Beach Weddings – Invitation Tutorial III
So far in our beach wedding invitation tutorials, we have made a funky 70s sunset invitation and a fun ocean floor invite, both in Illustrator. Today, we’re making a very simple and traditional invitation using Microsoft Word (you need Vista to be able to do one of the steps).
This is the invitation we’re making:
and here’s how to do it:
1. Download the shell illustration here. Just select PNG full size under the image, and then right click on it and do a Save Image As (you want it to be a PNG file) and put it somewhere on your computer where you can easily find it.
2. Open a new document in word and make sure you save it as a Word Document, not in any previous version. You need the Vista format in order to re-color the shell.
3. Go to Insert – Picture and find the shell. You’ll see that it’s upside down, so the first thing you need to do is select it, right click and go to Text Wrapping. Select In Front of text. Then go to Picture Tools – Format – Rotate and rotate it vertical.
4. To change the color of the shell, right click on it and go to Format Picture. A new window pops up, and you want to go to Picture (next to last in the menu on the left hand side). There, click on Recolor and you’ll get a drop down menu of color choices. I went with the blue in Light Variations, but you can make it any color you want of course.
5. Next, go to Insert – Shapes and select the rectangle tool. Draw a box, any size you want, and then right click on it and go to Format Auto Shape to change the size and look. I wanted to make my invitation a 5×7, so we need to make the border a little bit smaller than that. To do so, go to the Size tab and just type in your dimensions (make sure Absolute is selected for both values. I made mine 4.7 x 6.7.
6. To make the borders look nicer, go to the Colors and Lines tab. Make sure the Fill Color is set to No Color and change the Line Color to a matching blue. You also want to change the Style and Weight. I chose the next to last option in the Style drop down menu, and left the weight at the default, 4.5 pt.
7. Now we need to add the text. Go to Insert – Text Box and in the drop down menu select Draw Text Box. Draw one any size you want, we’re going to adjust it later anyway. Type in your text and change the fonts and colors. I used ACaslon RegularSC 12pt black for the text and ShelleyVolante BT 24pt Bold in a matching blue for the bride and groom. (If you want to use these fonts but don’t have them, read my How To Add Fonts To Your Computer post.)
8. Next, we need to make this mess look good. Right click on the text box and set the Fill and Line Colors to No Color. Drag the shell over to where you want it on the invitation and drag the handles to size it. Pull the text box to where you want it. If something disappears behind something else and you need it to show up, select it, right click, go to Order and select the appropriate option. Once you like the way it looks, you’re done!
I would print this on nice heavy cardstock and trim it to size. Or if you have bought printable 5×7 sheets, just change the size of your word document to 5×7 and print away.
Filed under Beach Wedding, Microsoft Word, Tutorial, Wedding Invitation | Comment (0)Beach Weddings – Invitation Tutorial II
In the previous beach wedding invitation tutorial, we made a fast and easy, 1970s-inspired, very informal invitation. Today, we’re making one with a totally different look which is a little bit more work-intensive, but definitely worth the effort.
As always, if you need to brush up on your Illustrator skills, go through one of my earlier tutorials (the Save The Date Postcards – A Step-By-Step Illustrator Guide post is particularly detailed) and take a look at the Illustrator Tools and problem solvers. For font issues, see the How To Add Fonts To Your Computer post.
OK, let’s get started. This is the invitation we are going to make:
and here’s how to do it.
1. First, download the illustration here.
2. Unzip and open in Illustrator. Select everything and make it the size you want it to be (I made mine 5×7). The easiest way to do that is to, with everything selected, type in the dimensions in the Transform palette (make sure the Constrain Width and Height Proportions is not active).
If you don’t see the Transform palette, go to Windows – Transform and it will open.
3. The next thing I did was to select all the fishes and put them on a separate layer. This is a bit time consuming, but you’ll be happy you did it when you need to move them around to make room for the text.
So select all the fishes with the Direct Selection Tool (white arrow), cut and paste on a new layer (to paste them in the exact same spot on the new layer, press CNTRL+F). Make sure you select their eyes too, otherwise they’ll stay on the “ocean floor” layer. If your new layer is above the ocean floor layer, drag it beneath it.
4. Lock both these layers and create two new layers. In the first one, type in your text. I used Papyrus 12pt (black) for the text and Papyrus 18pt (R 0, G 156, B 197) for the bride and groom (spaced at 30pt). Depending on your wording, you may have to space all the text differently to make it fit and look good.
5. Lock that layer and go to the next to add the ampersand. I used Dahrlin Regular at 48pt (R 0, G 117, B 139). Move it around until you like what you see.
6. Tweak everything until it looks good. Play with fonts, font size and word spacing, move the fishes around, resize items. Once you like it, you’re done!
Filed under Beach Wedding, Illustrator, Tutorial, Wedding Invitation | Comment (1)Beach Weddings – Invitation Tutorial I
Who doesn’t like the beach? Good things happen on beaches – parties, vacations, relaxation; all kinds of fun. My best friend got engaged on a beach. The more exotic ones are stunningly gorgeous with their palm trees, white sand and crystal clear, turquoise water.
And for those of us in the northeastern part of the US (mid-Atlantic too for that matter), a palm-fringed beach with balmy breezes sounds pretty good right about now. So what better place to have a wedding than in such a beautiful setting where people naturally relax and feel happy?
I personally love beach weddings, and today, I’m starting a mini-series of Illustrator tutorials on making your own beach wedding invitations, each with a very different look.
If you’re pretty new to Illustrator and haven’t done any of my other tutorials, you may want to read the Illustrator Toolbar and Illustrator Problem Solvers posts. Also, my first Illustrator tutorial post, “Save the date postcards – A step by step Illustrator guide” goes through the tools and steps more thoroughly than I do here.
We are starting with a 1970s-inspired sunset look, perfect for a more unconventional, informal affair. It’s super-easy and fast to make. If this is so not your style, don’t worry – the next beach wedding invitation will have a totally different feel.
1. Download the illustration here
2. Unzip it and open the ai (illustrator) file in Illustrator.
3. Lock the layer with the palm trees and sun, and change the size of the background layer to the size you want your invitation (I made mine an A2 – 6.25×4.5). Make sure you’ve selected everything on this layer before you do this – there is more than one part to this illustration. Once you’re done, lock the background layer.
4. Unlock the layer with the palm trees, select everything and drag it over to the left hand side of the background. Just somewhere over there is good, we’ll fine-tune it later.
5. Lock that layer and create a new layer for the text.
6. Select the text tool and type in you text. I used Braddon regular at 18pts for the “Join us” and “Mr & Mrs parts” and 14pts for the rest. As always, if you don’t have this font, read my post about adding fonts to your computer.
7. Make sure the text is placed exactly where you want it, and lock the text layer. Unlock the palm tree layer, select everything on it, and move them around until they look good to you. As you can see, my trees are hanging over the edge, but that’s fine, because I am going to cut the card to size so that part will just be trimmed off.
