How to Create a Vintage Postcard in Affinity Photo

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create a vintage postcard in Affinity Photo. The first postcard, that was used commercially, was created in 1861 by American Printer John P. Charlton who copywrote it with Hymen Lipman. The large letter postcards were popular in the 1930s through the 1950s. These types of postcards had 3D letters which were the name of the place. Inside the letters were images that represented scenic locations from that place. Also, at the top of the card were the words Greetings from. This type of postcard was created by “German born Printer” Curt Teich who had a printing company where he would print linen-textured postcards.

Before you start, learn how to create a vintage postcard, download the following images and fonts used in this tutorial.

• Pic 1
• Pic 2
• Pic 3
• Pic 4
• Pic 5
• Main Image
• Paper Texture
• Bowlby One SC Font
• Dr Sugiyama Font

Step 1

First go to File > New. Set the Document Units to Inches. Set the Width to 6in and the Height to 4 in. Then, set the DPI to 300.

Step 2

Grab the Artistic Text Tool from the Tools Panel. Type the city, state, or country you want to use for the postcard.

Step 3

Now, select the text. Go to the Font Family and select the font you want to use. Make sure the font you use is a bold font. The font I’m using is called Bowlby One SC.

Step 4

Go to File > Open. Press CTRL and select the five images you see on the screen. Drag the images onto the document. Then, close the dialog box.

Step 5

In the Layers Panel, turn off all the other images except for the image of the Eiffel Tower.

Step 6

Take the Eiffel Tower image and drag it inside of the text layer.

Step 7

Next, go to the Transform Panel and turn on the Lock Aspect Ratio. Take the Move Tool and resize the image the way you see it on the screen.

Step 8

With the image still selected, click the Mask Layer icon in the Layers Panel to add a mask. Then, grab the Paintbrush Tool from the Tools Panel. Go to the Swatches panel and make sure that black is the active color. Next, go to the Brush Panel. Click the Basic brushes and select a round soft brush. Make sure the mask layer is selected in the layers panel. Take the brush and go over the area where the image is overlapping onto the next letter.

Step 9

In the Layers Panel, label the image layer P or the first letter of your chosen city, state, etc.

Step 10

Select the second image you want to use and drag it into the text layer in the Layers Panel. Turn the layer on. Resize the image.

Step 11

Now, click the Mask Layer icon in the Layers Panel. Make sure the mask is inside of the image layer. Then, grab the Paintbrush Tool again. Take the tool and mask out any overlapping parts. Make sure the black color is active in the Swatches Panel. Label this layer A in the Layers Panel.

Step 12

In the Layers Panel, select the third image you want to use and drag it inside of the text layer, and turn the image layer on. Grab the Move Tool and resize the image.

Step 13

After you’ve finished adding the image to the text, select the text layer. Grab the Mesh Warp Tool from the Tools Panel. The text layer will turn into a pixel layer. Take the tool and warp the text. Hit Apply when you’re done.

Step 14

Select the text layer. In the Layers Panel, click the fx layers effect icon. Check the Outline box and select it. Set the Color to white and set the Radius to 5 px. By default, the Blend Mode should be Normal, Alignment is Outside, and the Fill Style is Solid Color. Also, the Opacity is 100%.

Step 15

With the text layer still selected, Click the Group Layers icon in the Layers Panel. Click the fx layers effect icon. Check the Outline box and select it. The outline color should be black. Set the Radius to 15 px and leave the other settings as is.

Step 16

Now, go to File > Open and select the paper texture image. Copy the image and paste it onto the postcard document. Grab the Move Tool and resize the image.

Step 17

In the Layers Panel, click the Adjustments icon and select the Curves adjustment. Drag the adjustment inside of the texture layer. Select the left point and bring it slightly up. Place a point in the middle of the curve and drag it up. Then, select the point on the right and drag it down.

Step 18

After that, click the Adjustments icon. Select the Levels adjustment. Make sure the adjustment is inside of the texture layer. Set the White Level to 94%, the Gamma to .9, and the Output Black Level to 20%.

