Graphic postcards. Review of Photo Cards - programs for creating postcards. Ordinary image in an unusual way

New Year not far off, many of us buy gifts for relatives and friends, decorate the house and bake birthday cakes.

As a rule, we remember one thing in last moment- send a New Year's card. As a result, at the last minute we rack our brains to come up with such a thing, and where to get a creative idea.

To save you time and energy, we've come up with 50 great New Year's card design concepts to inspire you to create an original greeting.

So let's see.

01. Don't be predictable

This holiday card is somewhat unconventional. She doesn't stick to the standard Christmas red and green color palette, but instead uses blue and pink colors. There is not even a festive theme here, instead - only faint hints. Fresh and unexpected.

02. Play with illustrations

Elegant handwritten font along with cute children illustration. Children always decorate and enhance the holiday wish.

03. Keep it simple

Postcards like these are a good example of breaking the standard template. New Year's greetings. Illustrations and handwritten inscriptions are made in the same color palette, making up a series of congratulations. And at the same time, each of your surroundings can receive a unique postcard. A great way to let people know they have a special place in your life.

04. Graphic style

Simple yet unique graphics of this greeting card offers an interesting retro style. The layering of red and blue paint creates contrast and helps break up the repeatability of the pattern.

05. Using a paper sleeve

Here the postcard is equipped with an interactive element - the use of a paper sleeve with a round hole. When you pick up a card, you see a festive themed drawing. And as soon as you pull it out of the envelope, the congratulation itself appears in front of you. A fun and unique way to convey a personal greeting.

06. Feel free to style

It would seem a banal holiday card with a deer. But the intricate textured pattern and subtle white dots reminiscent of snow help balance the illustration and color background. Background gradient adds dimension

07. Using photos

This card is truly unique. All the figures on it are photographs, but since they are paired, the composition is illustrative. All the characters are the same two people, which adds a special personal flavor to the postcard.

08. Elegant to the touch

This design is extremely elegant. A thin pattern is used not only on a postcard, but also on an envelope. The contrast between the black postcard and the white envelope looks great. This congratulation is really sensual and exudes extra class.

09. Create simple illustrations

To surprise someone, you do not need to create artsy illustrations at all. With fast and simple graphics, you can achieve a cool effect. Take a look: the simple graphic Santa Claus hat stands out against the background, while the strong shadow gives the drawing a three-dimensional look. The simplicity of the pattern is paired with a little more frilly lettering to help strike a balance.

10. Add some sparkle

Who doesn't love glitter in new year holidays? On this postcard there are cones made of beautiful golden foil. The muted background further enhances the simple yet vibrant illustration.

11. Use metaphors

The holiday card features Santa Claus with his proverbial red bag full of presents. The inscription on the bag - "holiday mood" - conveys the main idea of ​​the design.

12. Use literal imagery

Warm holiday wishes paired with detailed illustrations of cozy knitted pieces are the basis of this postcard. The use of some unusual illustrations along with winter greetings makes us associate with warm scarves and sweaters.

13. Festive images

This postcard shows George - but not quite your typical Yeti. He is huge, has horns, and for some reason loves Christmas.

14. Breaking tradition

At first glance, this card does not look like a Christmas card. The color scheme is not red-green, symbols and images are also not festive. But that's what makes it unique. Simply adding the message "Merry Christmas" makes the design instantly themed.

15. Use Symbols

The graphic circles on this postcard symbolize Christmas decoration balls. Visually, these elements are not so obvious, but paired with a banner of seasonal greetings, you immediately feel the festive spirit.

16. Retro style

An example of a vintage Christmas classic. Beige color with red trim, subtle textures and font evoke a retro feel. Nostalgia makes congratulations truly deep and sensual, but at the same time light and cheerful.

17. Use interactivity

Very funny, quirky and unexpected postcard. The colors are not festive at all. New Year theme also no. But, it is worth pulling the tongue - “Happy Holidays” appears, and the card immediately becomes festive. This greeting is perfect for creative people or teams

18. Use illustrations as backgrounds

The design of this greeting would be great even if it used a simple black background. Adding winter themed illustrations to the background enhances the mood. The texture of branches and snow adds space to the postcard.

19. Use of negative space

Here white and blue are used together to create interesting effects with negative space. White snow seeps into the cold blue of the mountains, and at the same time looks like tinsel around the snow-covered trees.

