Want this look...

[pippi]

I just found this group - it's fantastic how you all share info & advice. Wish I had happened apon this place years ago.

I am putting together a brochure cover for one of my cliets & LOVE this look (see attached). I didn't think I would run into as much trouble as I have in recreating it - it can't possibly be this tough! Arrgh!

It's a duotone of a light blue & a dark cool grey - I'll likly switch the colors around so that's not important now. I have Photshop CS, Illy 8 & InDesign 2 (althought I haven't done much with ID yet).

Any help you all can offer would be much appriciated! Plus I saw a previous post regarding websites with tutorials & training like - lynda.com. I really want to improve my skills with PS & the other programs, I'd love your imput!

THANKS!

[D-Frag]

looks pretty easy to me, just a gradient (and cant tell from the low res comp) but also looks like it has a texture effect going on too. you could do the background image in photoshop, and all the type (and even the logo overlay) in indesign to keep it all vector.

glad you like the GDF, and welcome aboard

[Jackimalyn]

d-frag pretty muhc hit the nail on the head. thats all there really is to it. welcome to the group though

[pippi]

Great! Thanks. I was trying to do it all in Photoshop & just having a heck of a time of it. I haven't done much with InDesign but have heard that it can do some fun things. I guess I'll have to play with it abit more. Thanks so much for the insight!

[pippi]

Ok. I'm overanxious. When you say do the background in Photoshop you mean the "ic" as well. The knocked out text & logo is no problem in ID or Quark.

I've never really delved into the world of channels before. With some online insight & a couple good books I've made alittle headway. I've gotten the gradient set up with the channels designating the 2 separate colors. I added some noise. Now I need to add the large letters with shadow. Will that be a new channel or is there an easier way? Or am I going about the whole damn thing all wrong?

My photoshop training is almost a decade old now so I reeaallly need to brush up. Thanks again! :o

[D-Frag]

well the "I" anc "C" are just type faces, like palatino italic or something. you can just put that type in straight into ID. knock the opacity down to like 20-30 percent, add the drop shadow and walla.

[pippi]

It's gotta be me but I can't get ID to do it. I have the letters all set but I'm not able to adjust the opacity. The tint option is not selectable with white text. Which is what I imagine I need to get that screened back look.

[pippi]

:o Feeling like a real idiot now - I found the opacity pallete. THANKS

[PrintDriver]

Before you go too nuts with the transparency effects and fuzzy drop shadow madness, perhaps you better read up on using these effects with type...
And make sure if sending this as pdf that you have your transparency flattener settings correct. Or you will cry at the result...Or maybe your printer will...

[budafist]

Great point PD. Some printers can't handle transparenies - our own copy centre is one of them. Make sure you get a proof from your printer to ensure everything looks as it should.

[PrintDriver]

It's not that they can't handle them. If the pdf settings are wrong, and transparency is involved...yuck doesn't describe it. Best bet is to talk to the printer before designing.

[Crimson]

He said he is using ID 2. Isn't that version a bit outdated and might not be that great on Transparency and drop shadows. So it is only a two color piece? Work it in illy and make the gradient and do the shadows as over prints???

[PrintDriver]

InD 2 was fine for printing and transparency output. It had some wonkies in the interface department. It was also the first full version to hit the press world with any violence and we all got blindsided by all the effects. It wasn't the program necessarily causing the output probs, it was finding the workarounds for the workflow at that point in print history.

V2 should be immediately updated to hmmm...what is it now...without looking 2.02 or 2.2...2.02 I think. Whatever the highest update the Adobe site has for V2 anyway. And do the memory upgrade if the update isn't a combo. InD2 goes all buggy if you have over a gig of ram.

Illustrator is more dangerous when creating Fuzzy Drop Shadows. There are two ways to make em, Filter or Effect. The Filter is the wrong way. Use the Effect. Especially if you do not know what Raster Effect Resolution means and how to set it and how to use it in scale when necessary.

[JesterBlaze]

When you think that you're done be sure to use the "Separations Preview" in InDesign to make sure that you have a true duo-tone. If you see anything on your file after turning off your two spot colors then you've done something wrong.

[VLAHAKISA]

Its a gradient background colour, with two letters on top in the correct font.

Convert these letters to 'outlines' and create a hard 'drop shadow' behind them ....and then make them opaque to the right percentage.

As has been mentioned, transparencies can be a problem sometimes with printing, but in most cases I've had no problems with them - always advise the client that a print-proof is essential before the full run goes ahead to pick up any issues that might come up with the transparency or anything else.