Ah, it's been a while since I've been here. Most of that stuff is effectively the same just different methods of going about it. The end result is, basically, two circle outlines with arched/straight text.
I'll give you a ported description of what you need to do under each paragraph.
How to Make a Novelty Postmark
Start a new blank file about 3" width by 2" height, 300 resolution, transparent background. Double click on the background and make it a layer. Add a new layer, fill it with white, and drag it below the background layer. This is to make it easier to see your work. You can easily trash the white layer at the end to keep your image transparent.
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-Goto File -> New.
-Enter 3 and 2 for the dimensions and change it to inches.
-Resolution at 300. Make sure transparent is selected.
-You'll want to create a new layer with white so you can supposedly see what you're doing. -To do that, click the new layer icon at the bottom of the Layers window/palette or hit ctrl + shift + N.
-Hit D on your keyboard to make your foreground/background colors black and white, then X to switch them. You now have white as your foreground.
-On your layers window, select the bottom layer by left clicking on it and hit alt + enter to fill the layer with your foreground color (white).
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Select the Custom Shapes Tool. Choose a foreground color of your choice. Hold the Shift key and using the Circle Thin Frame shape from the "Shapes" or "Default" category drag a circle outline about 1.5" diameter. Turn on your ruler and it will help you size it correctly.
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-The custom shapes tool can be found in the tool bar palette. It's in the same collection of tools as the line, rectangle, ellipse tool, etc. You'll left click and hold it down to get the sub-category tools.
-Select Custom Shape Tool.
-At the top of Photoshop, you'll see an options bar (if not, goto the Window menu and turn on Options). First, make sure shape layers is selected. There are 3 buttons on the left. The first one is shape layers, second is for paths, and third is a pixel based shape.
-To the right of there is a drop down menu next to "Shape:" There should be a circle outline shape in the list. If not, hit the >> on that drop down and select All from the list.
-This'll be used for your two outlines. Simply hold shift and drag out on the stage. Holding Alt in addition to that will scale out from the center instead of where your cursor is at.
-Since we're using a shape layer instead of a path or a raster shape, we can skip the next step of creating a new layer. To do that, after the first one is drawn, you can click and drag another one out. Use CTRL + T to transform the overall shape if you have to.
-There's a good chance the lines may be too thick for your taste, but you'll have to read up on basics of paths to modify the shape (inside path line).
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Copy that layer. Select the new copy with the Move Tool and while holding the Shift, key drag this circle to a smaller size and position it inside the larger circle.
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For sake of porting, to copy a layer simply hit ctrl + j and it'll duplicate whatever is on the layer. Instead of holding shift to resize the circle, you'd use the free transform tool by hitting Ctrl + T.
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Using the Text tool, with a small sized font (I used Verdana 6) type your text. In the Text Options bar, click on the Create Warped Text button.
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-The text tool can be accessed by hitting T on your keyboard. Type your text and then hit enter on the keypad enter or hit the check mark up on the options bar. Instead of the old school method of warping text, CS offers the ability to type along paths (what your shape layer is made out of) so you can type along an arc.
-You can Google more information on this, but you'll basically select the text tool, hover near one of the arcs on the circle shape until the cursor changes and then start typing. If successful, it will wrap along the path of the shape or in this case an arc.
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From that dialog box, for Style, choose Arc, then drag the Bend slider to get the text so it fits around inside between the two circles. If you want text on the top and bottom, do them separately as you'll have to bend them differently to get them to position correctly. On my example, the city/state text was at +67 and the zip code was at -45 bend.
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Irrelevant.
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Then type your text for the middle of the circle and center it and drag it into position using the Move tool. I typed all three lines at once, hitting Enter to go to each new line, then from the Text options bar, clicked on the center icon.
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-If you need to have text under the arc, simply move your mouse under the arc with the text tool selected and it'll reflect on that side. Again, Google Photoshop CS text arc and you should find plenty of information. I only have PS7 on this machine.
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For the cancellation lines, use the Custom Shapes Tool, and from the "Symbols" category, select Waves1. Using the color of your choice, drag the shape out to the right of the circle. Transform it to look the way you want. I made mine about 2" long by Ã'½" tall. Then duplicate the layer to get a second set. Position that set below the first waves.
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-I don't have time to go heavily into this, but you'll be creating 3 paths. Basically, you'll select the freeform pen tool and draw out the three curvy lines. Or use the pen tool itself to create the 3 paths for the cancellation lines. (Google).
-Switch to the brush tool and select a brush size by using the [ and ] keys. This'll be how thick your lines are in the next step.
-Create a new layer (won't work on a shape layer) and use any of the path tools such as the pen, path selection or direct selection tools and right click on the stage. Choose stroke path and hit okay (plenty of options to mess around with including simulate pressure).
-Rinse and repeat for the other 2 lines.
-Using V or the move tool you can move the lines around and if the path line display is getting on your nerves you can hide it temporarily by hitting Ctrl + H (hides marquee selections as well).
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Crop and save as a PSD file with the layers intact. Delete the white layer at the bottom, then flatten and experiment with filters to make it look like a stamp with too little ink. Post marks are seldom clear and bright. I used Filter > Brush Strokes > Spatter and a little Levels adjustment to make it look faded.
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-You can crop by hitting C or finding the crop tool in the tool bar. Drag out a selection and hit enter. You can also hit M to make a selection followed by going to Image -> Crop in the menu.
-Select the white layer in the layer palette and drag it to the trash can or right click and delete.
-If you want to use raster based effects like the splatter brush strokes, you'll need to rasterize the shape layers you created (the circle outlines). You'll lose the ability to easily adjust the shapes once you do this, however. Simply right click on the layer and hit Rasterize Layer. You can then apply effects to it in the Filters menu.
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Hope that helps.
-Nick
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Nick
Pixel-Infinity
January 5th, 2008 