20. Get industrial

This postcard uses industrial motifs in a very clever way. The design contains a whole phrase, and spins it, turning it into a joke at the end. The drawing has the general shape of a Christmas tree, which is crowned by a printer with a star. Very simple, but incredibly funny and effective.

21. Using Silhouettes

The soft and vibrant colors used in this design bring your attention to the middle of the composition. White soft blurry silhouettes turn into feathers and snowflakes. They work together with beautiful color blocks to create a deep shape. As a result, the ornament looks three-dimensional.

22. Let others fill in the gaps

Similar to the previous example, here the colors also create a nice background in the center of the composition. However, in this card, the background color forms the inscription "2016", while destroying the "2" and "6", making these numbers illegible. This allows the recipient to think of the message on their own.

23. Create something from something

Festive themed icons come together to form the iconic Christmas image, the Reindeer. You can clearly see each icon separately. To balance out the rather heavy, design-wise image, it is surrounded by round snowballs.

24. Symbiosis of typography and illustration

On this card, decorative embellishments are falling from greeting messages. Ornaments, despite the simple form, create a bright, festive spirit. The inclusion of triangular shapes and snowflakes gives the decorations extra charm.

25. Texture mapping

This design uses texture to make the card look less flat. Very subtle, but very effective technique.

26. Put together all the holiday paraphernalia

Do your friends celebrate Hanukkah? Then the idea to collect a bunch of cute little things in one illustration - the attributes of this holiday is just for you. And for those who do not celebrate this Jewish holiday, it will still be interesting to receive such a postcard as an informational and educational greeting.

27. Add a sense of humor

A kitten that is tangled up in a festive garland will make anyone smile. The image itself is funny, but paired with the ironic phrase: “I can explain everything” next to the kitten, it simply sparkles with humor.

28. Use flat icons

Flat christmas themed icons decorate the background of this holiday greetings. Everything is here: from a Santa Claus hat to a birthday cake. These postcards will show your designer friend where to go creatively next year.

29. Some more glitter

Here the congratulatory text is filled with silver. It is reflected in the light and symbolizes the hope that all plans will come true. contrast with yellowish golden color paper compensates for the silver letters.

30. Write your own greeting

A handwritten message adorns the back of this postcard. The unique personal touch makes it individual.

31. Postcards made by hand

Unique hand-drawn technique. Everything, from the font to the images, is handmade and truly personalized. Of course, it would be much cooler to make many unique postcards for all friends and relatives with your own hands. But it’s more efficient to make one and multiply. Still she'll keep feeling self made, and you will not be awake at night, drawing postcards to countless people you know.

32. Break the stereotypes

The outward inconsistency in the design of this postcard gives it a mathematical, scientific look. However, the letters, which at first glance seem like formulas, add up to a cheerful holiday greeting.

33. Manipulate photo images

Here, photos of two clinking beer mugs transform beer foam into something festive. Thanks to image manipulation, the image of a Christmas tree appeared on the card, and the message inside the card adds to the mood.

34. Adding Volume to Text

A bright and cheerful snowman stands out against a patterned background. If the white text did not have red accents, then it would “melt” against the background and would not be so obvious. The red color helps to highlight and draw attention to the lettering.

35. Make a joke

This holiday card will be appreciated by many designers. To non-designers, it looks like a simple graphic Christmas tree. For those who are in the subject, it is clear - in fact, this is a pen tool, designed in the form of a Christmas tree. Great way to send best wishes colleague and entertain him at the same time.

36. Push people to get creative

An insert inside such a postcard allows people to create their own design with deer and trees. The card is not only fun, but will also serve as a kind of element New Year's decor in the house.

37. Refuse the postcard

In today's technological world, paper postcards can generally be seen as an anachronism. Instead of sending a physically existing postcard, create a custom email greeting. This will not only allow you to send it to many people at the same time and without postage costs, but also save paper.

38. Traditions Illustrated

The design of the postcard illustrates the American tradition of Christmas pickles - a cucumber hung on a Christmas tree. The one who finds pickles hanging on the Christmas tree will have good luck in the coming year. A somewhat unusual and humorous choice of illustration for a greeting card.

