Episode 6: Photoshopping Obama ‘Hope’ Posters

20. Sep, 2009 48 Comments .


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Episode 6: Photoshopping Obama 'Hope' Posters [ 9:57 ] Download

I’ve heard rumors that the podcast version is a lot more excellent.

President Obama’s ‘Hope’ poster is one of the most recognisable pieces of street art of all time, and is being called a cultural phenomenon. Created by Shepard Fairey, this poster became instantly viral and played a huge part in the success of Barack Obama’s Presidential campaign. In this tutorial you’ll learn how to apply the same effect to your own photo using nothing but Photoshop.

This certainly is the most complicated tutorial I’ve produced to date, and that’s largely because this effect (as far as I’m aware) has never been replicated on only photoshop. Through my research the only tutorials I found incorporated Adobe Illustrator. As a result, I had to experiment and create my own method.

Download the original photo.

This is the original photo I’ve used in the tutorial.

Download the Obama Pattern (right click > Save as)

In order to create your own ‘Hope’ poster, you’ll need to download this pattern by right clicking the link and selecting save as. You can easily install this by simply double clicking the file. The pattern should then appear in photoshop.

Download the Nevis Font (Link)

You might also like to download the ‘Nevis’ font, which you can find over at Ten by Twenty. The original uses the font ‘Gotham’, but this is a font you have to purchase. Nevis is the closest free font I could find.

This is the ‘Hope’ poster I created in the tutorial:

obama-hope-poster-small

Good luck!

By publishing this tutorial, PhotoGuides is in no way endorsing any political party or belief. The tutorial is simply to demonstrate the method used to create this artistic piece.

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This post was written by .

"Hi I'm Ash Davies, the founder of PhotoGuides. I'm an 18 year old Australian student with a passion for photography and design, and PhotoGuides is my excuse to learn cool new stuff. You can also join me on Twitter and Facebook."

Graphic Design, Photo Editing, Podcast
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  • Deva

    This is really cool :)
    And i like the new little intro

  • http://www.drwoe.nl edgy

    Thanx Alot. It was really helpful, and amusing. Thnx

  • http://designrfix.com Designrfix

    Thanks for this great tutorial, will be featuring it on http://designrfix.com this week :)

  • http://forums.finalgear.com/photoshopping/more-pop-art-y-39256/#post1118273 More Pop-Art(y)? – FinalGear.com Forums

    [...] belive this is all you need! Coutesy of our [...]

  • http://www.photoguides.net Ash Davies

    Thanks. I look forward to seeing it on your website :)

  • http://designrfix.com/resources/40-useful-photoshop-tutorials-on-photo-manipulation 40 Useful Photoshop Tutorials on Photo Manipulation | designrfix.com

    [...] Photoshopping Obama ‘Hope’ Posters President Obama’s ‘Hope’ poster is one of the most recognisable pieces of street art of all time and in this tutorial you’ll learn how to apply the same effect to your own photo using nothing but Photoshop. – photoguides.net [...]

  • Raul Palacio

    do you know what photoshop version is used?

  • http://www.photoguides.net Ash Davies

    Yeah I do. I used Photoshop CS3 for mac.

  • http://Presheva.com Lukk

    I’ts amazing, Where to find that patterns?

  • http://www.photoguides.net Ash Davies

    Glad you like it Lukk
    You can download the obama pattern file here

  • http://Presheva.com Lukk

    Thnx a lot :) I will try now if a could make my photo looks like Obama’s xD

  • Francesca

    can be drawn from an action for photoshop? The photographs used are not suitable and I have to do several tests, an action would help me a lot :)

  • Anne

    When I try to click on the “download the Obama pattern” i just get lots of code.

    i don’t have the right click because i’m using a mac. how do it do that? sorry, i guess i’m not an expert. but i’m almost there. i just need the pattern.

    help please?

    this is a great tutorial. i’m learning! thanks!

  • http://www.photoguides.net Ash Davies

    Hi Anne

    You should be able to right click on your mac by pressing control and clicking. If you’re using a laptop you could also place two fingers on your trackpad and click. There should be a download option then.

    Hope that helps

  • Anne

    ooohhh… that worked! thanks!

  • Zeak

    Thanks a lot!! Appreciate this tutorial!

  • http://www.cedricleclere.com/blog/?p=204 HOPE | Cedric Leclere photography

    [...] i’m not doing many things right now, i found the time to make an ” Obama ” thanks to a very good tutorial. So if you need one, let me know and i can arrange it for [...]

