Creating a sheet of paper in Photoshop!

To promote the upcoming super blockbuster “Luisa 6″ (working title) i’ve released a letter from Lena Luv today which you can read on her homepage.

To make it look like a “real” letter i needed to create a sheet of paper in Photoshop.

I will describe how you can make your own virtual letter paper as well – in only a few minutes; it’s pretty easy…

Figure out what you need

Before you start, first specify what you want to get:

I want a sheet of paper that fits perfectly into the design of the website.

It should be large enough but not too large, vertical layout and black background (to let it meet the background color of the website).

Step 1: Open a new document

Open a new file in Photoshop, give it the correct size and fill it with the background color (black in my case).

Step 2: Create the shape of the paper

Open a new layer (!) and – with the “rectangular marquee tool” – make a selection in the size of the paper.

Don’t let the selection meet the border of the document because we need some margin in later steps.

Fill the selection with a soft color, close to white but not white. I’ve chosen a soft rosé tone to let the paper look lovely.

Step 3: Add some decoration

Open another new layer (!) and set its “Blending Option” to “Multiply”.

Get a beautiful flower brush from somewhere on the Internet and add a flowery form to the paper.

With the right brush you only need to make one click. That’s the trick with brushes, get some free Photoshop Brushes from somewhere…

Just “paint” in the same soft color like the paper sheet. With the blending option set to “Multiply” it will look very natural.

Step 4: Transform the paper

The paper still looks very sterile, it needs some crinkles and waves.

First, “Merge” the layers “Paper” and “Flower” together: Mark both of them in the layer window and click “Strg + E”.

Now apply the filter-effect “Artistic/Film Grain” and set all three parameters to 1.

With the powerful tool “Liquify” (in the top area of the Filter-Menu) you can easily transform the border of the paper; it’s up to you and your taste.

Step 5: Add more effects

With a rougher brush i’ve added some more shadows and stains.

Again: On a new layer, set to “Multiply” and painted in the same soft rosè color.

I also reduced the “Opacity” of those effects to make them look less intense.

And i added the Layer Style “Inner Glow” to the paper layer. Set the Blend Mode of the effect to “Dissolve” and look at the other settings:

That’s it, you just created a nice sheet of virtual paper in only a few minutes.

Get a lovely handwriting font and write something down. It looks lovely, i’m sure.

And then leave the way of this workshop and try to find your own method, change and add stuff of your choice…

…and get the very last out of Photoshop.

You can download my original PSD-File here!