Make a Tropical Technicolor Movie Poster in Lopsy

1. Choose File → New, set Width 1080 and Height 1600, and click Create.
2. Click Background in the Layers panel, set the foreground colour to #2A0E33 in the Color panel's hex field, and choose Edit → Fill.
3. Click the top ruler at x 540 for a centre guide, and at x 60 and x 1020 for side margins.
4. Click the left ruler at y 886 for the horizon, and at y 60 and y 1552 for the top and bottom margins. The bottom one is a little lower so it lands on a line of the 16 px grid you'll snap the date pill to.

1. Click Layer 1 so the photo lands above it. You'll delete the empty layer later.
2. Drag the photo file from your desktop onto the canvas. Lopsy puts it on a new layer and fits it to the poster's width, about 1080 × 720 px.
3. Double-click the new layer's name and rename it Lagoon.

The photo needs to be about twice as big so the sea fills the poster and the middle islet sits in the centre.

1. Choose View → Zoom Out twice so you can see past the canvas.
2. With the Move tool, hold Cmd and drag the photo's bottom-right handle down and right until the photo is about 2100 px wide (watch the top ruler). Cmd keeps the proportions.
3. Drag from inside the photo, up and to the left, until the small middle islet sits on the centre guide and the horizon lines up with the y 886 guide. The photo's top edge should be at the top of the canvas.
4. Press Cmd+D to commit the transform, then choose View → Fit to Screen.

A palm trunk cuts across the left of the sea. You'll paint open water over it with the Clone Stamp (S).

The Clone Stamp keeps the distance between the point you Alt-click and the spot where your next stroke starts, so sample at the same height as the stroke, off to one side.

1. Set Size to 120.
2. Start with the stretch of trunk just below the horizon. Alt-click the open water about 330 px to the right of the trunk. Paint three overlapping strokes down along the trunk, from the horizon to about y 1130: one down the middle and one along each edge.
3. Further down, the right side runs into the other palm. Alt-click about 290 px to the left of the trunk instead, and paint three more strokes down to the bottom of the photo.
4. Finally Alt-click the clouds about 240 px to the right of the trunk's last bit of sky, just above the horizon, and paint over it.

Cloning copies a second islet onto the horizon. That's fine. An atoll is a ring of islets.

The cloned bands are slightly lighter than the water around them. The Healing Brush (H) borrows texture from a source like the Clone Stamp, then matches the tone to where you paint.

1. Set Size to 70.
2. For each visible edge of a cloned band, Alt-click about 70 px beside it, then drag along the edge.
3. Do the same along the top edge of the lower band, where it overlaps the first one at about y 1094.

The leftover fronds and the sliver of trunk at the far left don't matter. The jungle frame covers them later.

The water is busy. It will sit behind the title, so it should be softer than the sky.

1. With Lagoon still selected, drag a Rectangular Marquee from just below the horizon to the bottom of the canvas, a little wider than the canvas on both sides.
2. Choose Filter → Gaussian Blur… with Radius 2 and click Apply.
3. Choose Filter → Hue/Saturation…, set Saturation to -15 and click Apply. Press Cmd+D.

The bottom of the poster needs a dark, quiet band for the billing.

1. With Lagoon selected, click Add Mask at the bottom of the Layers panel, then click the mask thumbnail on the new Mask row to paint on the mask.
2. Pick the Gradient tool with Type Linear. Click Advanced…, set the left stop to #FFFFFF and the right stop to #000000 with the Hex color field, and click Done.
3. Drag straight down from y 1180 to y 1400.
4. Click Background. Open Advanced… again and set the stops to #4A1A3E and #0E0818. Click the middle of the bar to add a stop and make it #24102E. Drag from y 1150 down to the bottom edge.

Adjustments live on groups in Lopsy, so the photo goes into its own group. The grade then stays editable.

1. Click Layer 1 and click Delete Layer. You won't need it.
2. Click Lagoon, click Add Layer and rename the new layer Rings. Click Add Layer again and rename that one Mast. These two sit above the photo, outside the group you're about to make.
3. Click Lagoon and choose Layer → Group Layers. Rename the group Photo.
4. Click the ✦ button on the Photo row to open its adjustment drawer. Click Add Adjustment → Color Balance:

• Shadows: Cyan — Red 14, Magenta — Green -22, Yellow — Blue 30
• Midtones: Cyan — Red 10, Magenta — Green -14, Yellow — Blue 4
• Highlights: Cyan — Red 8, Yellow — Blue -10

1. Click Add Adjustment → Saturation & Vibrance and set Vibrance 35 and Saturation 18. Close the drawer.

The shadows go violet, the clouds go magenta and the sun stays gold. That's the Technicolor look.

