the Corners group.

Now we’ll apply the Instaglam action to our dots. Open your Actions palette (Window > Actions). Click the icon on the far top right of the palette to access the flyout menu. Select Load Actions.

Wedding Invitation

Navigate to the Instaglam actions folder and hit Load. Now you should see the Instaglam folder in your Actions palette. Select Instaglam and press the Play button at the bottom of the palette.

Wedding Invitation

And we have instant gold! I love this action.

Open your Corners folder. Hold down cmd/ctrl + shift and click on each of the layer’s thumbnails to create a selection around all four corners.

Wedding Invitation

Make sure your Instaglam folder is current active group, then click the Add a layer mask icon at the bottom of the Layers palette.

Wedding Invitation

Step 3: Words

Now we’ll start laying out our words.

Open Illustrator and go to File > New. Enter a width of 5 inches and a height of 7 inches.

Wedding Invitation

Select your Type tool (t) and click once on the artboard towards the top middle. Type: The.

Select your Selection tool in the tool pane.

Open your Character palette (Window > Type > Character) and change the font to Trend Slab One at 8 pt.

Wedding Invitation

At the bottom of the tool pane, double click on the foreground color swatch and in the Color Picker, enter a CMYK value of 70/60/60/55. Add this color to the Swatches palette by opening it (Window > Swatches) and clicking the New Swatch icon.

In the toolbar above the artboard, change the Paragraph to Align Center, then click the Horizontal Align Center icon.

If nothing happens when you hit the Horizontal Align Center icon, you may need to change the type of Alignment. To do that, click the square icon with a little arrow that’s directly left of the Horizontal Align Left icon and select Align to Artboard.

Wedding Invitation

Select your Type tool again, click once on the artboard under The and type: King and Queen. Select your Selection tool. Then change the font to Trend Slab Four at 18 pt and set the Tracking (the space between letters) to -15.

Wedding Invitation

Now go to Effect > Warp > Arc and enter a Bend of 15%. Center on the artboard by using the Horizontal Align Center icon at the top of the artboard.

Wedding Invitation

Select your Type tool, click once on the artboard under King and Queen and type: of Florin. Press enter to break to the next line and type: proudly announce the. Press enter again and type: marriage of their daughter.

Use the Type tool to drag across the top line to select it and change the font to Trend Slab One at 8 pt with Tracking of -15.

Wedding Invitation

Now use the Type tool to select the second and third lines. Change both to Trend Sans One at 7 pt with Tracking of -50.

At the bottom of the tool pane, double click on the foreground color swatch and in the Color Picker, enter a CMYK value of 27/15/70/0. Add this color to the Swatches palette by clicking the New Swatch icon in the Swatches palette.

Wedding Invitation

Now select just the second line (proudly announce the) by double clicking on it with your Type tool. With this line selected, press opt/alt + down arrow twice to increase the leading (the vertical space between lines) to 12.4 pt.

Wedding Invitation

Now type: Buttercup. Change the font to Santis at 45 pt.

Wedding Invitation

We’re going to utilize some of this font’s beautiful, decorative letter alternates. Open your Glyphs palette (Window > Type > Glyphs). At the top of the Glyphs palette next to Show, choose Alternates for Selection.

Use your Type tool to select the B. In the Glyphs palette, double click the first alternate.

Wedding Invitation

Now repeat for the r and p. Choose the letter, then double click the first alternate in the Glyphs palette.

Wedding Invitation

Select your Selection tool. Hold down opt/alt and click on Buttercup and drag down to create a copy.

Use your Type tool to select all of the letters in the copy and type: Westley.

Wedding Invitation

Use your Glyphs palette to replace the W and y with the first alternates.

Position Buttercup and Westley so that the ornamentation at the bottom of Buttercup’s p and the top of Westley’s y meet.

Wedding Invitation

Now type: to. Change the font to Boho Script at 32 pt. Position in the small empty space below the first u in Buttercup and to the left of the W in Westley.

Wedding Invitation

Type: Saturday, the Twelfth of May. Press enter, then type: at Two O’Clock in the Afternoon. Select the first line and change it to Trend Slab One at 10 pt with Tracking of -15 and a color of Dark Gray.

Select the second line and change it to Trend Sans One at 8 pt. Click the Light Green swatch in the Swatches palette.

Wedding Invitation

Next, type: The Chapel. Press enter and type: at the Cliffs of Insanity. Press enter again and type: Presided over by Miracle Max.

Select the first and second lines and change them to Trend Slab One at 8 pt with Tracking -15.

Select the first line only and change it to Dark Gray.

Select the second and third lines and change them to Light Green.

Now select the third line only and change it to Trend Sans One at 7 pt.

