A photo greeting card usually consists of one or more of the following elements –

• Background paper.
• Photo frame.
• Empty area in which to insert our personalized photo.
• Card decorations (for example the balloons and teddy bear).
• Card lettering.

Here we describe how to make our own photo greeting cards. We also include a variety of basic image elements including textured background paper, frames, and more to help you get started.

Make Photo Greeting Cards
Source: Photo Greeting Cards at Zazzle

Photo Greeting Cards 1 – Background Paper

The first step in making a photo greeting card is to create appropriate background paper. We can create a simple background by just filling it with a flat color, but this will produce a less compelling card as is shown below.

Example photo greeting card background. Click on the gallery picture links for a full sized image.

Instead of a flat color, we want to texture our background.

• Pattern overlay – The second thumbnail below shows a background with a patterned overlay. I created this by overlaying a patterned brush onto my flat color layer within Photoshop. There are many free Photoshop brushes that we can get on the web.
• Textured background – There are many ways to create a textured background using Photoshop. Since we are making a greeting card here, we may want to create a paper textured background (3rd thumbnail below). I created the paper textured background using Filter Forge.

  We can also create our textured background using tiles and brushes. For example, the 4th thumbnail below features a folded cloth background that I created using these folded fabric brushes.

To the right are some free greeting card backgrounds, for your personal card making needs. Click on the picture to get a full-sized version measuring 1000 pixels by 1400 pixels.

If you are thinking of getting Photoshop, you can usually get it for a lower price at eBay. Just make sure to check the rating of the seller.

Example photo greeting cards with different backgrounds.

Photo Greeting Cards 2 – Photo Frames

Example photo greeting card frames.

Once we have our card background, we want to create a frame for our photo. To the right is a simple frame I created with various Photoshop layer blending effects. I used Bevel and Emboss, Satin, and Gradient Overlay(see settings below).

We can also create frames by using Photoshop brushes or Filter Forge.

To the right I created a few free frames that you can use for your personal greeting cards.Click on the picture to get a full-sized PNG version of the frame.

Once we have chosen a frame, we can cut out a section of our card to accommodate our personal photographs. A simple way to do this is by using the Magic Wand tool in Photoshop (Shift-w).

• I just select the Magic Wand tool (Shift-w) and click in the space within the frame.
• This will select the space within the frame.
• Then, use this selection to cut out a section of my card so that it is transparent.
• Finally, I just layer my greeting card template over my photograph, so that it shows through the cut section.

Photoshop layer blending effects to achieve the metallic look of my card frame.

Photo Greeting Cards 3 – Lettering & Decorations

Example photo greeting card decorations.

Finally, we want to add lettering and decorations around our card. This is the part that I enjoy most because I get to compose together different objects and images to create a compelling background picture.

In general, we want to pick decoration items that –

• Fit our photo card theme. For example, for birthday card pictures, I decided to use a cute clown, teddy bear, and rocking horse as decorations. Flowers are also a great addition because they fit into almost every theme.
• Integrate well with our card color scheme. We want to pick decoration colors that fit well with our card lettering and background color.

If we are using Photoshop, there are a variety of fonts and font blending options to choose from. I usually use the Drop Shadow blending option to make my lettering stand out.

We can also create lettering from within our card creation software or site. However, most of these interfaces will likely not have the range of blending effects that are available on Photoshop. Usually, I create my lettering in Photoshop and them import them into my card creation site as a PNG file.

Photo Greeting Cards 3 – Lettering & Decorations

Free Photo Greeting Cards

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

Below are several completed photo greeting cards. You can put in any lettering that you want, and personalize it with your own photographs. Feel free to use these templates for your personal card making needs. Click on the pictures to get a full sized PNG version measuring 1000 pixels by 1400 pixels.

Some popular Mother’s Day card themes include –

• Flowers.
• Photo Cards.
• Guardian Angels.
• Hearts and Love.
• Cartoons, including teddy bears, balloons, and other fun objects.

Here is a tutorial on how to make your own Mother’s Day card.

Mother's Day Card Pictures and Ideas

Mother’s Day Card Idea 1 – Flowers

Mother's Day Card Idea 1 - Flowers

Flowers are colorful, beautiful, and rich in symbolism. They remind us of nature, spring, sunshine, and new life. As such they make a very compelling theme for mothers everywhere.