1. Click Mast. Pick the Pencil (N) at Size 5 with colour #1B0A22.
2. Draw the two legs. Click at x 513, y 878 and Shift-click at x 533, y 503. Then click at x 567, y 878 and Shift-click at x 547, y 503. The legs lean in toward the top.
3. Set Size to 3. Click the bottom of the left leg, then Shift-click across to the right leg a little higher, then back to the left leg. Keep zig-zagging, about ten crossings up to the top.
4. Back at Size 5, add a short crossbar at the top (y 503) and another at y 638, each a few pixels wider than the legs. Then draw the antenna straight up from y 503 to y 430.
5. For the guy wires, switch to the Brush at Size 2, Hardness 100, Opacity 60, colour #5A1E48. Click just below the top crossbar and Shift-click on the horizon at x 380, then again from the same point to x 690. A softer, plum wire reads as further away than solid black. Set Opacity back to 100.

Glow effects blur the layer's shape, so a 14 px dot only gets a faint halo. Paint the wide glow by hand, and let Outer Glow add just a tight hot rim to the lamp.

1. With Mast selected, click Add Layer and name it Beacon.
2. With the Brush at Hardness 0, Size 90 and Opacity 85, click once on the tip of the antenna in #FFF2B8.
3. Click again at Size 40, Opacity 90, in #FF8A3D.
4. Set Hardness 100, Size 14, Opacity 100, and click once more in #FF3D2E.
5. Open the layer's effects (✦), tick Outer Glow and set Size 10, Opacity 80 and the colour #FF2A1A. Close the drawer.

1. Click Rings. Pick the Shape tool (U) and set Shape to Ellipse and Output to Pixels.
2. Click the Fill swatch and click Remove fill. Click the Stroke swatch, type FFE7B0 in its hex field and set Width to 4.
3. Shapes grow from where you press. Hold Cmd for perfect circles, press on the beacon and drag out. Draw eight rings, starting with a radius of about 70 px and ending at about 660 px, which runs off the canvas. Make each gap a little wider than the one before, like ripples spreading out.

1. With Rings selected, click Add Mask and click the mask thumbnail.
2. Pick the Gradient tool and set Type to Radial. In Advanced… set the stops to #FFFFFF and #000000, then add a white stop about a third of the way along. Drag from the beacon straight down about 660 px. The inner rings stay solid and the outer ones fade.
3. Drag a marquee over everything below the horizon, set the colour to black and choose Edit → Fill. The rings now stop at the sea. Press Cmd+D.
4. Click the Rings name to go back to the layer. Add an Outer Glow with Size 12, Opacity 55 and colour #FFD27A. Set the layer's opacity to 85%.

1. Click Beacon, click Add Layer and name it Shade. You'll use it later to darken the sky behind the type.
2. Click Beacon again and click New Group. Name the group Jungle. Make sure it sits under Shade. With the group selected, click Add Layer and name it Monstera TL. It goes inside the group.
3. Choose View → Zoom Out twice so there's room around the canvas.
4. Pick the Pen tool (P). The leaf's stalk is just off the top-left corner and its tip points down and right to about x 370, y 470. Click once at the stalk for a sharp notch. Then drag around the outline, one anchor at a time: out over the broad lobe, round to the tip, and back up the other side. Dragging pulls out curve handles. Click the tip without dragging so it stays pointed.
5. Click the first anchor to close the path.

1. Open the Paths panel and click Path to Selection, then Delete Path.
2. Pick the Gradient tool, Radial, with stops #3DAA62 and #0A3F2B. Drag from about a quarter of the way down the leaf to just past its tip. Press Cmd+D.
3. With the Pencil at Size 6 in #7FCB86, draw the midrib from the stalk to the tip in two Shift-click lines. At Size 2, draw five thin side veins on each side, angled toward the tip.
4. Pick the Eraser (E). Cut five slits on each side, between the veins. Start each one partway out from the midrib. Vary where they start and stagger the two sides, so they don't look stamped. For each slit, erase a narrow cut at Size 11 halfway to the edge, then a wider cut at Size 22 from there out past the edge. That tapers the slit open toward the margin.
5. At Size 25, click three small holes near the midrib.

