Quick Tip: How to Create a Geometric Background Effect in Photoshop

Like Illustrator, Photoshop also includes some very powerful vector editing tools. In this tutorial, we will show you how to create a geometric background effect for a poster design in Photoshop using a few simple shapes, blending modes, and transparencies. Let’s get started!

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1. Create a Color Scheme

My favorite way to create a color scheme for this effect is to start off in Illustrator. Illustrator’s Blend Tool is a great way to create mathematically correct, gradual color schemes that smoothly transition into each other. If you don’t have Illustrator, try drawing a gradient in Photoshop, using the color codes below. Then, use your color picker at regular intervals to produce a similar color scheme.

Step 1

The first step is to create a new document in Illustrator. The document that I created was 45.72 cm x 60.96 cm.

Step 2

Draw a rectangular shape and apply a color. I used #553895.

Step 3

Now duplicate that square shape by holding down Alt and dragging it across the canvas.

Change its color to something lighter. I used #CFC4E0. Keep in mind that we will be adding quite a few steps between these colors, so choose one that is fairly distant from your original color.

Step 4

Now go to Object > Blend > Blend Options. Select Specified Steps. Use as many steps as you need but remember, you may need to set quite a few steps to produce enough colors to fill your Photoshop canvas in later steps. This could require some trial and error on your part. For this tutorial, I used 28 steps.

Select both Objects and go to Object > Blend > Make. You should now see something like the image below. Keep in mind that this is only to help create your color scheme. So your blended object doesn’t have to look the same as the one below.