Welcome to Stunning Letterpress Effects in Adobe Photoshop!

Over the years, I’ve perfected a combination of Adobe Photoshop effects – in conjunction with real paper textures – that emulate real letterpress printing with beautiful results.

➤ In this class, you’ll learn how to:

create two digital letterpress methods
save your effects to use over and over again in the future
realistically overlay digital ink colors
paint and draw in letterpress

To get you started, I’ve provided two high-resolution paper textures in the Resources section that you can use as backgrounds for your artwork.

➤ Endless possible applications

This easy and versatile Adobe Photoshop technique can be used for digital artwork of all kinds, be it text or illustration. Some examples of its uses include:

Invitation and stationery mockups
Digital wedding invitations
Calligraphy and lettering artwork
Line art illustrations
Product cover images
Embossed leather and book mockups
Branding
and much, much more!

➤ What is letterpress?

Traditional letterpress creates printed text and images in relief, by pressing a raised surface – usually on a metal plate – into thick paper. The effect is a beautifully-textured impression in the paper, with soft edges and shadows.

➤ About me

I’m Molly Suber Thorpe, a calligrapher and author of four books for lettering artists. I’m also a Top Teacher here on the Skillshare platform, and teach lots of other classes about lettering, Procreate, Adobe software, and freelancing. Check out my other classes.

➤ Skill level: Beginner. Even if you’re not experienced with Adobe Photoshop, I provide detailed instructions to guide you every step of the way, including keyboard shortcuts and workspace setup.

➤ Software requirement: Adobe Photoshop (free trial here)

➤ Resources

Free trial for Adobe Creative Cloud
My other Skillshare classes
My calligraphy books and digital tools
Molly’s Lettering Toolkit – free resources for learning lettering and calligraphy
Book a private calligraphy lesson or business mentorship

Verena Gutentag

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