If you are someone who is looking to start a business or brand, chances are that you are looking for a logo. A logo is the face of the company, the brand identity, and the first thing that a consumer interacts with when they interact with your brand for business purposes. Chances are that someone recommended the industry standard Photoshop application by Adobe to cater to your logo-making needs.
You need to know that Photoshop wasn’t created specifically to make logos. The Adobe Illustrator application from the same company is more suited for constructing a logo from scratch in this regard. Photoshop is more focused on image manipulation. This is a way to make your images look the way you want or add certain interesting elements. For instance, you can change the background of certain pictures or change the way a subject looks in the photo.
That being said, you might have already gotten a lot familiar with Photoshop, and Illustrator might look confusing to you. Luckily, Photoshop provides a lot of functionality for logo makers as well. There is a vast collection of tools and mending options for your logos.
THE REQUIREMENTS OF A LOGO
The requirements of a logo for a brand or business are usually not too much different. This is because the main requirements are all about the scalability issues, which are also linked to the loss or gain of the logo’s picture quality.
This is the exact reason why Illustrator is more suited for designing and making logos as it works on the vector-based format. Photoshop operates on the format of raster-based images. So, fairly you have to choose the best and most accurate composition settings when starting a new file on Photoshop.
This is because if you try to stretch or scale logos, after designing a logo, they can become subject to quality loss. Even though, there is an option to convert your image to vector format in Photoshop.
For starters, if they are subscribed to an all-apps subscription plan of Adobe. It means that you’ll have access to Adobe Illustrator as well. What we are trying to suggest is that if you have any scalability issues in the later stages of logo designing.
You can always choose to import that logo in Illustrator to deal with such issues. Furthermore, if you have Photoshop as the only app in your Adobe suite, it is suggested that you consult a graphic designer to provide you with an accurate estimate about making your logo fit anywhere. With all the requirements out of the way, let’s discuss the step-by-step guide on how to make a good logo in Photoshop.
MAKING A LOGO ON PHOTOSHOP
In this step-by-step procedure, we will guide you through all the basic steps that a designer usually goes through while making a logo. This includes incorporating options in Photoshop such as gradient tools, shape tools, text editing, etc.
Furthermore, you must focus on the aspects related to your company. We mean that you will be focusing on the tutorial we provide you with your company’s logo in mind. There is no need to completely copy the logo that we’ll be making for you.
What is required here is that you should use the same tools and guides that we provide you with and shape up something unique for your company. Therefore, let’s get started.
CREATING A NEW COMPOSITION OR CANVAS IN PHOTOSHOP
Click on the Photoshop icon on your desktop. As the Photoshop application has been opened, click on the new document option from the drop-down menu. For a default logo size that might fit well for all purposes, you can try out 500pxX500px, but there is no hard and fast rule and you can opt for bigger or smaller pixel size too. Additionally, you can change these composition settings at any time.
Now it is time to create gridlines to keep your logo creation symmetrical and in the center. For this purpose, go to the edits tap on the top, and from there choose the preference option. Now choose the guides and set the grids after every 50px both horizontally and vertically.
START BY CREATING A BASIC SHAPE
This can be achieved by utilizing the pen tool from the toolbar on the left side. This endeavor can also be achieved by simply pressing the P button on your keyboard. Additionally, select the option of shape from the two options given with the pen tool.
The other option is path. We are going to draw a spearpoint that signifies the functions of a logistics company. To make this spearpoint, you can start in the middle of your canvas. Now use the grid lines we made earlier to assist you in making the other joining points of your spearhead.
For those who are completely new to Photoshop, you can use the pen tool by clicking on the initial point and releasing where you want to create a point.
It isn’t mandatory to name layers here but it is suggested that you name all the layers so that you categorize all work and avoid confusion.
LEARNING HOW TO COPY THE SHAPE
To copy the shape, you can use the command+J option on the Mac and CTRL+J on the Windows. For this purpose, the direction selection tool is the preferred tool you should be looking for.
Use the direct selection tool by clicking on the A button or by choosing it from the tools option. Secondly, now click on the uppermost part of your spear heard and try moving it below by utilizing the shift key but try to keep it fixed to the y-axis.
USING THE GRADIENT TOOL
Creating a gradient is easy. It is managing the colors in the gradient which is the more challenging task. The gradient can be opened and created by using the gradient option from the drop-down menu that is at the left of the options bar. Double click on the sliders located in the down-side of the gradient window.
This is done to open the RGB options where it is more feasible to choose the colors you want for your gradient. The colors must be subject to the color theme you have selected for your company. Now what you have to do is apply the gradient combination that you have chosen to the spearhead and it duplicates.
The technical aspect here is to change the rotation of the gradient so that both the spearheads oppose each other. Don’t worry if you cannot select the fill options, this might be because you have incorporated the move tool. Gradients can be filled by using the pen tool or the shape tool.
GROUPING OF LAYERS AND DUPLICATING THEM AS WELL
You can group any two layers by choosing them and selecting the grouping option from the drop-down. The grouped layers look like a folder you might be familiar with from the Windows or Mac operating systems. This is located in the layers section in the bottom right. Grouping is recommended to avoid making the layers section look chaotic. It also makes fairy easier to manage and edit multiple layers at once.
The groups can also be duplicated. For duplication, right-click a group and select duplicate group. Now, to add the main effect to your logo, you can use the transform function on your duplicated group and rotate the group properties to 90 degrees.
