Hello, in this lesson you will learn how to create a romantic Valentine’s Day postcard from scratch in Photoshop.
Final result:
Create a new document (Ctrl+N) 1920 pixels wide and 1200 pixels high (RGB color mode) with a resolution of 72 ppi. Using the tool “Rectangle” 
(U) create a large rectangle that covers the entire image area.
Click on the “Add layer style“on the layers panel and add”Gradient overlay“for a layer with a rectangle, the settings are given below:
Click on the color bar to open the gradient editor and set the settings as shown below. Then click “OK” to close the gradient editor.
You should have the following result, which will later serve as a background to your postcard:
Next, create a shape. Select tool “Pen” 
(P) and draw the following shape:
Set the fill value of the layer to 0% and add to this layer “Gradient overlay“by clicking”Add layer style“on the layers panel with the following settings:
Click on the color bar to open the gradient editor and set the settings as shown below. Then click “OK” to close the gradient editor.
You should get the following image:
Make a copy of the layer with the shape (Ctrl + J). Using the tool “Free transform“, (Ctrl + T), move the layer a little bit down and to the right. You can use the tool”Angle“(P) to change some contour reference points.
Set the fill value of the layer to 0% and add to this layer “Gradient overlay“by clicking”Add layer style“on the layers panel with the following settings:
Click on the color bar to open the gradient editor and set the settings as shown below. Then click “OK” to close the gradient editor.
Your postcard at this stage should look something like this:
Select tool “Arbitrary shape” 
(U) in the program bar, click on the figure image to bring up the shape selection menu. In the shape selection menu, find the heart figure and double-click it.
Holding down the left mouse button and key Shift (to keep proportions) drag your shape to the desired size:
Click “Add layer style“on the layers panel and select”Gradient overlay“with the following settings:
Click on the color bar to open the gradient editor and set the settings as shown below. Then click “OK” to close the gradient editor.
Now add style “Stroke“with the following settings:
Select a stroke type “Gradient” 
and click on the color bar to open the gradient editor and set the settings. Then click “OK“to close the gradient editor.
At the moment, the result should be something like this:
Copy layer (Ctrl+J) and using the tool “Free transformation“(Ctrl + T), pull the corner with the key pressed Shift, to create a smaller copy of the heart.
Set the fill value of the layer to 0% and add to this layer “Gradient overlay“by clicking”Add layer style“on the layers panel with the following settings:
Click on the color bar to open the gradient editor and set the settings as shown below. Then click “OK” to close the gradient editor.
You should have this effect:
Now add some light to your heart. To draw the lighting, we will have to apply a simple subtraction selection technique. Select tool “Ellipse“
(U) (in the program toolbar, select the option “Subtract from selected area“) draw the first ellipse, and then with the key pressed Alt second as below:
Set the fill value of the layer to 0% and add to this layer “Gradient overlay“by clicking”Add layer style“on the layers panel with the following settings:
Click on the color bar to open the gradient editor and set the settings as shown below. Then click “OK” to close the gradient editor.
This effect should be like this:
Make a copy of the lighting layer and select the “Free transformation“(Ctrl + T) and, by right-clicking inside the area that appears, select”Flip horizontally“then drag the layer as shown:
Set the fill value of the layer to 0% and add to this layer “Gradient overlay“by clicking”Add layer style“on the layers panel with the following settings:
Click on the color bar to open the gradient editor and set the settings as shown below. Then click “OK” to close the gradient editor.
We got a blackout effect on the other side of the heart:
Make another copy of the layer with the heart (Ctrl + J) and the tool “Free transform“(Ctrl + T), make the heart even smaller than the first copy. Select the tool”Ellipse” (U) and, holding down the Alt key (subtracting their selected area), drag the ellipse as shown:
Set the fill value of the layer to 0% and add to this layer “Gradient overlay“by clicking”Add layer style“on the layers panel with the following settings:
Click on the color bar to open the gradient editor and set the settings as shown below. Then click “OK” to close the gradient editor.
It should have the following effect:
Combine all the layers with hearts into a group (click on the layer with the Ctrl key pressed to select the desired layers and drag them to the “Create New Group” icon in the layers panel). Merge all the layers that make up the heart (Ctrl + E) and create two copies of the resulting layer. Then using the toolFree transformation“(Ctrl + T), resize the layers and place them as shown below:
You should have the following composition:
Now draw the rays of light. To do this, create a new layer under the layers with hearts and tools. “Pen” (P) draw the rays as shown:
At this stage, the postcard looks like this:
Combine all the layers with rays into a group (the same way as the hearts).
Rasterize the layers and merge them (Ctrl + E). Now, select the tool “Free transformation“(Ctrl + T). Turn the resulting layer so as to get the visibility of a larger number of rays.
Set this layer to 53% fill:
Create another copy of the last layer and tool madeFree transformation“(Ctrl + T) rotate it as shown.
Create a new group for the rays layers and move them there. Put the fill group 70%.
Create a new layer under the beam group and select the “Brush” 
(B) with hard edges:
Choose white and draw lots of dots of different diameters:
Hope you enjoyed the tutorial! Create postcards, posters and give them to your loved ones! Congratulations to all on the coming Valentine’s Day!
Transfer: Nikita Kulagin
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