Step 19

Select the background in the Layers Panel. Right click on it and select Rasterize. Drag the background layer beneath the text layer.

Step 20

In the Layers Panel, click the Add Pixel Layer to add a new layer. Make sure this layer is between the background layer and the text layer.

Step 21

Grab the Rectangular Marquee Tool from the Tools Panel. Make sure the new layer we added is selected. Then take the tool and draw a rectangle.

Step 22

Now, grab the Flood Fill Tool from the Tools Panel. Take the tool and click inside of the rectangle we created. Press CTRL + D to deselect.

Step 23

Next, go to File > Open and select the main image you want to use for the post card. Copy the image and paste it onto the postcard document. In the Layers Panel, drag the image inside of the filled pixel layer. Then, resize the image.

Step 24

Click the Adjustments icon in the Layers Panel and select the Curves adjustment. Drag the adjustment inside of the layer with the main image. Select the point on the left and drag it up slightly. Right click on this group in the layers panel and select Rasterize. Then, lower the Opacity of the layer to 60%.

Step 25

Now, select the text group. Press CTRL + J to duplicate the group. Then, right click on the duplicated group and select Rasterize. Uncheck the Preserve Layer FX.

Step 26

With the layer still selected press CTRL and click on the thumbnail of the layer. Next, go to the Swatches Panel and double click the fill color to bring up the Color Chooser. Enter the following hex code #002290. After that, go to the Edit menu and select Fill With Primary Color. Press CTRL + D to deselect. Drag this layer beneath the original text layer in the Layers Panel.

Step 27

Select the duplicated text layer. Press and hold Shift. Then, drag the layer diagonally down to the right. Click the fx layers effect icon. Check the Outline box and select it. Set the Radius to 10 px. The Color should be black, and the Alignment should be Outside.

Step 28

In the Layers Panel, click the Add Pixel Layer. This layer should be at the top of everything. Grab the Paintbrush Tool from the Tools Panel. In the Swatches Panel, make sure the black color is selected. In the Context Toolbar, set the Opacity, Flow, and Hardness to 100%. Lower the Width of the brush to 14 px. Take the brush and draw a line in the same spots you see on the screen.

Step 29

Select this layer and the two text layers. Press CTRL + G to group the 3 layers together. Then, label the group Text.

Step 30

Next, select the text group layer. Click the fx layers effect icon in the layers panel. Check the Outer Shadow box and select it. The Blend Mode should be Multiply by default. Set the Opacity to 100%, Radius to 10 px, Offset to 15 px, and Intensity to 50 %. Set the Angle to 300 degrees. The Color should be black, and the Fill knocks Out Shadow box should be checked.  

Step 31

Grab the Artistic Text Tool from the Tools Panel. Place the cursor above the text to the left and type Greetings from. Select the text and go to the Font Family. Chose a font that’s cursive of a handwritten font. The font I chose is called Dr Sugiyama. In the Swatches Panel, set the color of the font to white.

Step 32

Press CTRL +J to duplicate the text layer. Place the duplicated layer below the Paris text on the right. Type The City Of Love in the duplicated text layer. Set the color of this text to the following hex code #E72837.

Step 33

Now, select the first text layer we created. Then, go to the Tools Panel and select the Mesh Warp Tool. Warp the text so that it matches the top part of the bigger text. Hit Apply when you’re done making changes.

Step 34

Now, select the duplicated text layer. Then, grab the Mesh Warp Tool. Warp the text so that it matches the bottom part of the bigger text.

Step 35

In the Layers Panel, click the Add Pixel Layer icon. Make sure this layer is at the top of everything. Double click on the fill color in the Swatches Panel to bring up the Color Chooser. Enter the following color code #FDB138.

Step 36

Select the filled pixel layer. Then, click the Live Filters icon in the Layers Panel. Select Halftone. Set the Screen to Color and the Dot to Cosine. Set the Cell Size to 5 and the Contrast to 80.

Congratulations, this tutorial is complete! You now know how to create a vintage postcard in Affinity Photo. For more Affinity Photo tutorials, check out this article on how to create a psychedelic poster.