How to Create an Old Western Wanted Poster

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create an old western wanted poster in Affinity Photo.

Before you begin, go to the following links to download the images and fonts used in the tutorial.

• Paper Texture
• Cowboy
• Old Town Font
• Marlboro Font
• Saloon

Step 1

First, go to File > New. Go to Print and select the A4 document size. Then, select Portrait mode. Go to Layout and set the Document Units to Inches. Next, go to the Margins and uncheck the Include Margins box. Click Create.

Step 2

Next, go to File > Open. Select the image of the old paper texture and drag it onto the document. In the Transform Panel, turn on the Lock Aspect Ratio. Then, grab the Move Tool. Take the tool and resize the paper to cover the document. Click the Lock icon to lock the background.

Step 3

Now, go to the Layers Panel. Click the Adjustments icon. Select the Levels Adjustment. Set the Black Level to 15% and the White Level to 92%.

Step 4

After that, grab the Artistic Text Tool from the Tools Panel. Go to the Font Family and select the Old Town font you downloaded earlier. Now, take the tool and click on the document at the top. In ALL CAPS type WANTED. Center the text. Set the Font Size to 146 pt.

Step 5

With the Artistic Text Tool still active, go to the Context Toolbar and click on the a icon for the Character Panel. Go to Tracking and set it to 30%. Then, close the panel. Center the text at the top of the document.

Step 6

Once you’ve done that, grab the Artistic Text Tool again. Click below the wanted text and type DEAD OR ALIVE in ALL CAPS. Select the text. Go to the Font Family and select the Marlboro font. Set the size of the text to 58 pt.

Step 7

Next, grab the Rectangle Tool from the Tools Panel. Take the tool and draw a rectangle that’s 4 in x 6 in.

Step 8

Now, go to File > Open and select the image of the man. Drag the image onto the document. In the Layers Panel, drag the image layer into the rectangle and resize/arrange the image the way you see it on the screen. Make sure the Lock Aspect Ratio is on in the Transform Panel.

Step 9

After that, select the image. In the Layers Panel, select the fx (layers effect) icon. Check the Color Overlay box and select it. Go to the Color box. Select the RGB Hex Sliders and enter the following hex # D7BF86. Set the Blend Mode to Color.

Step 10

With the image still selected, go to the Layers Panel and click the Live Filters icon. Set the Intensity to 15%. Check the Monochromatic box and select Gaussian.

Step 11

Select the image. Then, select the Adjustments icon, and click the Curves adjustment. Drag the point on the right down some. Take the point on the left and drag it in some to the right. After that, click and add a point in the middle. Drag it down and slightly to the right.

Step 12

Now, grab the Artistic Text Tool from the Tools Panel. Take the tool and click on the left side of the image. Type $6,000. Set the text to the Marlboro font.

Step 13

Press CTRL + J to make a copy of this text. Then, drag the duplicated text below the original. Select the duplicated text and type FOR THE CAPTURE in all caps.

Step 14

After that, press CTRL + J again on this text layer. Take the new duplicated text and place it below the previous one. Select the text and type OF THE MAN WHO in all caps.

Step 15

Once you’ve done that, grab the Move Tool. Press CTRL + Shift and drag a copy of this text below the previous one. Select the text and type ROBBED THE BANK in all caps.

Step 16

Grab the Artistic Text Tool and click below the last text layer. Type AT in all caps.

Step 17

With this text layer selected, press CTRL + J to duplicate this text. Move the text layer where you see it on the screen. Select the text and type Sheridan. Once you’ve done this, press CTRL + J to duplicate this text. Then, move this text layer below its original one. Type WY (for Wyoming) and place the text where you see it.

Step 18

Next, grab the Move Tool. Select the three text layers between the $6,000 and the AT text. Then, press CTRL + Shift and drag a copy of these text layers to the right side of the image.

Step 19

Select the first text layer we moved to this side. Type 6 FT O INCHES TALL in all caps. With this text layer selected, press CTRL + Enter to change the text layer to curves.

Step 20

Now, click the second text layer. Select the words and type MEDIUM BUILD in all caps.