39. Combining different fonts

The combination of a thin, italic typeface with a dense, sans-serif typeface provides good contrast. If only one font was used in this design, then it would dominate the composition. The combination we see in this design always works well, including on greeting cards.

40. Congratulations for everyone

Christmas and New Year is a holiday celebrated all over the world. Here is a design that includes traditional greetings in various languages. All of them are collected in the form of an ordinary strip, very conveniently interrupted by the image of a deer. Using fonts various types creates a kind of texture.

41. Create your own greeting font

Font consisting of solid stripes and striped parts. By adding something personal to a regular font, we make the recipient feel special.

42. Use of geometric shapes

The geometric shapes used in this design form Christmas tree. Incredibly simple, but truly original. Green stripes also imitate needles - a great solution.

43. Add functionality

But this design gives a new meaning to warm wishes. The card itself is made from a thin sheet of wood, and you are encouraged to actually burn it to keep warm.

44. Get creative with food

This special holiday card uses real cookies and powdered sugar. A fun twist, from boring graphics to a themed greeting. Especially if you want to congratulate partners who are somehow connected with the products.

45. Handwritten congratulations

Handwritten wishes give the cards an organic and joyful look. The inscriptions are made to fill the entire space, as a result of which they feel like a full-fledged illustration.

46. ​​Let the message speak for itself

Here, the phrase stands out against the bluish-green background and speaks for itself, while the texture of the bottom of the background grounds and adds volume to the whole design.

47. An ordinary look in an unusual way

Here Santa Claus looks very fun and interesting. Instead of showing off the red color of the suit, it blends into the background so that we see only isolated fragments. Even if you can’t see where everything ends and begins, your eyes still accurately recognize the image.

48. Have fun with a postcard

When sending a New Year's card, you don't have to be serious at all. This design can cheer up the recipient. A white sheep is paired with a wish that is written in a way that makes you imitate sheep bleating.

49. Kaleidoscope

There are no inscriptions at all. Yes, they are not needed in this design. The nature of the painted Christmas decorations is quite complex and detailed. And subtle silver foil accents add a winter holiday vibe.

50. Blurring the boundaries

Before us is a wonderful interweaving of letters and illustrations. The words "joy", "love" and "peace" are intertwined to form a Christmas tree. The dot in 'J' is the star, and the subtle dotted accents work as a garland. All this gives the card something special.


It has become full in stores of postcards of various kinds. This, of course, is convenient - you can find congratulations for any occasion. Whatever the reason you have: exit to new job, congratulations on the first kiss, a break with a boring guy - you can find a postcard for everything. But, despite this variety, you may not find a congratulation that suits you. In addition, printed cards are devoid of personality, devoid of the charm and charm that unprofessional, but made with soul, congratulation cards can breathe. Plus, you still need to run to the store. But right at home, on a computer, you can create and quickly send a congratulation by e-mail, and such a congratulation will be prompt and individual.

A program from AMS Software can help you create such a private, personal postcard. The programs of this company are graphic editors, each of which has its own specialization. These programs are intended mainly for users for whom graphics processing is neither a profession nor a hobby. But this does not mean that the creations created with the help of these programs are simple crafts. No, if you have taste, you can get very high quality results, in our case, postcards.

Photo Cards is a graphic editor that can work with layers, which makes it possible to create beautiful and individual pictures based on templates included in the program, as well as those created independently in a professional editor.

The following layers are used to create a postcard in Photo Cards:

  • substrate,
  • decorations,
  • text,
  • congratulations.

In addition, the program allows you to use third-party photos. The editor provides a minimally sufficient set of tools for color correction of graphics, which can be applied both to photographs and to the background and layers separately. Other tools include the ability to crop and resize images, rotate and reflect them, and various graphic effects.

Separately, it should be noted the "geometry" tool, which allows you to distort the shape of the selected layer, achieving interesting effects.

Background- This is the basis for the postcard. A color base, a gradient, a texture, or a pre-prepared postcard template can be used as a background. The program comes with a small catalog of backgrounds, sufficient for the first time, but obviously small for permanent use. In this, the user will have to rely on their own strength.

However, no one bothers to use the substrate as a background. Matte - a special layer created to highlight the central part of the image. Color and gradient fills, as well as textures can be used as a background. The catalog of textures is much larger than the catalog of backgrounds. If you put your textures in the appropriate folder, then the possibilities of the substrate will increase. The background can be edited: change the transparency level, apply a mask, create a copy of the background.