This can be done by using the shift key by holding it so that the rotation is done in intervals of 15 degrees. Free Transformation can also be done by using the CTRL+T shortcut. Afterward, move the duplicated group to the leading position of the original group. Keep doing this until the original shape of the group is reflected by the duplicate one. You can use the grid lines to achieve symmetry in that regard.
CHANGE THE SHAPES
This step is fairly short and easier. All you need to do is move away each of the shapes one grid away from each other keeping the center point as the focal point. This can be navigated by the shift+cursor combination.
REPEATING THE GROUP AND DUPLICATING PROCEDURE
Repeat the same method that has been explained above. Merge the layers by grouping and rotating them by 45 degrees. If you are confused, remember the shape that should have been formed by now must resemble a crosshair.
MAKING ROUNDED OBJECTS WITHIN YOUR LOGO USING THE SHAPE TOOL
For making a rounded shape ( circle ) in Photoshop, hop inside the shape tool and keep searching among different shape options until you find a circle. To select it, you can choose to click and hold on until it shows on the main face of the shape tool.
Now that you have the circle shape selected, you can hold down the Alt button to draw a circle from the center of most of your canvas. Also, you can choose to hold down the shift button along with the ALT button to keep the height and width completely proportional to each other. For those who don’t get it right the first time, you can always choose to undo it and start again utilizing the free transform tool.
USING THE RECTANGLE SHAPE FROM THE SHAPE TOOL
For this purpose, you have to visit the shape tool once again. This time we are looking for a rectangle rather than a circle. Now that you already know how to select a specific shape from the shape drop-down, let’s hop on to the important part.
You now need to draw a rectangle that will have the default white color. This must be drawn on top of the already-made graphical shape. This can be aligned to the middle of your canvas by selecting the rectangle layer and the bottommost layer on your canvas which is the white square essentially.
Now, all you need to do is use the align tools. This option of alignment is found either under the layers segment or the menu bar. Additionally, this can also be accessed from the options bar.
If you are someone who has a little bit more advanced knowledge about Photoshop software. Then you can use this to your advantage and subtract the rectangle overlapping on the shapes below. This can be achieved by using the Layer-Combine shapes.
Considering that this article is being read by a user who is a beginner, you can choose to ignore this advanced step.
ADDING THE TEXT
For the next step, we will be adding the text to our logo that we have constructed carefully up until now in Photoshop. You can choose to add the text wherever you like according to whatever, you have constructed. But usually, it is recommended that you draw the text box using the text tool over the rectangle that we placed on the top of the logo.
You can do this by pressing the T icon on the keyboard or by selecting the T for text icon from the toolbar. Now that a text box has been created, you can easily type the text in the selected area that will be automatically the text box wherever you have created it on the canvas.
One more prominent thing happening on the right side of your work area is the appearance of the character tab. This is automatically opened when you select the text ‘T’ option from the toolbar. From this character tab, you can choose different options like align to center align, left align, or right align your text.
USING THE RIGHT TYPEFACE
Make sure you go right and accurately with this one keeping in mind the business or type of brand that you have. The typeface is basically what type of font you will be using. There are essentially two types of font type: serif and san-serif. Serif fonts are more suited for brands and companies who want to reflect a heritage, elegant or vintage look.
San-serif fonts are more suited for organizations who want to implement a trendy or technological look in their logo.
In terms of copyright issues, there are a lot of fonts that are free to use out there but make sure to check which font is available to be used commercially. This is an important aspect as your logo will appear in a lot of places and things that are associated with the name of your company.
Additionally, make sure that you are not using any logo illegally as there can be legal consequences that your company might have to face afterwards. If you have decided which font to go with, make sure to perfectly select the aspects such as the color, letter spacing, etc.
LETTER SPACING/ KERNING
Letter spacing or kerning is the difference of spacing between two letters in a word. This is essentially the horizontal spacing. Horizontal spacing between the separate letters. This is important so as to improve the clarity and readability of your text.
Letter spacing alone is one of the most important aspects of your logo making. This is because it is related to the understanding of your logo. If a viewer cannot comprehend what the logo is displaying, it can be difficult and irritating as well. The letter spacing can be better accessed from the characters tab on Adobe Photoshop.
ADDING THE FINISHING TOUCH
This is completely something that is going to be unique to your logo alone. You can do interesting stuff here like using drop shadow, using different blending modes, or just making adjustments to the colors of your logo.
Keep in mind that the aspects of your logo must not look too bold or overdone. Additionally, one good way to give your logo a professional and seamless look is by adding reflection. This can be achieved by selecting the reflection effect from the effects menu.
Now comes the hard part, it is to choose how to export your logo inside Photoshop. You can export the logo in PNG, or JPEG formats. You can also choose to adopt the RGB pg format for the web-related logo requirements.
Therefore, most importantly, try to save the file in PSD format which allows you to make prior adjustments if there is something that really requires some revisions.
CONVERTING LOGO TO VECTOR FORMAT IN PHOTOSHOP
Photoshop as discussed earlier is a raster-based program. This is because you have to deal with a lot of pixel-made files. That being said, the files that are being exported can be converted to vector formats for exporting them.
This is handy for resizing your logo for different purposes.
For this, you need to separate your logo from the background using the direct selection tool.
CONCLUSION
Lastly, it can be said that Photoshop provides an easy interface when it comes to creating a logo from scratch. That being said, it is not the ideal application for creating a logo as there are certainly some limitations. Additionally, you can also try out the new AI features that photoshop incorporate to help people accomplish their logo-related tasks.
