How to Create an Album Cover in Photoshop

▶ Download the practice files for this tutorial (free with a PHLEARN account): phlearn.com/tutorial/make-album-cover-photoshop/

Making an abstract album cover inspired by Sam Smith's silhouette artwork — cut out a portrait, turn it into a mask, then run a painted texture through Subtract and Difference blend modes until it reads as a face without ever showing one.

CHAPTERS
00:00 The concept: an abstract silhouette album cover
01:37 Cutting out the hat with the Magic Wand
02:19 Selecting the subject with Refine Edge
03:56 Merging the portrait and hat together
07:02 Cropping to a square and building the silhouette mask
09:50 Playing with Subtract and Difference blend modes
10:59 Repositioning layers for a balanced composition
12:28 Adding type and centering it precisely
14:16 Adjusting tracking, weight, and type variations
17:06 Adding a drop shadow to your logo

THE STEPS
1. Select your subject and any separate elements (like a hat) with the Magic Wand, then load each as an inverted layer mask.
2. Use Select and Mask (Refine Edge) with the Refine Radius tool to clean up tricky areas like hair.
3. Merge your masked layers together into one flattened silhouette, keeping a duplicate group as a backup.
4. Crop to a square, turn the silhouette into a selection, and use it as a layer mask on a duplicated background texture.
5. Duplicate that masked layer, invert one mask, and try blend modes like Subtract and Difference to see how the texture reads against itself.
6. Unlink each layer from its mask so you can reposition the texture without moving the silhouette shape, and scale things until the composition feels balanced.
7. Add type, then center it precisely by filling a full-canvas layer, selecting it with your text, and using the alignment tools' center options.
8. Adjust tracking (not horizontal scale) in the Character panel for clean letter spacing, and copy a layer style like Drop Shadow between layers by Option/Alt-dragging the FX icon.

Read PHLEARN's full walkthrough of this album cover technique:
phlearn.com/tutorial/make-album-cover-photoshop/

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#Photoshop #AlbumCover #GraphicDesign