Wedding Invitation

Our last bit of type will be: The Brute Squad kindly request that all weapons be checked at the door. Change the font to Fresh Script at 8 pt in Dark Gray.

Wedding Invitation

To separate this last line about the Brute Squad, we’ll add a dotted line above it. Select your Pen tool (p) and click once above the first letter in the sentence. Hold shift down and click once again above the last letter of the sentence.

Open the Swatches palette and change the foreground color to None. Then click on the stroke thumbnail and change it to Dark Gray.

Wedding Invitation

Open your Stroke palette (Window > Stroke). Illustrator has a great trick for making dotted lines. Next to Cap, click the middle icon for Rounded Cap. Now check Dashed Line. Change the first dash to 0 pt and the first gap to 4 pt.

Note: This will only work with the Rounded Cap option selected!

Wedding Invitation

Use your Selection tool while holding Shift to select everything on the page except Buttercup, to, and Westley. At the top of the artboard, select the Horizontal Align Center icon.

Wedding Invitation

The last thing we’ll do for our copy layout is to apply an Aquatype graphic style to our names.

Select Buttercup and Westley. Open your Graphic Styles palette. Click the arrow on the top right of the palette to access the flyout menu and choose Open Graphic Style Library > Other Library. Navigate to Vintage Design Co’s Aquatype Graphic Styles and click Open.

In the Graphic Style pane that opens, choose the Poppy swatch.

Wedding Invitation

Aquatype also comes with actions to turn this style into vector art, but we won’t use that now since we’ll just be copying it over to Photoshop.

Step 4: Bringing our words into Photoshop

Select everything except Buttercup and Westley (do select “to”). Press cmd/ctrl + c to Copy.

Open Photoshop and on the main layout file, press cmd/ctrl + v to Paste. In the popup, choose Smart Object and press OK. In the Layers palette, change the layer name to Words and drag it to the top of the Layers palette.

Wedding Invitation

Go back to your Illustrator file and select Buttercup and Westley. Press cmd/ctrl + c to Copy. Then open Photoshop and press cmd/ctrl + v to Paste. Use the “to” as a guide for correct placement of Buttercup and Westley. Change the layer name to Buttercup Westley.

Wedding Invitation

At the bottom of the Layers palette, click the FX icon and choose Color Overlay. When the Layer Style dialog box opens, choose a Blend Mode of Color. Click on the color swatch and use the eyedropper to sample Light Green from the swatch palette or the light green border. Press Ok.

Wedding Invitation

Step 5: Watercolor and Ornaments

Create a new Group and name it Flowers-Of Florin.

Go to File > Place Linked and navigate to the Woodland Watercolor Set. Select Green Leaf 02 and click Place.

Wedding Invitation

In the toolbar at the top of the artboard, change the width to 35% and click the link icon to the right of the width to maintain aspect ratio. Next, enter a rotation of 40 degrees and press enter to complete the transformation.

Wedding Invitation

Position the leaf to the right of Of Florin

Wedding Invitation

In the Layers palette, duplicate the layer by dragging it down to the Create a new layer icon. Go to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal. Then hold down Shift and drag the duplicate leaf to the left of Of Florin.

Wedding Invitation

Go to File > Place Linked and in the same Woodland Watercolor Set, choose Lemon_Flower-01.

At the top of the artboard, change the Width to 20% and click the link icon to maintain aspect ratio. Press enter to complete the transformation.

Position the flower over the left side of the right leaf.

Wedding Invitation

Now we’ll repeat on the left leaf, but with a slightly different flower.

Go to File > Place Linked and in the Woodland Watercolor Set, choose Lemon_Flower-03.

At the top of the artboard, change the Width to 20% and click the link icon to maintain aspect ratio. Press enter to complete the transformation.

Position over the right side of the left leaf.

Wedding Invitation

Drag the two lemon flower and two leaf layers into the Flowers-Of Florin folder.

Create a new folder and name it Rose Divider. Go to File > Place Linked and navigate to Yellow_Rose in Wedding Watercolor Vol 2.

In the toolbar above the artboard, change the width to 18%, click the link icon to maintain aspect ration and enter a rotation of 20 degrees. Position above The Chapel.

Wedding Invitation

In Illustrator, open the Signage Elements file (or in Freebies, the LisaGlanzOrnaments_Freebies file) from the Lisa Glanz 450 Hand Sketched Megapack.Select this ornament, then press cmd/ctrl + v to copy.

Wedding Invitation

Back in Photoshop, press cmd/ctrl + v to paste into the Rose Divider group.

At the top of the artboard, enter a width of 35% and click the link icon. Position to the right of the yellow rose. Name the layer Ornament Right.

