The document describes the process taken to create a magazine front cover in Photoshop. Key steps include: 1) Creating a new document and importing the masthead font and main cover image. 2) Using a mask to remove the background from the cover image. 3) Adding additional design elements like the issue date/number, cover lines, and barcode. 4) Creating the background using low opacity brush strokes in different colors to gradient the background.

1. Front Cover Screenshots

2. To create my front cover I firstly created a
new document on Photoshop. I then went
on dafont to find the font I chose for my
masthead, and screenshotted my
masthead into the new document, where I
resized and coloured it.
Next I opened my main image in
Photoshop and selected the part of the
image that I wanted to use and copied
and pasted it into my magazine
document.

3. I then created a mask out of this image,
meaning that when I paint white on the
mask the image will appear, and when I
paint black on the mask it removes the
image.
Using this method I carefully removed
the background, using a softer brush
around the hair and a harder brush
around the hat and clothes.

4. After I had finished removing the
background, I then edited the colour
balance, contrast, brightness, and
saturation of the image to make it stand
out better.
Next I created a text box for both the issue
number and date and positioned them
within the ‘Z’ of the masthead. I then added
a barcode to the bottom right corner, with
the price and website on the top and
bottom.

5. After that I began to add cover lines. I added
the main cover line first, making it large and
bold so it stands out from the other cover
lines. I also added a stroke to the text so that
it didn’t get lost with the patterned top
behind it.
I then began adding the
other cover lines, which
I put in between
triangles to link it to the
masthead. I soon
realised that my main
cover line wasn’t very
easy to read, so I
changed the font to the
one on the rest of the
cover.

6. After I had finished the cover lines, I created the
background of the cover. I did the background by painting
with a low opacity brush in different colours to create a
gradient effect.
I then used my image of a tree, increased the
contrast, and edited the colour to be more blue
toned. I put this layer over the paint layer and
decreased the opacity so that the colours
showed through, but now with a tree branch
pattern over it.