Step 21

After that, select the third layer. Select the text. Then, type BRWON EYES in all caps.

Step 22

Once you’ve done that, grab the Artistic Text Tool. Take the tool and click below the pic. In all caps, type the name CLAY BOONE.

Step 23

Grab the Artistic Text Tool again. Click below Clay Boone’s name and type $6,000.

Step 24

Now, grab the Move Tool. Take the tool and press CTRL + Shift. Then, drag a copy of the $6,000 text layer below the original one.

Step 25

Select the duplicated layer and type REWARD in all caps. Now, select the text and go to the Font Family. Change the font to the Old Town font. Resize the text making it slightly bigger.

Step 26

After that, grab the Artistic Text Tool. Click and place the tool on the left side of the $6,000 text layer. In all caps type NOTORIOUS ROBBER OF. Select the text. Go to the Font Family and change the text to the Marlboro font.

Step 27

With the text layer selected. Grab the Move Tool. Then, press CTRL + Shift and drag a duplicate of this text layer below the original one. Select the text and type BANKS AND TRAINS in all caps.

Step 28

Grab the Artistic Text Tool. Take the tool and click beneath the Reward text. In all caps, type CONTACT SHERIFF, SHERIDAN COUNTY WYOMING.

Step 29

Now, take the Move Tool and select the text layer we just created. Press  CTRL + Shift and drag a copy of the text layer to the right side. Select the text and type May 12, 1880. Set the Font Size to 16 pt.

Step 30

In the Layers Panel, select all the layers. Then, right-click on the selected layers and click Merge Visible. Now, turn off all the other layers in the Layers Panel.

Step 31

After that, select the merged pixel layer. Then, go to File > Export and save the poster.

Step 32

Now, go to File > Open and select the image of he saloon you downloaded earlier.

Step 33

Press the C key to activate the Crop Tool. Crop the image the way you see it on the screen. Once you have the image size, hit Apply to apply the crop.

Step 34

Next, go to the Layers Panel and click the Adjustments icon and select the Black and White adjustment. Lower the Red to 70%, the Yellow to 21%, the Cyan to 40%, and the Blue to 45%. Then, increase the Magenta to 126%. Set the Blend Mode of this layer to Average.

Step 35

Now, select the image, then click the Adjustments icon. Select the Curves adjustment. Go to the Red Channel. Next, select the point on the left and bring it slightly up. Then, add a point in the middle and bring it up some.

Step 36

Select the image layer. Click the Adjustments icon and select the Levels adjustment. Set the Black Level to 6%, Gamma to 1.037, and the Output White Level to 90%.

Step 37

After that, grab the Rectangle Tool from the Tools Panel. Draw a rectangle that covers the entire document.

Step 38

With the rectangle selected, go to the Layers Panel and click the fx (layers effect) icon. Check the Color Overlay box and select it. Go to Color. Select the RGB Hex Sliders. Now, enter the following hex code # AE6312. Then, go down to the Noise and add some noise to this color. In the Layers Panel, lower the Opacity of the rectangle to 44% and set the Blend Mode to Screen.

Step 39

Once you’ve done that, go to File > Open. Select the poster image and drag it onto the document. In the Transform Panel, turn on the Lock Aspect Ratio. Now, grab the Move Tool and resize the image. Place the poster on the side of the saloon’s building.

Step 40

Now, go to the Tools Panel and select the Perspective Tool. Grab the node in the top right corner. Bring this node down some until it’s on the side of the saloon’s building. Hit Apply.

Step 41

Select the poster layer. Next, click the Live Filters icon in the Layers Panel and select Displace. Check the Preserve Alpha box and the Scale to Fit box. Now, set the Load Method to Red/Green Offset. Then, select Load Map From Layers Beneath. Once you’ve done that, you can set the Strength to your liking. I set the Strength to -9 px. After you set the strength, lower the Opacity. I set the Opacity to 20%.

Congratulations, this tutorial is complete! You now know how to create an old western wanted poster in Affinity Photo. For more tutorials like this, check out this article on how to create a vintage travel poster.