Create a Magazine Mockup Using InDesign and Photoshop

Tutorial Details

Apps Used: Adobe Photoshop/InDesign CS3
Difficulty: Intermediate
Estimated Completion Time: 2 Hours

Final Product What You'll Be Creating

Designers often use several apps to create their work. What is great about Adobe products is that you can easily switch between them to perform various tasks. In this tutorial, we will show you how to design a magazine layout using Adobe InDesign. We will then show you how to create a realistic and reusable magazine mockup of that design in Photoshop that you can present to your clients. Let’s get started!

Step 1: Designing Page in InDesign

Open up InDesign. Before started anything, let’s set the unit to millimeters. Click Edit > Preferences and set its Ruler Units to Millimeters.

Step 2

Click File > New to create new file. Set its page size to Letter. Click More Options button.

Step 3

Add Bleed 2 mm. We use bleed to add extra canvas onto the document. This bleed area will not get printed.

Step 4

In Pages panel, add new page. Now we have two pages.

Step 5

Double click master page.

Step 6

Hit Command/Ctrl + R to reveal ruler. Command/Ctrl-drag to make new guide on top of both pages.

Step 7

Add another guide on lower part of the page.

Step 8

Add another horizontal guide to add 4 and 3 columns on each page.

Step 9: Add Page Number

Click and drag using Type tool to draw a text box. Type Page then space. Select Type > Insert Special Character > Marker > Current Page Number.

Step 10

Open Paragraph Styles panel and create new style.

Step 11

Double click the styles and set its alignment to Away from Spine. Apply this style to text box current page.

Step 12

Alt-drag the text box to duplicate it. Place it on other side of the page

Step 13

Below, you can see the result on page. The A character is automatically changing, based on current page number.

Step 14

Add a photo on top half of the page. Make sure to snap it onto the bleed area.

Step 15

We don’t want the image accidentally moved or edited. Right click image and select Lock.

Step 16

Add image subtitle by adding a text box on lower right corner of the image.

Step 17

Add another image and its subtitle on the last column.

Step 18

Add text box on first column and fill it with an article. To fill it with dummy text, click Type > Fill with Placeholder Text.

Step 19

Apply paragraph style to its title.

Step 20

Apply character styles onto part of the title. This will override the text setting.

Step 21

Apply paragraph style to the article body. From Option Bar, set first line indent: 4 mm.

Step 22

Select first paragraph and override its setting from Option Bar by removing its First Line Indent to 0 mm.

Step 23

Draw rectangle and put a triangle on its center.

Step 24

Select both shapes. Right click them and select Group to combine them as a group.

Step 25

Open Text Wrap panel and set following wrap setting.

Step 26

Place it on top of the article.

Step 27

Add another article. This time, rotate the arrow so itis pointing the small image.

Step 28

Move on to the next page. Add photo on top of the page.

Step 29

Add rectangle covering lower page and photo.

Step 30

Apply linear gradient from white to black.

Step 31

From Effects panel, set its Blend mode to Multiply.

Step 32

Draw a grey rectangle on lower part of the page.

Step 33

Add post title. Place some rectangle shapes behind the text.

Step 34

Add article body on separate text box.

Step 35

Add quotation on last column made from combination of Paragraph Styles and Character Styles.

Step 36

Add smaller article and images on lower part of the page.

Step 37

We have finished working on the page. Below is the result.

Step 38: Exporting Page to JPEG

We will export this page to Photoshop. We don’t want to import the INDD file, but we choose JPEG because its much simpler. So, first let’s export the page to JPEG format. Click File > Export.

From Export dialog box, set its file type to JPEG.

Step 39: Mockup References

It’s a lot easier to use real magazine references photo than drawing it just from imagination. Grab your camera and take a picture of your magazine. We also want to make sure that the magazine has same size as our magazine design. For mockup, it’s better to use photo with perspective. This results in a more realistic appearance.

Step 40

For this project I use this photo reference. Trace first page using Pen tool in Shape mode.

Step 41

Add Stroke and reduce its Fill layer to help us see the reference.

Step 42

Trace the rest of the page and make sure to place it behind the previous page.

Step 43

Remove Stroke and change Fill layer back to 100%. This time apply Inner Shadow and Gradient Overlay.

Step 44

Add new layer on top of the page. Set it as Clipping Mask (Command/Ctrl + Alt + G). This way, everything we put here will goes inside the page. Use Pen tool to draw a white line as highlight on the page.

Step 45

Soften the highlight by applying Gaussian Blur filter.

Step 46

Reduce layer Opacity.

Step 47

Repeat this step to add more highlights onto the page.

Step 48

Repeat the same process but this time paint black to add shadow.

Step 49

Paint white on center of the page.

Step 50

Soften it by applying very big Gaussian Blur.

Step 51

Reduce layer Opacity.

Step 52

Command/Ctrl-click first page to select it. Add new layer behind the first page. Fill selection with black.

Step 53

Soften the page shadow by applying Gaussian Blur filter.

Step 54

Convert layer to Clipping Mask. This way, the shadow will go inside the page behind it.

Step 55

Keep repeating this step to add the other pages shadow.

Step 56

Manually add page shadow on the main magazine cover.

Step 57

Make new layer between each pages and paint subtle random shadow to add realitic appearance.

Step 58

Click File > Place and select our InDesign page in JPEG format. The JPEG file will be inserted into the PSD as a Smart Object. We can transform this image without editing any of its pixel.

Step 59

Duplicate the page smart object by hitting Command/Ctrl + J. Click eye icon on front of the original page layer to hide it. Hit Command/Ctrl + T and transform the page.