If you have Adobe Photoshop CC, there's no reason to rely on off-the-counter event invitations or to use someone else's template. Create your own custom invitations for any event from weddings and company parties to a child's birthday party.
Document Layout
Launch Photoshop and press Ctrl-N to create a new document. Enter a height and width for the invitation. Note that you can change the unit of measurement from Points to Inches by clicking the menu beside the Width or Height. Click OK.
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Click the View menu and select New Guide Layout. Click the Margin check box and enter margins for the invitation. Margin guides will appear over the document to make it easier to align the invitation's artwork.
Creating an Invitation
Select the Horizontal Type Tool in the Toolbox and drag the cursor from the upper-left corner of the margins to the right margin to create a title for the invitation. Use the menus in the Option bar to set a Font, Font Size, Color and Text Alignment.
Use a font that suits the occasion. To adjust a font after you've already typed the words, highlight the letters with the Horizontal Type Tool. To add a curve to the text, click the Warp Text icon in the Options bar.
Select a Horizontal Arc to warp the text and then drag the Bend slider to adjust the amount of warp.
Add a second text box to enter the event details. You don't need to use the same font style for each text box, however most invitations shouldn't use more than two or three fonts.
To quickly adjust the spacing between lines in a text box, highlight the space between the lines and then adjust the Font Size as needed.
Most invitations should include:
- the name of the event
- the event location
- the event date and time
- RSVP information
Add illustrations to your invitation from the Custom Shape menu. Select the Custom Shape Tool from the Toolbox. If you don't see the Custom Shape Tool, click and hold the Shape that is visible, such as the Rectangle or Ellipse Tool, to reveal it. Hold down the Shift key while you drag the cursor to draw the shape. Use the Fill and Stroke Color menus in the Options bar to select the colors you want for the shape.
As you incorporate more details into the invitation, you'll probably need to adjust the size and position of the elements you already added. To adjust more than one element at a time, such as two custom shapes, Ctrl-click their layers in the Layers Panel.
Customizing Invitations
A black and white invitation works well for weddings and formal events, but other events, like a child's birthday party, demand some color and some fun fonts -- including Comic Sans.
To add color to the entire invitation, click the Rectangle Tool in the Toolbox, and then select a Fill and Stroke Color in the Options bar. After adding the rectangle -- either over the entire canvas or just within the margins -- drag the new Shape layer to the bottom of the stack in the Layers panel.
Printing
If you're not sending the invitations to a printer, or using custom stock, you can print the invitations on standard letter-sized card stock.
First save the invitation as a PSD file, and then select Flatten Image from the Layer menu. Press Ctrl-A and Ctrl-V to copy the invitation, and then close the document without saving this last change.
Press Ctrl-N to create a second document and select Photoshop's US Letter preset. Press Ctrl-V to paste copies of the invitation into the document and then drag them in place. After printing, you can cut the invitations from the card stock using a pencil, ruler and sharp scissors.