Decorations- a special layer of small pictures that can be stuck all over the postcard, as far as taste allows. You need to use them with caution, it is very easy to spoil the whole picture with their help.

Text. With this layer, everything, I think, is clear: this is the input of text accompaniment. The text is formatted by size, style, color in the same way as it is done in any graphics editor. The input dialog contains a special tab that contains congratulatory verse texts for various solemn occasions.

Congratulations- these are special pictures with text made in a beautiful, festive form. This feature is not available in the demo.

When creating postcards, you can use the function of framing images with frames. To do this, you can use both the catalog of frames and special types of frames separated into separate commands: "border" and "button effect". You can add your own borders to each layer, but this frame does not work correctly with all other tools. For example, it simply removes a mask applied to a background. There is also one not so much a drawback, but a feature that requires attention: the overlay of the "button effect" cannot be canceled, so it is necessary to use the preview function when creating this effect, so as not to regret later and not to redo everything again.

Each of these types of layers can be completed by users with their own patterns. To do this, just add your sample pictures to the appropriate folders of the program. This makes it very easy to create your own libraries of backgrounds, texts, backgrounds, frames, and so on.

Summary

The main function of Photo Cards is to create postcards. But this program can be considered as a simple entry-level graphics editor, quite sufficient for an inexperienced home user. With it, you can both create postcards and edit photos. The level of possibilities of the program quite allows it. The program can be recommended to non-professional users both in terms of its main function and as a simple graphic editor.

Greetings on any holiday with a postcard has always been considered a manifestation of respect and attention to loved ones, friends and just acquaintances. And if earlier postal services were needed to deliver such cards, today there are electronic cards with which you can congratulate your loved ones quickly and in a timely manner. Moreover, such a congratulation cannot be lost anywhere, and will come just in time, and the process of creating an electronic message can be quite interesting.

How to make an e-card on a computer

Creating postcards in electronic form is not a difficult process and is carried out as follows:

  • in the Internet search engine, a request is entered for a site that creates and sends electronic postcards (for example: postcard.ru or mail.ru);
  • with the help of special servers, a postcard is created to your liking, which you can decorate with different patterns, as well as choose the most attractive template, choose a color scheme with a beautiful font for the greeting text;
  • if desired, electronic cards can be supplemented with musical accompaniment, it can be selected from the music catalog to the taste of the recipient;
  • to create the most interesting thematic plot, you can use a graphic editor, but the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bcongratulations must be thought out in advance;
  • finished postcard is placed in an interactive letter and then sent to its destination.

In order for the creation of postcards in electronic form not to cause difficulties, and also to have a beautiful appearance, it is important to consider the following points:

  • it is best to use a graphic editor if you have certain knowledge and skills in working with this program, since studying it can take a lot of time;
  • creating postcards using a ready-made template will be much easier and faster, and you can adjust it according to your taste;
  • it is best to make postcards that are neutral in content, which will please not only their creator, but also those for whom they are intended;
  • when creating postcards, the main thing is to know the measure and not to overdo it with the number of pictures, the amount of text, and also to withstand a certain color scheme.

But in any case, no matter what kind of electronic cards you end up with, they will be a wonderful congratulation on the holiday of your loved ones, because it is beautiful, spectacular and unusual.

How to make a postcard in Word

You can make a postcard in Word, but here I want to note why it is better not to do this.

Word is a text editor, so there are some difficulties with graphic objects when they are arranged. And the result can be seen only by opening the postcard in. And if your recipient does not have this program, then he will not be able to see the postcard, or it will open in a distorted form in another word processor. The expected pleasant impression will be spoiled.

But what to do? We will use a program for creating presentations - PowerPoint. A postcard created in PowerPoint can be saved as a picture and will be available for viewing on any computer and on the Internet.

How to make a postcard in PowerPoint

Creating a postcard takes just a few steps:

1 Open the PowerPoint Presentation Program

First option

  • Start - All Programs - Microsoft Office - Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 (you may have a different version, but it doesn't matter - all actions are universal)

Second option

  • There is a search in the start menu. Start typing the name of the Microsoft PowerPoint program there and if it is installed on your computer, you will see it in the search results.

