Hand-painted colour blocks plus Liquify distortion is the standard recipe for a textured poster. The tutorial runs from creating the canvas and fill layers through Smart Objects, Gradient Map colouring and circular crops, then adds a title at the end — twelve steps, illustrated throughout.
Step 1 – Open Online PS and create the background canvas
1️⃣ Open Online PS (zaixianps.cc) and choose “New Project”.
2️⃣ Settings:
- Width: 750 pixels
- Height: 1000 pixels
- Background Contents: White
3️⃣ Click OK to get the default “Background” layer.
Step 2 – Add a layer filled with red
1️⃣ Shift+Ctrl+N (Windows) / Shift+⌘+N (Mac) creates a new layer, named “Layer 1” by default.
2️⃣ With “Layer 1” selected, press Shift+F5 to open the Fill dialog.
3️⃣ Set the colour to #ff0000 (bright red) and click OK.
Step 3 – Create a second canvas and unlock it
1️⃣ Press Ctrl+N again (New) and set:
- Width: 500 pixels
- Height: 750 pixels
- Background Contents: White
2️⃣ Click OK and a new “Background” layer appears; double-click that layer and confirm to unlock it — the name changes to “Layer 0” automatically.
Step 4 – Paint the colour blocks by hand
1️⃣ Select “Layer 0” and press B for the Brush tool.
2️⃣ Switch the foreground colour in turn and dab a few spots anywhere on the canvas:
-
#000000(black) -
#a0a0a0(grey) -
#cfa972(beige) -
#ffffff(white)
Step 5 – Convert to a Smart Object
Right-click “Layer 0” → “Convert to Smart Object” (you can also use Layer → Smart Objects → Convert to Smart Object in the top menu).
Step 6 – Distort with Liquify
1️⃣ With “Layer 0” selected, press Shift+Ctrl+X to open the Liquify panel.
2️⃣ In Liquify, choose “Forward Warp” from the toolbar on the left.
3️⃣ Drag gently over the image with the mouse to shape the texture you want.
4️⃣ Click OK when you are happy with it.
Step 7 – Colour with a Gradient Map
1️⃣ Set the foreground colour to #0e0561 (deep blue) and the background colour to #ff0000 (red).
2️⃣ Choose Layer → New Adjustment Layer → Gradient Map… and click OK to get a “Gradient Map 1” layer.
3️⃣ Double-click the “Gradient Map 1” icon to open its properties, click the gradient bar and pick the “Foreground to Background” gradient.
Step 8 – Copy a circular selection
1️⃣ With “Layer 1” (the stamped layer from the previous step) selected, press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+E (Stamp Visible) to get a “Layer 1” (same name as the original, but actually a new layer).
2️⃣ With that layer selected, press M for the Elliptical Marquee tool.
3️⃣ Hold Shift and drag out a perfect circle (any size), then press Ctrl+C to copy the selection.
Step 9 – Paste and adjust the first circle
1️⃣ Go back to the original background canvas (750 × 1000) and press Ctrl+V to paste the circle, which creates “Layer 2”.
2️⃣ Select “Layer 2”, press Ctrl+T (Free Transform), drag to set the size and position, then press Enter to confirm.
Step 10 – Paste and adjust the second circle
Repeat the copy from step 8 and press Ctrl+V again to get “Layer 3”.
Use Ctrl+T the same way to adjust size and position so the two circles create a sense of depth.
Step 11 – Fill the layer colour
Select “Layer 1” (the stamped layer) and use Shift+F5 to fill it again.
Set the colour to #e60012 (bright red) and click OK.
Step 12 – Add text
1️⃣ Press T for the Type tool.
2️⃣ Click anywhere on the canvas and type the title, slogan or caption you want (for example “Textured Poster”).
3️⃣ Adjust the font, size and colour (white or another colour with strong contrast against the background works well), then press Enter to confirm.
✅ Done! You now have a textured poster made in Online PS.
References
- Adobe Photoshop official documentation
- HTML5 and the principles of modern front-end image processing
- Online PS