Mockup designs are fantastic marketing tools especially when you want to showcase your work to potential customers. They allow clients to see your work in action by showing what the final design could potentially look like after the product is complete. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to create a business card mockup from scratch using smart objects in Adobe Photoshop. Let’s begin!
Software: Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended
Difficulty: Advanced
Completion Time: 3 hours
Images Used For This Tutorial
Fashion model Sketch (silhouette): 17063812 © Dimitry Budilov
Setup the Document
Step 1
Create a 900×600 pixel document in Adobe Photoshop. Fill the background layer with a light gray color (#c8c8c8). With the background layer selected, right-click to go to Blending Options and add a Linear Gradient Overlay of Black to White, adjusting the Opacity to 30%.
Step 2
Select the Rectangle Tool (U) and click on your canvas. When the dialog box opens, create a white rectangle with the dimensions of 1050×600 pixels for a standard US business card. Right-click the layer to Convert to Smart Object, naming the layer Front Card.
Create a duplicate of this layer. Right-click and select New Smart Object via Copy. Name the second layer, Back Card. Add text to both smart objects so you can tell the difference easier, write Front, for one and Back for the other.
Step 3
Control-T to Free Transform the card you’ll be using to create a stack. First, right-click to rotate the card, then select perspective to adjust and sit it on the gray background. If you need to, use a reference for the perspective.
Step 4
Now let’s create a card stack! Go to Blending Options and add a Drop Shadow with the following settings: Opacity 30%, Distance 0px, Spread 4%, and Size 5px. Hit Control-J to duplicate the card layer moving the second card slightly upward. Continue duplicating and adjusting each layer until you create a stack. Try to vary the position of each new card to create a more natural-looking stack.
Step 5
Now select the Front card and use the Free Transform Tool (Control-T) to adjust the perspective so that it rests in front of the back card. Tilt the card upwards to make sure it’s slightly facing the viewer.
Design Your Business Card
Step 6
You can utilize this mockup for any premade business card design by simply clicking the Smart Object Thumbnail and copy and pasting your new design into the card templates. If you don’t have one already set, feel free to create this simple design. Let’s start with the back card. Click the Smart Object Thumbnail for the top card on the stack.
Step 7
Delete the text, then copy and paste your fashion reference onto the card. Duplicate the reference, then maneuver one image as a close up shot and the other as a slightly more far away shot. Use the Eraser Tool (E) to erase any areas where white might overlap onto the pictures. Make sure to save your smart object changes so that it applies to your original document.
Here’s what the mockup looks like so far with only the back card design.
Step 8
Creating the front card is easy. First select the rectangle, and create a gradient that transitions from light gray to white. Use the Rectangle Tool (U) to create a bright pink bar at the bottom of the card in the same shade as the pink from your design reference (#cd0079). Copy and paste your fashion model onto the card, and set the layer to Multiply. Then Free Transform (Control-T) it to scale it into place. Pick any font you’d like and write your important contact information on the card. Here I chose Rage Italic and Baskerville Old Face.
Step 9
Now back to the mockup. Complete your mockup design by adding a soft shadow to the bottom of the front card. Use the Eraser Tool (E) to blend out the edges.
And that’s it! Here’s what your complete mockup design looks like. I hope you’ll be able to use these techniques to create a business card that is sure to impress any client!