Below, I have chosen 5 types of flowers to feature in my Mother’s Day cards-

• Gazania – Gazanias are flowering plants native to Southern Africa. As a result, they are tough, strong, and able to handle adversity. However, despite their toughness, they are full to beauty and color – just like a mother!
• Hibiscus – The Hibiscus is a wonderful flower with large, colorful petals. Nevertheless, this flower is not just a pretty face. It is also used to make paper, tea, food, and more.
• Roses – Roses have long been used to signify love and beauty. They capture the beauty of a mother’s heart, and are a great way to say “I love you mom!”.
• Pansies – Pansies symbolize thought and emotion. When we include pansies in our card, we tell our mothers that they are always in our thoughts.
• Asian Lilies – Asian or Oriental Lilies have large petals and bright colors which make them stand out. Their more unusual and exotic look make our cards unique and novel. These beauties are sure to catch the eye!

Click on the text link on any of the images above to get a full-sized image measuring 1000 pixels by 1400 pixels.

Mother’s Day Card Idea 2 – Photo Cards

What often makes a mother most happy is to spend time with, and share in the life of her children and grandchildren. With a photo card, we get to show our appreciation to our mothers, and also share favorite pictures that she will surely enjoy.

Mother's Day Card Idea 2 - Photo Cards

I have made three complete Mother’s Day photo cards below-

• The first card features a cute baby, on a patterned blue background. The cover text reads, “Thank You Mom!”.
• The second card features a teddy bear and a love shaped picture frame. Its message is simple – “I Love You Mom!”.
• The third card is decorated with a single red rose over a square metallic frame. Its simply says, “Happy Mother’s Day”.

Click on any of the thumbnails to get a full sized PNG version of the card. Feel free to use any of these images in your personal Mother’s Day card.

Mother’s Day Card Idea 3 – Angels

Our mothers are our guardian angels. They protect us, care for us, and love us, no matter what.

 
Who ran to help me when I fell,
And would some pretty story tell,
Or kiss the place to make it well?
My mother.
~~ [Ann Taylor]

The cards below feature two different angels –

• One more delicate angel with water wings, and
• Another more vibrant angel with colorful wings.

Click on the text link on any of the images above to get a full-sized card image measuring 1000 pixels by 1400 pixels.

Mother’s Day Card Idea 4 – Love

Most of us love our mothers, but we may not tell her so often enough. Mother’s Day is a great time to let our mothers know that we appreciate her, and love her very much.

The cards below range from more simple embossed heart patterns, to richer themes about love. Click on the text link below each image to get a full sized version of the card.

Mother’s Day Card Idea 5 – Cartoons

I love cartoons. They express fun, whimsy, humor, and fit in well with the celebratory nature of Mother’s Day. Cartoon cards always make me smile, and reminds me not to take life too seriously.

Everybody has a birthday – fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, uncles, aunts, friends, and more. As a result, there are a wide range of birthday themes. Some common birthday card pictures include-

• Celebration – Includes balloons, cakes, cupcakes, streamers, and other party elements.
• Flowers – Includes flower photos, digital flowers, painted flowers, cartoon flowers, and much more.
• Animals – Includes rabbits, birds, dogs, and teddy bears, not too unlike Easter card theme elements.

Making our own birthday card is fun and we can customize it to suit the temperament and taste of our loved ones. This shows them that we know them, love them, and care to listen.

How to Make a Birthday Card

Making a Birthday Card 1 – Foreground Objects

The first step in making a birthday card is to pick appropriate foreground objects that speak to our birthday boy or girl. For example, in this article I decided to use a cute young clown as my foreground object. The boy clown captures youth, fun, celebration, and can be used to create a compelling birthday card that appeals to children and adults alike.

Making a Birthday Card 1 – Foreground Objects

For the birthday card pictures above, I first rendered my cute clown in a 3D-rendering program (Daz Studio, Poser, Carrara). These programs allow me to pose the 3D clown figure however I want, set camera angles, lighting, and much more. Once I am done, I render the images on a transparent background so that I can integrate them with background and lettering to create my birthday card.

I have included a set of rendered clown figures below, in a variety of fun poses. Feel free to use them to make your own birthday cards.

Making a Birthday Card 2 – Background

After we choose appropriate foreground objects, we want to integrate it with a compelling background. The background should help to highlight and frame the foreground object, but not overshadow it.

