CreativeStable

Alright, so in this tutorial we are going to go over making our banners into cool shapes. If you have not already done so, I STRONGLY suggest taking a look at my previous tutorial. It went into detail about some of the techniques I will be using in this tutorial.

Step 1

Open up Photoshop and open up an existing banner. If you haven't already done so, delete the plain white background layer.

Step 2

Select the Custom Shape Tool (U).

Select a shape from the "Set Shape to Create" dropdown.

Unless you have your own custom shapes already, you will see the default shapes that Photoshop comes with. Some of these can come in handy, but I usually download custom ones... so let's grab some custom shapes! I usually get shapes from places like DeviantArt (Open link in new window). For this example, I am going to use these shapes. Custom shapes come in .CSH files. If you run a lower version of Photoshop some shape files might not work.

So, download the .CSH file to your desktop and go back to photoshop. Click the little arrow flyout beside the shape icons and hit "Load".

Browse to the custom shape file you downloaded and hit "Load". They will now be in your list of shapes.

Step 3

Okay, okay... let's get back to business. Pick a shape you want to use (making sure that "shape layers" is checked) and draw a shape. It doesnt matter where in your palette it is, but for viewing purposes I will put mine on top for now.

Next, pick another shape. Hold down SHIFT and draw another splat (Note: you only have to hold down shift until you click, then you can release... however holding shift will constrain your proportions). These shapes are what your image will be INSIDE once we are done so try not to leave too many important pieces of the picture hanging outside of the shapes.

Now I am happy with my shape. Drag it to the bottom of your layer palette and create clipping masks on all the layers above by holding alt and clicking between them.

Voila, you have a very uniquely shaped banner. Make sure to save it as a PNG or else the background will not be transparent. Not enough? Try some of the following things to really make it stand out.

1. Right click the shape layer and go to blending options. Add some drop shadows or strokes.
2. Instead of holding down shift while adding more shapes, try holding down ALT. This will take AWAY from the shape rather than add to it.
3. Need to edit your shape? The white arrow (direct selection tool) will allow you to move individual points around. The black arrow (path selection tool) will allow you to move shapes around intependently (even though they are working as one big shape). While using the black arrow, you can select a shape and hit ctrl+T and free transform shapes. The shortcut for the Arrow tools is A, and don't mistake the MOVE tool (first tool in the toolbar) for the path selection tool!