Adding Style and Boxes to Your Artboard: Step-by-Step Guide

In this video, we'll begin adding style and boxes to our artboard. Let's first start with the PTC Banner 1 Photoshop file open.

We're going to organize Artboard 1 a little more in our layers. The first thing we can do is select Layer 1, which was our original layer, and simply delete it by hitting the delete icon, then click 'Yes.'

Next, because our center text will be on top of the frames, we can move the center text to the top. Now, we have our frames at the bottom and our text above the frames, which will eventually hold images.

Now, we're ready to begin adding boxes to our artboard. The first box we want is one right behind 'Building Cities on the Shoreline, ' to separate the two frames.

We'll create a new layer by clicking the new layer icon at the bottom-right of the screen, and within this layer, we'll select the Rectangle Tool to create a box.

We'll drag from one end of the artboard to the other, and we'll see that we now have a shape as a rectangle. To modify this shape, if it's not exactly flush with the ends of the artboard, we'll hit CTRL+T. We can simply drag it to the ends until we see the pink line, making sure that it's flush with the artboard.

Additionally, we can move it until it's centered on that third mark.

Both lines will be pink as we move it. We'll hit ENTER to save these changes, or we can click the Commit Transform icon in the options bar, and we'll leave it there.

Even if we move our title, 'Building Cities on the Shoreline, ' above Rectangle 1, we won't see it because both are black.

So, let's change the color of our rectangle.

We can select 'Bottom Rectangle.' First, let's change the title by double-clicking the title, typing 'Bottom Rectangle, ' and hitting ENTER.

With 'Bottom Rectangle' highlighted, we can go into our Properties or Options Bar, find 'Fill, ' click it, and make it a green color.

You can choose whichever green you'd prefer. I'll choose this light green, and that looks good.

We'll click back on the fill to close this box, and here we see we have a bar separating the top image from the bottom, helping 'Building Cities on the Shoreline' stand out.

Next, let's add one more box behind our text box so that this text will stand out from the image behind it.

This time, rather than starting with a new layer, we'll simply click outside the layers. Using the same Rectangle Tool, let's first change our fill.

We'll select 'Fill' in the Options Bar, and let's choose a gray.

Choose whichever gray you'd prefer. I'm going to do the same thing, even though we only want a square in the middle here.

I'll start by aligning it from the left to the right, and while holding Shift, I'll drag until I get to the other end.

I'll release, hit CTRL+T to transform it, and make sure I hold Shift to maintain the square shape. I'll drag it until the right side is pink, and while still holding Shift, I'll drag the left side until it's pink.

We now have a perfect square that's aligned within our artboard.

I'll drag it up, and next, let's move this square behind our center text.

We can do this by dragging Rectangle 1 and moving it behind the center text.

Next, let's change its size.

It doesn't need to be as big, so we'll hit CTRL+T and, holding Shift, we'll drag it up to maintain the square shape.

Additionally, if we hold ALT, it will move inward while staying aligned in the center.

We'll adjust it to about this size, and I'm going to hold Shift and use the up arrow on my keyboard to move it up.

Additionally, we can move it faster by still holding Shift and moving it up.

We'll leave it here for now, and this is starting to show us what our artboard will look like.

Let's rename Rectangle 1 to 'Center Square' and hit ENTER.

Next, let's save our work by pressing CTRL+S on the keyboard.

While this clearly doesn't look ready to be turned into a banner, we're starting to get a vision of what it might look like and how we're strategically creating it within this space.

The next thing I want to do is start adding elements to the top so we can add our logo here.

To do this, I want to add a triangle.

I could go into the Shapes Tool, hold down the Rectangle Tool, see more shapes, and create a triangle by changing the sides to three and hitting OK. We'll see the triangle there.

Let's delete that for now and click 'Yes.'

However, instead, I'm going to create a rectangle and angle it so it fits these proportions.

Let's scroll up on our artboard and click outside of 'Center Square.'

To create this rectangle, it’s not crucial that it's lined up perfectly with the artboard, so we can simply click. It looks like I still have the Polygon Tool selected, so I'll release it, delete the polygon, and click 'Yes.'

Sometimes we make mistakes, and it's important to know how to recover from them. So, we'll go back to the Polygon Tool, click and hold, and using the Rectangle Tool, we'll click and draw a long, skinny rectangle, then release.

Next, we'll move this rectangle down so it covers the artboard as a corner.

To do this, we'll use the Move Tool and move it towards the top of the artboard so it’s flush. Next, we’ll angle this rectangle. Even though we can’t see the rest of it, it covers out to the ends. We’ll select Rectangle 1 and hit CTRL+T on our keyboard to transform it.

With Transform, we can adjust the length or width. However, this time, I want to adjust the angle. We’ll go to the right-hand side until we see the arrows, then drag it to an angle.

If we hold Shift and drag to the sides, we'll see the angle change in increments.

For this to be a triangle, I want the angle to be at 15 degrees. I'll release, then move it up until it's flush with the top-right corner. We see it's flush there; however, it still looks like a rectangle going across. So, we’ll drag the top of the rectangle longer to fill the space. I'll even drag it a bit longer, then hit ENTER to commit these changes.

As we can see, even though it’s a rectangle, it gives the impression of looking like a triangle on the top-left side.

Let’s save our work thus far by hitting CTRL+S on the keyboard, and we’ll begin stylizing all of these elements in the next video.

See you there!