1. Click Add Layer and name it Banana L.
2. With the Pen, outline a long, narrow blade. It starts off the canvas at the bottom left, around x -50, y 1060, and rises to a point near x 170, y 190. It's widest about a third of the way up. Close it, then choose Path to Selection and Delete Path.
3. Pick the Gradient tool, Linear, with stops #86C25E, #3A8F4E at the middle and #17543A. Drag from the base to the tip. Press Cmd+D.
4. With a Size 22 Pencil in #2E7A3C, draw the stalk coming in from off the canvas to the base of the blade.
5. Cmd-click the layer's thumbnail to select the leaf. Pick Dodge & Burn (O), set Mode to Burn, and set Exposure 45 and Size 108. Drag it up the left half of the blade, then press Cmd+D. The leaf now curls away from the light.
6. With the Pencil at Size 6 in #D8EFA2, draw the midrib. At Size 1 in #245E2A, draw about fifteen fine striations on each side, slanting up toward the tip.
7. Pick the Eraser at Size 3. Make eight short cuts in from the edges, four on each side, running along the striations. Banana leaves split like this in the wind.

Build two more leaves the same way, each on its own layer inside Jungle.

1. Banana R: a shorter blade coming in from the bottom right, around x 1150, y 1010, with its tip near x 855, y 430. Give it the same fill, stalk, veins and splits, but burn its right half, the side away from the sun.
2. Monstera TR: a smaller monstera coming in from the right edge at about y 190, its tip pointing down and left to about x 770, y 430. Use stops #2F9A57 and #083826 and veins in #74C07E.

Keep the two sides different. A smaller, lower leaf on the right reads as a real tangle of jungle. A mirror image of the left would look stiff.

1. Click Add Layer and name it Hibiscus.
2. Pick the Brush and click Radial Symmetry in the options bar. Set Segments to 5.
3. Cmd-click at x 150, y 690 to move the symmetry centre there. It doesn't paint.
4. Set Hardness 100, Size 64 and colour #F03A76. Drag from the centre about 48 px straight up. Then set Size 92 and click once about 50 px above the centre. Each mark repeats five times around the centre, so you get five rounded petals.

1. Still with symmetry on: at Size 22, Opacity 55, colour #FF8DB3, drag from about 28 px out to the petal's edge. Set Opacity back to 100.
2. In #A30F3F, drag from the centre about 26 px out at Size 21, then click the centre at Size 40. That's the throat.
3. With a Size 1 Pencil in #B5194F, draw three fine veins out along one petal. Symmetry repeats them on all five.
4. Switch back to the Brush and click Radial Symmetry to turn it off.
5. With a Size 5 Pencil in #FFE3EC, draw the stamen as two Shift-click lines that bend up and to the right from the centre. Then click four pollen dots in #FFD23F at its tip with a Size 12 Brush.
6. Add an Inner Glow (Size 10, Opacity 85, #A0103F) and a Drop Shadow (Offset 6, 6, Blur 8, Opacity 45, #16031C).

1. Cmd-click the Hibiscus thumbnail to select the flower and choose Edit → Copy.
2. Click Banana L, then choose Edit → Paste. The copy lands in place, on a new layer above Banana L and so below Banana R. Rename it Hibiscus 2.
3. With the Move tool, drag the copy to about x 880, y 700, against the left edge of the right-hand banana leaf. It tucks behind the leaf.
4. Hold Cmd and drag the bottom-right handle inward to shrink it by about a fifth. Then drag from just outside the top-right corner to rotate it about 32° clockwise.
5. Press Cmd+D. Not sure about the angle? Step back with Cmd+Z to compare the flower before the rotation, the scale and the move, then step forward again with Cmd+Shift+Z.

1. Give each of the four leaves a Drop Shadow: Offset 10, 16, Blur 28, Opacity 60, colour #16031C.
2. Copy and paste only bring the pixels, not the effects. Give Hibiscus 2 its own Inner Glow (Size 5, Opacity 75, #A0103F) and Drop Shadow (Offset 5, 5, Blur 8, Opacity 45, #16031C). They're a little smaller than the first flower's, to match its size.
3. Now the rim light. Pick the Brush at Hardness 0, Opacity 45, colour #FFC14D. For each leaf, Cmd-click its thumbnail to load it as a selection. Then brush once along the edge that faces the sun, from halfway along the leaf to its tip. Use a brush about a tenth of the leaf's length, so 55 for the big monstera and 80 for the long banana leaf. The selection keeps the gold inside the leaf. Press Cmd+D and set Opacity back to 100.

1. Click Shade. Drag a marquee over the top 280 px of the poster.
2. Pick the Gradient tool, Linear. In Advanced… set both stops to #14031B, and drag the right stop's Opacity strip to 0. Set the left stop's to 65. Drag from the top edge down to y 280.
3. Pick the Elliptical Marquee and drag an oval about 880 × 124 px centred at x 540, y 198. Choose Select → Feather… with 36.
4. Set the colour to #14031B and the Color panel's A to 50. Choose Edit → Fill, press Cmd+D and set A back to 100.