Wedding Invitation

In the Layers palette, click the FX icon and choose Color Overlay. For the Blend Mode, select Normal. Click the color swatch and in the Color Picker, enter a CMYK value of 35/35/75/5.

Wedding Invitation

In the Layers palette, duplicate the layer by dragging it down to the Create a new layer icon. Go to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal. Then hold down Shift and drag the duplicate ornament to the left of the yellow rose. Rename the layer Ornament Left.

Wedding Invitation

Create a New Group and name it Ornaments-The.

Go back to Illustrator and copy this ornament.

Wedding Invitation

Back in Photoshop, press cmd/ctrl + v to paste into your layout file. At the top of the artboard, enter a Width of 15% and Rotation of 35 degrees. Position to the right of “the” towards the top of the artboard.

Wedding Invitation

We want to use the exact same Color Overlay effect that we used on our previous ornament, so we’ll just copy it. In the Layers palette, locate the Effects under the Ornament Left layer in Ornaments-Rose Divider.

Wedding Invitation

Hold down opt/alt and click on Effects, then drag it to the new ornament layer in Ornaments-The.

Wedding Invitation

Duplicate the layer by dragging it to the Create a new layer icon in the Layers palette. Then go to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal. Hold shift and drag the duplicate ornament to the left of “the”.

Wedding Invitation

To duplicate these same ornaments for either side of The Chapel, drag the entire Ornaments-The layer to the Create a new layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette.

Rename the duplicate group Ornaments – Chapel.

On the artboard, use your Move tool to drag the whole group down to The Chapel.

Wedding Invitation

Open the group in your Layers palette. Select the left ornament layer. On the artboard, hold shift while dragging the ornament to the left until it’s the same distance from the edge of “The” as the original ornament was from the left side of the top “The”.

Wedding Invitation

Repeat for the ornament on the right side. Select the layer in the Layers palette, then use your Move tool on the artboard to drag the ornament to the right.

Wedding Invitation

Step 6: Final Touches

In the Layers palette, open the folder called Flowers-Of Florin. Duplicate the layer Lemon_Flower-03 by dragging it into the Create a new layer icon. Drag the duplicate layer out of the group and to the very top of the Layers palette.

Go to Edit > Free Transform. At the top of the artboard, change the Width from 20% to 60% and click the link icon to maintain aspect ratio.

Wedding Invitation

On the artboard, use your Move tool to drag the flower to the open space at the right of Buttercup.

Wedding Invitation

Go to File > Place Linked and navigate to Yellow Flower from Watercolor Wedding Vol 2. Click Place.

At the top of the artboard, enter a width of 40% and click the link icon to maintain aspect ratio. Then position the flower in the space to the left of Westley.

Wedding Invitation

This seems a little bright compared to our other flowers, so we’ll tone it down with an adjustment layer.

Open your Adjustments panel (Window > Adjustments) and click the Hue/Saturation icon.

In the Properties palette that opens, change the Saturation to -18 and click on the far left icon at the bottom of the palette to clip the adjustment to the layer directly below it (in this case, the flower) so it doesn’t affect anything else.

Wedding Invitation

For our final finishing touch, we’ll add a little texture to give the effect of an expensive paper.

Select your Brush tool (b). At the top of the artboard, click on the arrow to the right of the brush thumbnail to open the Brush Preset Picker.

Click on the gear icon at the top right of the Brush Preset Picker to bring up the flyout menu and choose Load Brushes.

Wedding Invitation

Navigate to Retro Supply Co’s Standard Issue Subtle Brushes. Click Load.

In the Brush Preset Picker, select Subtle Brush #2. Enlarge the size of the brush by pressing the right bracket on your keyboard three times (until the brush size is 1100).

Now click on the foreground color swatch at the bottom of the tools pane. In the Color Picker popup, use the eyedropper to sample the tan color from the vector ornaments we pasted in earlier.

Wedding Invitation

In the Layers palette, click the Create a new layer icon and name the layer Texture.

Click once on the artboard with your brush. Now release and click again in a different area. Do this several times until the majority of the artboard has some of the speckled texture over it.

Wedding Invitation

In the Layers palette, change the Blend Mode of the layer to Multiply and the Opacity to 30%.

Wedding Invitation

And we have our finished invitation!

Wedding Invitation

Video Bonus: RSVP Card

Check out the video tutorial to see how easy it is to make derivative pieces like this RSVP card once you have your initial design completed.

Wedding Invitation

Wedding Invitation

Remember that whether it’s your outcome for this tutorial or something new you’ve made, we’d love to see your designs on our Facebook page.

Please leave a comment if you have any questions or suggestions. I always look forward to hearing from you!

Don’t forget to check out the awesome new Marketplace to create your own perfect bundle and stay tuned for our usual fortnightly bundles starting again next week!