Postmark for letter

[twoaussies]

Please dont get tired of my questions. I am neglecting my husband, housework and everything - cant stop trying everything new (to me) on PSE3.
In the magazine, Volume2, No. 4 there is "Postcards with Pizzazz". I have done a good postcard, now where do I find the postmark????
Surely the Post office wouldnt have put one on a fake stamp.
Many, many thanks Jean

[Wendy]

hi Jean ...

Try the Adobe Studio Exchange ...

http://share.studio.adobe.com/Default.asp

and do a search using the words Letter post marks ... sorry I can't get the direct link to work :(





Wendy

[twoaussies]

Thanks Wendy - perfect. Jean

[Wendy]

Jean ...

Glad youu managed to find it OK :)

Wendy

[Diana]

I decided to try to make a postmark. Here's how I made it, if anyone's interested:

Make a Postmark

Start a new blank file about 3” width by 2” height, 300 resolution, transparent background. Double click on the background and make it a layer. Add a new layer, fill it with white, and drag it below the background layer. This is to make it easier to see your work. You can easily trash the white layer at the end to keep your image transparent.

Select the Custom Shapes Tool. Choose a foreground color of your choice. Hold the Shift key and using the Circle Thin Frame shape from the “Shapes” or “Default” category drag a circle outline about 1.5” diameter. Turn on your ruler and it will help you size it correctly.

Copy that layer. Select the new copy with the Move Tool and while holding the Shift, key drag this circle to a smaller size and position it inside the larger circle.

Using the Text tool, with a small sized font (I used Verdana 6) type your text. In the Text Options bar, click on the Create Warped Text button.

From that dialog box, for Style, choose Arc, then drag the Bend slider to get the text so it fits around inside between the two circles. If you want text on the top and bottom, do them separately as you’ll have to bend them differently to get them to position correctly. On my example, the city/state text was at +67 and the zip code was at –45 bend.

Then type your text for the middle of the circle and center it and drag it into position using the Move tool. I typed all three lines at once, hitting Enter to go to each new line, then from the Text options bar, clicked on the center icon.

For the cancellation lines, use the Custom Shapes Tool, and from the “Symbols” category, select Waves1. Using the color of your choice, drag the shape out to the right of the circle. Transform it to look the way you want. I made mine about 2” long by ½” tall. Then duplicate the layer to get a second set. Position that set below the first waves.

Crop and save as a PSD file with the layers intact. Delete the white layer at the bottom, then flatten and experiment with filters to make it look like a stamp with too little ink. Post marks are seldom clear and bright. I used Filter > Brush Strokes > Spatter and a little Levels adjustment to make it look faded. Maybe you can find a better method to age or fade your postmark. Then Save for Web as a GIF and make it transparent.

Here's what mine looks like. If you make one, please post it so we all can see.

Diana


http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/3750/postmarkexampleforweb9bw.th.jpg (http://img137.imageshack.us/my.php?image=postmarkexampleforweb9bw.jpg)

[lindajay]

Diana,
I tried making a postmark about a year ago, without a whole lot of success. Thanks so much for your method. I'm sure it will work better. I'll try it sometimes soon.

--Linda

[Wendy]

Hi Diana ...

Thanks for the instructions .. it looks really good. I will try it out later tonight :)

Wendy

[karen donnybrook]

Diana, I have had a go at the postmark but need to get our local PO to do a proper one for me to make sure I have the correct bits and pieces for Australia. Will post it when I have finished. The main differences are I only need an outside circle and our "cancelled lines" are not wavy; which makes a big difference. What is holding me up is there is writing between the circle stamp and across the "cancel lines" and I can't read it :(

[Jan Ruthig]

Diana,

Thank you for the postage stamp info. I made one on the stamp I did for Wendy's tutorial but it is not anywhere near as accurate as this one. I'll give it a try. Hhhmmmm....your Munith one looks very familiar!! ;)