  • peter

    Hello
    can we get the tutorial in text also. thanks
    peter

  • http://www.add-digital.com.br Felipe

    Very nice and complex tutorial. usefull indeed! thanks for sharing!

  • http://Website(optional) Majo

    Great tutorial! Thanks!!!

  • http://dailyphotoidea.com/2010/02/15/imitate-the-obama-hope-campaign-poster/ Imitate the Obama “Hope” Campaign Poster « Daily Photo Idea

    [...] Photoshopping Obama 'Hope' Posters [...]

  • freeman

    The file is not working anymore

  • http://www.photoguides.net/colophon Ash Davies

    It’s working for me. Have you right clicked it? If it still doesn’t work maybe try a different browser.

  • http://Website(optional) Rene

    I dont know if people know this here or not but the original Obama Poster was not created by Obama nor his campaign peeps, but it was a graffiti artist named Shepard Fairey. The posters were posted up in towns most of the time illegally… Look him up he is a really great artist…

  • http://Website(optional) shady

    when i choose layer 1 copy after magic tools and pattern knife the skin color didn’t appear with me behind the copy

    this appear as it white color…..

    what can i do to appear the skin and after that appear background color ?

  • http://blog.jaskni.com JASKNi

    i always wanna make this effect in Ai,
    but in photoguides, i can do it in Ps!
    thk u!

  • robml2293

    Hi everybody! Well Im pretty new with Photoshop and I really don´t know how to use it very well…so my question may be kind of stupid:

    When the guy finishes explaining the part of how to apply the palette knife filter he choose the “magic wand tool” and he selects the white part and then he says “click delete” but he only use a command…. when I try to do it in my PC nothing happens… ¿What am I doing wrong?

  • http://marxistfeminists.wordpress.com/2010/08/20/what-exactly-has-solange-decided/ What, exactly, has Solange decided? « Spectra

    [...] look more lefty-political. If you want to look revolutionary, simplify the colors and add red–make it look Maoist. If you want to look radical, just make them brighter and keep some of the black and white. A [...]

  • smithy66

    That was super – you are an excellent teacher!

  • http://Website(optional) José Gonçalves

    Thanks Lot for this. I did´t know the name. I follow your sugestion and see the work of Shepard WOW great work. Gonna show this to my students. Thanks once again, and thank to Ash for this great tutorial.

  • http://singelsajten.nu/gratis-dejtingsidor/ gratis dejtingsidor

    Very interesting and useful information, thanks!

  • http://www.facebook.com/damientomlinson DamienT

    Hey Ash the link to the PSD source files bent mate – can you fix it up pls?

  • http://www.photoguides.net/colophon Ash Davies

    Thanks for the tip Damien. It should be back up and working now :)

  • http://Website(optional) hallion

    Hi, Ash. I just tried out this tutorial, and I am impressed with how great my picture turned out, despite me not being proficient with Photoshop. Your instructions were easy to follow and very detailed. I wanted to thank you for sharing this tutorial with us. I had a lot of fun trying it!

  • http://Website(optional) jessica

    this was great!! i will try it soon.i was wondering if you know how to make Silhouette in photoshop cs3?

  • http://nothing jasmeet singh

    this is awesome, i realy like this tutorial.

  • http://jackheartart.weebly.com Jack Heart

    I think that the wise one has a good chance. Please spread the word with this graphic I made using the tutorial here.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/jackheart/5695142838/

  • Jai

    Awesome tnx bro..

  • kundi

    how to install the file???

  • http://www.safetyharness.org Sunni Detter

    Valuable information and also excellent design and style you got here! I would like to thank you for sharing your thoughts and also time into the stuff you post!! Thumbs up

  • cdizzle

    prefer to cut out using quick selection tool

  • wahid

    when i try to install pattern file i get coral drawings… then i cant find it when im selecting patterns ?

    i know im v.v.v.v late but please can you help

    thanks

    ps awsome tutorial

  • Vicente

    When I click on the pattern in the link it opens GIMP.Please help

  • Anonymous

    You should be able to right click the link and download or save the file. Does that work for you?

  • azfarizzat

    thanks bro~

  • Tiny

    thank you

  • P_d_m

    hi for some reason when i click the bucket tool to change it to red or blue it doesn’t work :( can someone please help :)

  • guillermo