Creating Subway Art with Digital Supplies
Subway art is a creative trend that is exploding on
the internet. The art form consists of using words, fonts and even
pictures to create a visually appealing and meaningful display. Using
Photoshop brushes and digital scrapbooking papers, you can put together
your own, highly customized Subway art to display or give as a gift.
Here’s how:
1. Open a document the size and shape you’d like to frame your art.
2. Open a piece of digital scrapbook paper and use the Move tool to drag it onto your document.
3.
Get the Rectangle tool. Choose “Shape Layers” and “Create a New Shape
Layer” from the Options bar. Drag out a rectangle on your document
where you’d like your words to be placed.
4. Open word art such as
Katie Pertiet’s Blocked Sentiments. Use the Move tool to drag several
pieces of word art onto your new document.
5. Select the Word Art
layer and press Ctrl T on your keyboard (Mac: Cmd T) to get the
Transform controls. Use the corner handles to resize the word art to fit
within your document. Click the checkmark to confirm the change.
6.
While you have the Transform controls active, you can also turn a word.
Use the side handles which look like a curved arrow to change the
orientation of the word art. Pressing the Shift key as you turn moves
the image incrementally. Click the checkmark to confirm the tilt.
7.
To recolor a portion of the word art: With the word layer selected, get
the Rectangular Marquee tool (or other selection tool) and make a
selection around the portion you would like to change. Choose Edit >
Fill > Color from the menu bar. Choose a color and click OK, then
tick the Preserve Transparency box and click OK on the Fill dialog box.
Your word will fill with the color you have selected. Press Ctrl D (Mac:
Cmd D) to remove the selection.
8. If you get into a sticky
situation, you can also make a selection around all the words in the
word art by Ctrl clicking (Mac: Cmd clicking) the thumbnail of the word
layer in the Layers panel. Use the paintbrush tool to paint a new color
into the word selection using the foreground color as your paint color.
9.
To change a word: Select the word layer and get the Rectangular Marquee
tool. Make a selection around the portion of the word art you’d like to
change. Press Delete or Backspace on your keyboard. This erases the
portion you have selected. Now press Ctrl D (Mac: Cmd D) on your
keyboard to remove the selection. Get the Type tool and choose a font,
style and color in the Options bar. Click and type a new word in the
space and then click the checkmark to confirm your type. Text can be
resized like images by getting the transform controls to resize it. (see
step 5) Using this technique, you can also replace a word with a
digital sticker, rub on, or other embellishment.
10. To cover a word
with photos or digital paper: Select the word layer and make a selection
around the word you would like to cover. Press Ctrl J (Mac: Cmd J) on
your keyboard. This copies *just* the selection to a new layer. Now open
your paper and use the Move tool to drag it onto your page. Position
it one step above your copy in the Layers Panel. Hold the Alt key (Mac:
Opt key) and click between the paper and the copied layer in the Layers
panel. Use this method to cover the mat layer with paper as well.
11.
When you are happy with your artwork, save it as a jpg and print it.
You may also like to save it as a layered PSD file just in case you find
you’d like to change something later.
12. Slip the print into a frame or glue it to a canvas to display it. You can even glue it to a piece of rustic or painted wood.
