1. Convert to black and white

Open card_start.jpg in Elements. Go to Layer>DuplicateLayer and call your new layer Mono Conversion. Go to Enhance>ConvertToBlackAndWhite and select Scenic Landscape from the Style preset menu. Drag the Blue slider to directly below the Green slider to brighten up the snow and sky, and nudge the Contrast slider up to enhance the snow’s crispness.

2. Resize the image

Go to Image > Resize > ImageSize and select inches in the Document Size drop-down menu. Tick Resample Image and set Width to 4, Height to 6 and Resolution to 300 pixels/inch. Click OK. To allow space for a greeting, go to Image>Resize>CanvasSize, set the unit to inches, click the top Anchor arrow and set Canvas Extension Colour to white and Height to 6.5.

3. Resize the canvas

To resize the canvas so that it’s A5 size, go to Image>Resize>CanvasSize again and now type 14.85cm in the Width field and 21cm in the Height field. Leave the Anchor arrows and click OK. To enlarge the canvas so that it can be folded like a card, repeat this step, but this time type 29.7cm in the Width field and click on the right Anchor arrow. Click OK.

4. Add a drop shadow

To add a drop shadow to the image, click on the Effects tab, choose Drop Shadows from the drop-down menu and select the Low icon from the preset options. Drag this icon onto the canvas, then double-click the fx icon in the Mono Conversion layer. Drag the Lighting Angle to 90º, Size to 80 pixels, Distance to 35 pixels and Opacity to 75%.

5. Create a border

To add a white border, tick the Stroke box, click on the coloured square at the right to set the colour to white and drag the Size slider to 20 pixels. Click OK. To add a greeting, grab the Type tool from the Tools palette, select a suitable font and size (we chose Georgia at 14.5 points) and click and drag below the image to create a text box and type in your text.

6. Style the font

To add a drop shadow to the text, click and drag
to select it, change the font colour to white, then
click outside the text box. Drag the Hard Edge icon in the Effects palette onto the text box, then double-click the fx icon in the text layer. In the new window that opens up, set Angle to 135º, Size to 4 pixels, Distance to 4 pixels and Opacity to 75%. Click OK to finish.

Need more Photoshop help? Follow our video guide to learn how to make Christmas cards with your photos