I am making a birthday card for my sister in law and I want it to look like the cover of a novel- a cheap thriller, basically.  "The Big 4-0!'  'Old age was gunning for her, but she was going to shoot back!'

Anyhow, what sort of font and effects should I use.  Please bear in mind I have Photoshop Elements 5... 

I would think something in the halloween category for a font, but not too exaggerated.  Maybe make  the text in a silver metallic finish on a dark background (nighttime).  The character should be running away from something, maybe looking back in fear.   Consider reversing the direction, like running away from something ahead (the 40th birthday).

Just a suggestion, you are the artist and must create your image according to your creative inspiration.

Quote - I would think something in the halloween category for a font, but not too exaggerated.  Maybe make  the text in a silver metallic finish on a dark background (nighttime).  The character should be running away from something, maybe looking back in fear.

I already have the image- It has the chracter in ratracer's Film Noir Detective office.

I want the effect sort of pulpy.

I'm out of ideas, sorry.   I'm not a mystery reader, and haven't a clue what "pulpy" would look like.

I suggest you post the image here.  Maybe someone else would be able to give you some ideas.

Here is the pic without the text.

Thanks for your help, BTW.

Let's see what someone else might suggest.  I do know that my suggestion of the silver metallic should be changed to gold for the text.

Try a Google image search for pulp book covers (or similar terms.) You'll find lots of examples to get you going. I had a need to do something similar recently and if you're aiming for pastiche then the best thing is to study good samples of the style you want emulate. Old book/film covers/posters are great because they often don't "do" subtlety :)

"Old book/film covers/posters are great because they often don't "do" subtlety :)"

Exactly - for a more "pulpy" looking image, the colors are too dark and muddy - they need to be more varied and contrasty to each other to stand out on their own - but not "rich" per-se - like a medium blue against a medium orange - get it? As it is, the image doesn't have nearly as much separation between the foreground and background elements so that they can stand on their own.

There's a "playful garishness" to pulp covers. Cross-lighting with strong highlights and defined shadows. Using COLOR for separation as well as lighting, etc.

As far as the surrounding borders/edges, scan or photograph creases in papers and put them all around the edges to make them look worn and read again and again and again - and since it's cheap "pulp" paper it suffers from bad folding after repeated use.

You want a great example of how to do it well, grab a copy of the movie Pulp Fiction and look at the poster art - I know this is bluntly obvious, but they did a fantastic job!

Hope this helps - it's a great start, but needs more push. Good luck and have fun!
-Lew ;-)

In addition to Thundering1's post, there are loads of examples here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulp_magazine

I've never used Elements - are you able to use brushes as you can in PS proper?   If so, I'd recommend some scratch brushes to rough up the cover a little, and some photo filters to play with the color a little to give it that 'vintage' look.

The pulp look incorporate contrasting colors and block lettering.  Maybe a black frame with a bright red font.  As mentioned above, a GIS for pulp covers will give you an idea of what to look for.  I see you've frayed the edges a bit in your picture.  You may want to soften your right corners to make them look like worn corners of an actual book cover.

These are just a few thoughts to get you started.  If you have any other questions, just let me know.

• Jason

I see thundering1 covered most of my points.  That's what I get for scrolling directly to the bottom of the thread to reply before reading other comments.

You might also google for free font sites and look for a 'pulpy' looking font. You'll eventually find something that works.

Yes, for pulp, your colors should be brighter. Due to printing processes in the 30s and 40s, book covers were almost made up of primary colors. I do book cover art, and if I were going to do a pulp, I'd make the image black and white first, adjust the values, then colorize it. You probably can't do that in Elements.

Attached Link: Famous Fonts

The font for the Indiana Jones movies from Famous Fonts really works nicely for pulpy, over the top images (that are not for commercial purposes). It seemed to fit the bill for a silly poster I made.  I second or third the black frame around the letters.  Would love to see your final image!

"Terror at the 19th Hole"

A putt-putt nightmare!
Sorry - the title just killed me!
-Lew ;-)