The Editing Process of Making the Magazine Front Cover

THE EDITIN

G PROCESS OF

MAKING THE MAGAZINE

COVER

STEP 1To create the magazine cover I used Adobe Photoshop Elements 12. Firstly, I opened a blank canvas and then copied the images I was going to be using into the software. These images were of a eerie forest and a portrait of our Victim 1 (Rob) looking creepy towards the camera.

STEP 2

I then copied the two images across onto the blank canvas and resized them to fit the portrait page. As I knew that I would be editing in the magazine title later that is why I did not make the portrait photo fit the entire page.

STEP 3

I then selected the layer mask tool and the brush tool so I could start removing the unnecessary background in the portrait photo.

Layer Mask

Brush tool

I found it quite difficult to remove the areas of the image which were near parts of Rob’s body which were also in darkness. This step took my a little longer as all I was able to do was to go in and repeat myself and undo anything that looked odd until I got it right.

STEP 4

The next step I duplicate the background image and then placed it in front of the subject. I then used the layer mask tool and bush tool again to remove parts of the tree image from the lit parts of the subject’s face.

STEP 5Next, I created a new layer and opened the filter options. From here I selected Render and then clouds.

STEP 6

I altered the opacity levels on the cloud layer so I could the images through it a little more.

I then moved the layer so it was below the portrait so it appeared only in the background which helped create a more atmospheric backdrop. The point of this was to try and produce a smoky effect which would tie in with the horror codes and conventions more.

STEP 7To create the Masterhead I actually used the tools available on PowerPoint as I was unsure of how to create the desired effect on Photoshop without wasting excessive amounts of time.

After choosing ‘Broadway’ as my font choice I then highlighted the title and right clicked, selected ‘Format Text Effects and then selected ‘Text Fill.’

I chose the gradient fill and selected red white and grey as the colours to be used.

Once I was happy I saved it as a PNG image so it wouldn’t save a background. I then inserted it into the Photoshop file adjusted the placement of the layer so some of the title was hidden.

STEP 8

The font chosen for the film title was Charlemagne Std which I chose because it is a simple but effective font which I think works well with a horror film because of the sharp edges of the letters. I also used this because this also used for the title on the poster and the trailer as well. I decided to make it red because it stands out nicely against the main image while also working with the horror theme again.

STEP 9For the other pieces of information around the image I decided to use a mixture of fonts. I used Bernard MT Condensed for the letter in bold and Trajan Pro 3 for the smaller lettering. I decided to use a number of fonts when my teacher suggested making the text more interesting and I thought that Bernard MT Condensed was good choice as it is very effective whilst still being easy to read. The rest of the lettering is in Trajan Pro 3 as I didn’t want to use another elaborate font because I thought the page would start to look busy. I included typical conventions of a magazine by using words such as ‘Exclusive’ and including a website for the magazine as well as the issue number, date, price and barcode.

STEP 10I then thought about adding more graphics onto the cover so Lucy and I looked at other magazine examples and realised that Empire magazine often have a circle with key information in it almost like a badge/ medal. We decided that it would be effective if it was included on our cover too.

After drawing a circle I then went into the drawing tools and then shape fill. Then I selected Gradient and then More Gradients.

I then added a golden metallic gradient. I used a number of different shades of light golden colours to make it seem shinier.

I then added the text. I used the font Engravers as I think it is a very effective font and makes it look more like a medal.

I added a brown/ bronze gradient to the text to add more detail and then added an darker outline too make it stand out against the gold.

I then saved it as a PNG image and added it to the Photoshop file.