2 Choose a layout

Since we are using a presentation program, there will be markup on the original slide. We don't need her. We remove.

Home - Layout - Blank Slide


3 Set the background image

As a background for our postcard, let's take some beautiful drawing. Go to tab Design - Background Styles - Background Format


In the settings window on the tab fill choose Pattern or texture

In section Paste from: press the button File and select the desired image from the folder. Clicking the button Insert and press the button close in the window Background Format.

The selected image will be stretched to fit the slide. The background is ready.

Now you can do a little magic on our postcard to give it an even more original look. To do this, add a few additional elements to the slide: Santa Claus, the text of his congratulations and the title of our postcard. Well, to make it clear that the congratulations are from Santa Claus, let's make a callout for the text.

4 Add decorations and text

Let's get started. Insert a picture with Santa Claus.

Execute the command Insert - Drawing and move it to the bottom left corner. Let's scale it down a bit.


Making a callout Insert - Shapes. Change the shape to the desired size.

Now you can add the text of congratulations with the command Insert - WordArt. Select the text font sample and replace it with our congratulations. We adjust the size of the frame with the text to the size of the callout.

In the same way we make the title of the postcard.

Well, here's the card. It remains only to save it as a picture and you can send it by e-mail.

5 Save the postcard

To save, select the command File - Save As... We give a name to the postcard and, most importantly, change the file type to Drawing in JPEG format


Choose Only the current slide.

Now let's save the presentation so that we can use it to create other postcards.


Video instruction for creating a postcard

Now watch these steps in the video below. From it you will learn: how to insert a picture, change its size, how to add text with congratulations.

Dear friends! Create beautiful original postcards and delight your loved ones and friends with them. I did a selection of preparations for New Year's cards . There are collected: Backgrounds, Santa Clauses, Snowmen, Christmas Trees, Decorations, Symbols of the year and text greetings. But a selection of blanks for February 23. Still small a selection of blanks for March 8. Download and practice creating e-cards


Another selection of Christmas images with transparent backgrounds for quick creation original postcards. Download archive 28 images

By the way, as part of the Microsoft Office package there is a wonderful Publisher program, in which you can also do beautiful congratulations in the form of a postcard, I already wrote on the blog in it.

How to search for pictures for a postcard?

To make it as easy as possible for yourself to create a postcard, look for pictures with transparent backgrounds. Such drawings are most often in png or gif file format. It is preferable to use the first format. Gradients (smooth color transitions) are well preserved in it.

To search, go to Yandex. Select a search section Pictures(block 1). Enter a keyword - what image are you looking for. For example, the year of the pig pictures are New Year's. In the search hints, you can choose the most suitable query.


 Image search in Yandex

Filters can be used in the found pictures. Click Show filters (box 2). An additional panel will open. Now we select the options for selecting images.

We select drawings by size. For an e-card, we do not need large sizes. Therefore, I advise you to put Medium or small. On the thumbnails of the pictures you will see their true size.


 Filtering the image size

What size is preferred? On average, most monitors are 1366x768. So try not to take pictures bigger size. Because when pasted on a slide, it can close it entirely.

Choose your orientation. Everything is clear here. But in Type of don't choose White background. It's easy enough to remove.


 Background filtering

But still it is better to choose a picture without a background. To do this, in the filter File select PNG.


 Filter by file type

Yandex will show pictures according to our selection criteria. On the thumbnails, all pictures will have a white background, but this is not the case. Click on any of them for a larger view. Now, if on the background instead of white you see cells (checkerboard), then this picture has a transparent background.


 Displaying a picture with a transparent background in the search engine

It is preferable to use it for your greeting card collage. Click on it with the right mouse button, select a command Copy Image and paste it on the slide.

You can do the same with other search engines.

Create an animated postcard

The way to create a static postcard was described above, but you always want something more. Let's try to revive it a little and add falling snow. To create an animated picture, we need to work a little more and make several slides that differ in the position of the snowflakes on the slides. With a quick change of such slides, the effect of falling snow will be observed.

To save such an effect in a picture, you will need another file format - GIF, which is able to store and display animation in the browser. But Power Point does not support animation when saving to this format. Therefore, in the presentation editor, we will make blank frames, and to create animation from them, we will use the online service. Watch the video tutorial below.

I hope this information is useful to you. I congratulate everyone on the future and past holidays!

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