When making my card background, I usually start by picking a color scheme. I pick something that will meld well with the colors of my foreground objects. I do not want the background to be too colorful or busy, as that will drown out my foreground elements. Here is a simple tutorial on how to make our card background.

Animal Birthday Card Picture - Start with a simple colored background.

Once I have a colored background layer, I add in some accent objects to enrich my picture, and balance out awkward empty spaces. Some appropriate birthday objects may include colorful balloons, toys, presents, cakes, and cupcakes. Create your own background objects, or feel free to include any of the rendered objects below.

Making a Birthday Card 3 – Lettering

The last step is to add appropriate lettering to our card. Most online card making sites, such as Zazzle and CafePress, provide a large range of fonts to their users.

However, I still prefer to make most of my lettering in Photoshop. This is because Photoshop has many interesting blending options that I can add to my text including drop shadows, color gradients, glowing letters, and more.

Below are some “Happy Birthday” lettering styles that I made in Photoshop. Feel free to use them for your personal card making needs.

We Are Done!

By using the procedure above, we can create a wide range of compelling birthday cards that are personalized to the people that we love.

Have fun and let your creativity run free!

Angel Birthday Card Picture

Easter is also held on the first Sunday after the full moon following the northern Spring equinox (also known as vernal equinox). As such, it is also a celebration of Spring, fertility, and new life. This is why rabbits and eggs are a bit part of Easter, as they are strong symbols of fertility and new life.

Animal Easter Card Pictures

Animals are always a big part of the Easter theme, especially the bunny rabbit. Rabbits are prolific breeders, which makes them a strong symbol for fertility and rebirth. They are also a prey animal, which gives them an aura of innocence. Being young, innocent, and playful, also fits in well to the meaning of Easter.

In addition to rabbits, Easter animal ideas may also include a newly hatched chick. I think that any cute young animal fits in well with the innocent and playful theme of Easter, so for my animal themed Easter card, I have included puppy pictures of my Siberian Husky, as well as 3d-renderings of an adorable fawn.

Animal Easter Card Pictures

I made the Easter card above, by integrating a puppy picture of my dog, with a 3d-rendered image of a fawn. Then I combined those foreground elements with a rich forest background.

• First, I removed my puppy photo background using Photoshop.
• Then, I rendered some fawn images in many different poses using Carrara, Poser, or Daz Studio.
• Finally, I integrated all my Easter card elements together using the layering feature in Photoshop.

Feel free to download any of the fawn images below for your own Easter card ideas. Click on the thumbnail of your choice to get to the full-sized PNG image which should be 4000 pixels by 3000 pixels. ‘Fawn lying down’ is what is used in the finished Easter picture above.

Children Easter Card Pictures

Easter is a great celebration for children. There are Easter egg hunts, chocolate bunnies, Easter egg painting, and fun Easter cards to design.

Therefore, children Easter card designs are always adorable and popular. Below, I created an Easter card of a cute kid in a pink bunny outfit.

Children Easter Card Pictures

I rendered the pink bunny kid in various poses and picked one that fit the size and orientation of the card I wanted to create. Then I integrated the bunny kid picture with background elements that I got from Renderosity.

Below are some pictures of the pink bunny kid in various adorable poses. Click on the thumbnail to get to a full-sized version of the Easter kid picture.

Egg Easter Card Pictures

Decorated Siberian Husky Easter egg card.

Painting Easter eggs is a well-worn tradition, therefore I thought it would be fun to include an Easter coloring card.

Below, is a card with a large Easter egg that we can personalize, design, and color. It may also be fun to print out several of these cards and make that into an Easter activity for the kids. Click on the image to get to a full-sized version, that can be used for your Easter cards.

For example, to the right, I have painted a picture of my Siberian Husky Lara onto my Easter egg, and decorated around it with a bow and some flowers.

Egg Easter Card Pictures

Flirtatious Easter Card Pictures

Finally, Easter is also about bunny girls, and I did not want to miss the chance to design a card that is more flirty in nature.

After all, Easter is for everyone, and not just for kids! 😀

Flirtatious Easter Card Pictures

Most of the Easter cards shown here can also be found on my Zazzle Easter Cards page.

Hope you enjoyed these Easter card pictures!