Click the image to view the complete final outcome at full scale.
Texture: Wood Grain Texture 5 (Design Instruct)
Image: Wild Bunch (Wikimedia Commons)
Texture: Concrete Texture 02 (Design Instruct)
Texture: Fold 01 (Design Instruct)
Begin by creating a new document in Photoshop via File > New (Ctrl/Cmd + N). Set the canvas dimensions to 1350x1350px. Import and integrate Wood Grain Texture 5 into the new Photoshop document, then resize it to fit the canvas. Utilize the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) to create a selection measuring 800x1200px for the “Wanted” poster’s background. Navigate to Edit > Fill and apply a beige color (#f2e7cb) to the selection. Zoom in using the Zoom Tool (Z) to focus on the edges of the poster’s background.Switch to the Lasso Tool (L) and create an irregular selection along the top edge of the poster’s background. Afterward, press Delete to remove the selected portions of the poster’s background. Traverse the edges of the poster’s background to roughen up all the sides.Patience and experimentation are key in this process. Create a selection around the poster’s background by Ctrl-clicking/Cmd-clicking on its layer’s thumbnail in the Layers Panel. Employ the Burn Tool (O) with a round, soft brush to gently apply a burn effect to the poster’s background edges.Remember to load a selection around the poster’s background to ensure that the burn effect is contained within it. Enhance the burn effect around the edges. Create a new layer above the poster background layer (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + N).The previous selection should still be active; if it’s not, go to Select > Reselect (Shift + Ctrl/Cmd + D). Set the Foreground color to a dark brown (#211a0a) and fill the selection with the Foreground color on the new layer by pressing Alt/Option + Backspace. Then, go to Select > Modify > Contract and reduce the selection by 10px. Remove the selected inner area by pressing Delete. Reload a selection around the poster’s background. On the dark brown layer, apply the Gaussian Blur filter with a Radius of 3px.Change the Blend Mode of the layer to Overlay and reduce its Opacity to 40%. Deselect the selection (Ctrl/Cmd + D). Duplicate the dark brown layer (Ctrl/Cmd + J).Reload a selection around the poster’s background. On the duplicate dark brown layer, reapply the Gaussian Blur filter by going to Filter > Last Filter (Ctrl/Cmd + F). Set the layer’s Opacity to 50% after that. Repeat the process one more time, using a Radius of 5px for the Gaussian Blur filter on the new layer and setting the layer Opacity to 20%. Set the Foreground color to a dark brown (#231d14). Switch to the Custom Shape Tool (U).In the Options Bar, under the Shape dropdown menu, select the Point Right shape and draw it on the upper left corner of the poster. Duplicate this shape (Ctrl/Cmd + J). Go to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal and place the duplicate shape on the upper right corner. Use the Horizontal Type Tool (T) to type “PROCLAMATION” with the font Rockwell Std, Bold Condensed, using the dark brown text color (#231d14). Also, adjust the Vertically scale and Horizontally scale to 70% and 180% respectively. Add another text block below the first text block (settings for the new text block are shown below). Next, we’ll add the word “WANTED” to our poster. Choose the Horizontal Type Tool (T), set the tool to use Rockwell Std, Bold as the font, and the same dark brown text color (#231d14), then type “WANTED” below the previously added text. In the Character Panel, set Tracking to 50 (to increase space between letters), Vertically scale to 120%, and Horizontally scale to 150%. Ctrl-click/Cmd-click on the “WANTED” text layer’s thumbnail to load a selection around the letters. Go to Select > Modify > Expand and expand the selection by 3px. Create a new layer below the text layer and fill the selection with a light beige color (#f2e7cb) on the new layer.Double-click on the new layer to access the Layer Style dialog window, and add a 1px Stroke layer effect to the layer (the stroke color is shown below). Ctrl-click/Cmd-click on the text layer’s thumbnail to reload the selection around the letters. Expand the selection by 1px by going to Select > Modify > Expand.Create a new layer below it and fill the expanded selection with #231d14 on the newly created layer. Then, switch to the Move Tool (V) and use your Arrow keys to move the layer down 4px and right 2px. Additional text needs to be added to our “Wanted” poster. Refer to the following images for guidance (the text color used is #231d14). Note that for the “The Wild Bunch Gang” text, you need to adjust the Vertically scale option differently. Set Vertically scale to 90% for the entire text layer first. Then, select the first letter of each word and set the Vertically scale option to 100%.I used a Wild Bunch photo found on Wikimedia Commons, but feel free to use any preferred photo. Open the photo in Photoshop and copy-paste it into our canvas. Use Free Transform (Ctrl/Cmd + T) to slightly resize the photo (to make it smaller). Go to Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast to adjust the tonal changes of the photo (settings are shown below). Then, set the layer’s Blend Mode to Multiply. Use the Horizontal Type Tool (T) to add the names of the Wild Bunch members directly below their photo. Many Old West “Wanted” posters offered monetary rewards for the capture of the individuals depicted. Let’s add a bounty to our poster. First, use the Horizontal Type Tool (T) with the font Cooper Black sized at 120px to add a dollar sign.In the Character Panel, set the Vertically scale option to 110% and the text color to the dark brown we have been using (#231d14). Apply the text effect technique we used for the “WANTED” text (Step 5) to the dollar sign. Next to the dollar sign, add the bounty’s value (I used “10000”).