Creating a graphic design mockup is an important part of any business as it allows potential customers to see what the finished product will look like. Mockups are also useful for designers to get feedback from clients and make needed changes to the design before it goes into production.
While there are many software packages available that can create a professional-looking mockup quickly and easily, it is possible to create a basic graphic design mockup with just a few tools.
What You Will Need
To create a basic graphic design mockup, you will need some sort of image editor such as Adobe Photoshop or GIMP, a vector-based graphics program such as Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape, and some source images. Source images can be anything from stock photos to scanned artwork or screenshots of existing websites.
Designing the Mockup
Once you have all your materials ready, it’s time to start designing the mockup. If you are using Photoshop, start by creating a new document and setting the canvas size to your desired dimensions.
If you are using Illustrator, create a new document and determine what size you want your final mockup to be. Next, open up the source images in your image editor and begin placing them on the canvas or artboard. You can adjust their size, opacity, position and other attributes as needed.
Adding Text
Text is an important part of any graphic design mockup so be sure to add some if needed. This can be done in either Photoshop or Illustrator depending on which program you are using for your project.
In Photoshop, simply select the Type Tool from the Tools palette and start typing in your desired text onto the canvas. In Illustrator, select the Type Tool from the Tools palette and click on your artboard where you want your text to appear.
Creating Final Mockup
Once all of your elements have been added to the canvas or artboard – such as images, shapes and text – it’s time to save your final mockup. If you’re working in Photoshop simply choose File > Save As… and give it an appropriate name; if you’re working in Illustrator simply choose File > Save As… and type in an appropriate file name for your project.
Conclusion
Creating a graphic design mockup requires some knowledge of image editing software such as Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator as well as some source images that can be used for reference when creating elements for the project. Once all elements have been added – such as images, shapes and text – then it’s time to save the final mockup so that clients can review it before going into production.