Custom Blog Headers: How to Design Your Blog Header in Photoshop

As blogs continue to grow in popularity, the demand to make one design stand out from the next grows as well. Using Photoshop, you can create a unique header for your blog that will make it stand out from the crowd. It only takes about 8 steps, and the best part of all is that blogs are one place where you can express your own personal style like nowhere else. Ready to dig right in?

One: The easiest way to begin is to install a layout that you basically like, and grab the header from that layout. For my examples, I’ll be using the standard header for the Nucleus blog. Open your default header in Photoshop, create a new layer (Layer, New, Layer), and fill it with white.

Two: Your next step is pretty simple: locate usable artwork. Make sure that you use artwork that won’t land you in a copyright battle - there are plenty of sites that offer free-to-use art. I’ll be using this piece, available at www.clantemplates.com (I’ve sized it down considerably.)

Three: Once you’ve found your art, you need to clean the background off of it. The easiest way to do this is by using the magic wand. So, duplicate the original layer your art is on, and hit the background with the magic wand tool. Then, click the backspace key on your keyboard. Just like that - the background is gone. You may need to zoom in and use the eraser on some small bits.

Four: Now, just drag your artwork onto the default blog header. This is where you’ll probably want to do some resizing of the artwork. Click “Edit”, and choose “Free Transform”. Then, hold the Shift key down on your keyboard while you resize - this will keep all proportions perfect.

Five: We’re ready to start really making this a header. To start, fill your background with a color that compliments the artwork and will work for your blog design. Then, grab a lighter shade of that color to use drawing a long circle that goes outside the lines. Change this layer’s mode to “Overlay”.