A business card design needs to stand out to be effective, but that’s often not enough to attract clients and colleagues. For a card to engage its audience in the right way, it needs to reflect the company’s values. That doesn’t mean you need to beat viewers over the head with literal imagery; you can often use more subtle, nuanced effects to get your message across.
Double exposure effects allow you to blend two different images in an unexpected way, creating a slightly surreal and atmospheric effect. In this simple tutorial for a vertical business card design, we’ll use double exposure to promote a fictional travel agency, blending images of a courageous traveler with a starry night sky to evoke a sense of wanderlust and appreciation for the beauty of nature. This modern design is aimed at getting recipients who are planning a vacation excited about tourism and world travel.
Before you get started, you’ll need the following:
Designing Side 1
1. Download the business card die cut template. (Scroll down the page and click “Download template.”)
2. Open Photoshop and click File > Open to open the business card template.
3. Keep the settings in the Rasterize EPS Format window as they are and click the OK button.
4. Using the Crop Tool (C), select the template and press Enter, cropping out the extra information.
5. Rotate the image using Image > Image Rotation > 90° Clockwise.
6. Double-click the layer and rename it “Template.” The template is now ready to start designing on. When you don’t need to see it, you can make it invisible by clicking the eye icon to the left of the layer’s name. Save the file by clicking File > Save. Then, save an additional copy using Save As so that you can be ready to design Side 2 later.
7. Click Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color and press OK. In the Color Picker window, set the color as C3 M3 Y5 K0 and press OK. Put this layer under the Template layer and name it Background.
8. In the toolbar, choose the Rectangle Tool (U) and create a black rectangle at the bottom of the business card as shown.
9. Open up the photo of a man with a backpack. Click Image > Image Rotation > Flip Canvas Horizontal.
10. Click Select > Select and Mask.
11. Using the Quick Selection Tool, select the hiker and backpack as shown. Choose the Layer Mask option in the Output Settings area and click OK.
12. Click Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color and then click OK. In the Color Picker window, select a deep black color and click OK.
13. Right-click on the Color Fill 1 layer and choose Create Clipping Mask.
14. Select both layers, then right-click and choose Convert to Smart Object.
15. Right-click on our new smart object and choose Duplicate Layer.
16. In the Duplicate Layer window, set the name of the layer to Silhouette. Set the Destination Document to your template document and click the OK button.
17. Using the Free Transform Tool (Edit > Free Transform), set the size and position of the Silhouette layer as shown in the screenshot. Make sure the Silhouette layer is placed above the Rectangle Black layer in the Layers panel.
18. Open up the photo of mountains. Click Select > Select and Mask. Select the mountain with the Quick Selection Tool and choose the Layer Mask option in the Output Settings area. Click OK.
19. Right-click on the mountain layer and choose Duplicate Layer.
20. In the Duplicate Layer window, set the name of the layer to Mountain and the Destination Document to your template document. Click OK.
21. Using the Free Transform Tool (Edit>Free Transform) set the size and position of the Mountain layer as shown.
22. Set the Blending Mode to Screen.
23. Open the photo of a night sky. Double-click the layer, then click OK in the New Layer window.
24. Right-click on the Layer 0 layer and choose Duplicate Layer. In the Duplicate Layer window, set the name of the layer to Starry Sky and the Destination Document to your template document. Click the OK button.
25. Put the Starry Sky layer above the Silhouette layer.
26. Using the Free Transform Tool (Edit > Free Transform), set the size and position of the Starry Sky layer as shown.
27. Right-click on the Starry Sky layer and choose Create Clipping Mask.
28. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels. Click OK.
29. Adjust layer properties as shown in the screenshot (137 – 0,53 – 255).
30. Put the Levels 1 layer above the Mountain layer.
31. Change the opacity of the Mountain layer to 90%.
32. Duplicate the Mountain layer by pressing Ctrl+J and click Image > Adjustments > Desaturate.
33. Put the Mountain copy layer under the Silhouette layer.
34. Change the Blending Mode of the Mountain copy layer to Pin Light and set its Opacity to 30%.
35. Using the Free Transform Tool (Edit > Free Transform), set the size and position of the Mountain copy layer as shown.