With a text layer selected, changing the font restyles that layer. So click Shade before you set up each new line.

1. Click Shade and pick the Text tool (T). Choose Yellowtail, size 58, colour #FFE2B8. Click in the empty sky and type Somebody out there is still listening.... Press Tab to commit.
2. With the Move tool, use the arrow keys (Shift moves 10 px) to centre it on the centre guide, at about y 196. Add a Drop Shadow: Offset 0, 4, Blur 10, Opacity 85, colour #16031C.
3. Click Shade again. Choose Fjalla One, size 32, colour #FFF0D2. Type DOROTHY VALE · RAYMOND KANE near the top and press Tab. In the Text panel set Letter spacing to 7, then centre it at y 96.

1. Click Shade, and in the Text tool choose Shrikhand at size 200 in #FFF0D2.
2. Set the bottom line first. Click in empty sea around y 1100, type RADIO and press Tab.
3. Click Shade again, so the second line goes under the first in the Layers panel. Then click higher up, around y 880, and type ATOLL. If you click inside the first line's text box, you'll add to that line instead of starting a new one.
4. Nudge RADIO to centre on x 530, y 1214 and ATOLL on x 530, y 1014. That's 10 px left of centre, because the tilt and the shadow will push the title's weight to the right.

1. Click RADIO and choose Layer → Merge Down to merge it into ATOLL. Merging turns both lines into pixels, so you can tilt and recolour them. Rename the result Title.
2. Drag a marquee around both lines with a little room to spare. With the Move tool, drag from just outside the top-right corner upward to rotate the title about 5° anticlockwise. Press Cmd+D.

1. Cmd-click the Title thumbnail to select the letters.
2. Pick the Gradient tool, Linear, with stops #FFF4B8, #FFC145 at 45% and #FF5B3A.
3. Drag from the top of ATOLL straight down to the bottom of RADIO. Press Cmd+D.

1. Open Title's effects and tick Stroke: Width 9, colour #2A0730.
2. Tick Drop Shadow: Offset 12, 14, Blur 0, Opacity 100, colour #12031A. With no blur, the shadow is a solid offset copy, like the shadows on old printed posters.

A billing block is tall, condensed capitals, with the stars' names larger than the rest. Set the three lines bottom-up in Bebas Neue, colour #EBC8DA, and centre each on x 540. Click Shade before each line.

1. Size 21, Letter spacing 1: SCREENPLAY NORA ELLIS · MUSIC TEO KALANI · FILMED IN GLORIOUS TECHNI-HUE, centred at y 1458.
2. Size 32, Letter spacing 2: STARRING DOROTHY VALE · RAYMOND KANE, centred at y 1428.
3. Size 21, Letter spacing 2: LAGOON PICTURES PRESENTS A HARLAN ROOKE PRODUCTION, centred at y 1398.

1. Click Shade, click Add Layer and name it Date Pill.
2. Choose View → Show Grid. The grid is 16 px and Snap turns on with it.
3. Pick the Shape tool, set Shape to Rectangle, the Fill to #FFB43F, remove the stroke, and set Corner Radius to 40. That's more than half the height, so the ends come out fully round.
4. Press at x 540, y 1520 and drag out to x 748, y 1552. The centre and the corner snap to the grid and to the bottom margin guide, so the pill is exactly 416 × 64 px.
5. Choose View → Show Grid again to hide the grid.

1. With Date Pill selected, set up the Text tool with Fjalla One, size 30, colour #2A0730. Click in the empty space under the pill and type IN THEATRES JUNE 6. Press Tab.
2. Set Letter spacing to 6.
3. Nudge it with the arrow keys until it's centred on the pill at x 540, y 1520. The line is all capitals with no descenders, so the letters' own height is what you centre. That leaves 20 px above and below and about 48 px at each end.

1. Click the tagline's layer, click Add Layer and name it Grain. It goes on top of everything.
2. Set the colour to #808080, choose Edit → Fill, and run Filter → Add Noise… with Amount 22, Mono and Gaussian.
3. Set its blend mode to Overlay and its opacity to 35%. The grey disappears and only the speckle remains.

1. Choose Layer → Adjustment Layer… to open the document's own adjustment stack. Close the info box if one appears. The drawer already lists four neutral adjustments (Levels, Curves, Exposure and Hue / Saturation); leave them as they are.
2. Click Add Adjustment → Vignette and set it to 35. Close the drawer.
3. Choose File → Save Project to keep the layers, and File → Quick Export PNG for the poster.