36. Put the Rectangle Black layer under the Template layer.
37. Click on the Mountain layer’s mask icon while holding the Ctrl (Command on Mac) button to create a selection around the mask.
38. With the Layer mask icon selected, use the Gradient Tool (G) to fill the selection, dragging from the bottom to the top to create soft fading at the bottom.
39. Open the photo of a tent. Right-click on the layer and choose Duplicate Layer.
40. Make this layer black-and-white by choosing Image > Adjustments > Black & White. Change the settings as shown below.
41. Go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All.
42. Choose the Brush Tool (B). Make sure the Foreground Color is set to black and the mask icon is selected. Paint on the sky, sea and mountains making these parts of the black-and-white photo transparent. The tent, grass, rock, and the person’s shirt should all remain black-and-white.
43. Select both layers (hold Shift and click each one) and right-click on one of them. Choose Convert to Smart Object.
44. Right-click on the smart object and choose Duplicate Layer.
45. In the Duplicate Layer window, set the name of layer to Tent and the Destination Document to your template document. Click OK.
46. Put the Tent layer above the Rectangle Black layer.
47. Use the Free Transform Tool (Edit > Free Transform) to set the size and position of the Tent layer as shown.
48. Go to Image > Adjustment > Levels. Adjust layer properties as shown in the screenshot (68 – 0,75 – 255).
49. Select the Horizontal Type Tool (T). Click on the black space at the bottom of the card and type your tagline. We used “Sometimes lost is the best place to be.”
50. Change Character settings to the following:
Font – Government Agent BB
Size – 13pt
Font Color – C5 M4 Y10 K0
Leading – 12pt
Alignment – Centered
Arrange the text into three separate lines, as shown below.
51. In the same way, add the name of the travel agency at the top of business card so that it takes up two lines. Change the Character settings as follows:
Font – Government Agent BB
Size – 19pt
Font Color – C75 M70 Y70 K90
Leading – 16pt
Alignment – Centered
52. Duplicate the Starry Sky layer (Ctrl+J). Move it above the name of the travel agency.
53. Right-click on the Starry Sky layer and choose Clipping Mask.
54. Using the Free Transform Tool (Edit > Free Transform), set the size and position of the Starry Sky copy layer as shown.
Side 1 of your business card is now complete!
Designing Side 2
1. Open your copy of the business card template that you saved in step 6 of the Side 1 instructions.
2. Click Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color and press OK.
3. In the Color Picker window, set the color to C12 M12 Y20 K0 and press OK. Put this layer underneath the Template layer and name it Background.
4. In the toolbar, choose the Rectangle Tool (U) and create a black rectangle at the bottom of the business card as shown in the screenshot. We’ll call this layer Rectangle Black.
5. Open the photo of the mountains. Click Select > Select and Mask. Using the Quick Selection Tool, select the mountain and choose the Layer Mask option in the Output Settings area. Click OK.
6. Click on the mountain layer’s thumbnail image in the Layers panel, then click Image > Adjustments > Black & White.
7. In the Black & White window, change the settings as shown in the screenshot.
8. Right-click on the layer and choose Convert to Smart Object.
9. Right-click on the smart object and choose Duplicate Layer.
10. In the Duplicate Layer window, set the name of the layer to Mountain and the Destination Document to the template document. Click OK.
11. Use the Free Transform Tool (Edit > Free Transform) to set the size and position of the Mountain layer as shown in the screenshot.
12. Change the Blending Mode of the Mountain layer to Multiply.
13. Using the Horizontal Type Tool (T), add contact information the same way we did with Side 1.
14. Select all of the text layers and choose Layer > Group Layers.
15. Using the Rectangle Tool (U), add lines to separate each line of text as shown.
Your business card design is now complete!
Be sure to download the final PSD file from this tutorial. You can use this mockup template if you want viewers to experience your business card in a more realistic setting.
