Getting Started

• 1). Open a new document in Photoshop by going to "File" > "New." Change the width to 11 inches and the height to 17 inches, which is standard tabloid size. Keep in mind that newspaper size can vary by personal preference.
  
  
• 2). Set the resolution to 300 pixels per inch (ppi). This resolution is necessary when printing a document to avoid pixelation and blurriness in the final product. Hit "OK."
  
  
• 3). Open a new document with a size of 1.625 inches wide and a half-inch tall with a resolution of 300 ppi. This will represent the width of one column. Select the "Paint Bucket" tool from the Tools palette on the left side of the screen and change the "Set Foreground Color" swatch at the bottom of the Tools palette to light gray. Click on the canvas with the Paint Bucket tool to fill the area.
  
  
• 4). Hit "Ctrl+A" to select the entire gray block, then hit "Ctrl+C" to copy it. Navigate to the tabloid document and hit "Ctrl+V" to paste the block.
  
  
• 5). Create a new document with a size of 0.125 inches wide and a half-inch tall, with a resolution of 300 ppi. This will represent the eighth-inch margins between columns. Use the Paint Bucket tool to fill in the area with yellow paint. Hit "Ctrl+A" to select the color block, then "Ctrl+C" to copy it. Navigate to the tabloid document and hit "Ctrl+V" to paste the eighth-inch color block.
  
  

Creating a Page Grid

• 1). Click-drag guidelines from the rulers on the top and bottom of the document to create a quarter-inch margin around all four sides of the page.
  
  
• 2). Select the "Move" tool from the Tools palette and drag the gray column block to the top left corner of the margins. Then, move the yellow block so it sits flush against the right side of the gray column block. Continue copying and pasting the gray column blocks and yellow blocks in the same manner until the last column sits flush against the right margin of the page.
  
  
• 3). Select all of the layers in the Layers palette by holding "Shift" while clicking on each layer. Right-click the selected layers then hit "Merge Layers."
  
  
• 4). Hit "Ctrl+A" to select all in the layer, then hit "Ctrl+T" or go to "Edit" > "Transform." Grab the handle, or point, in the middle of the bottom of the Transform box until the columns and margins are stretched to the bottom margin of the page.
  
  

Adding Text and Photographs

• 1). Create a new layer by clicking the "Create a New Layer" button in the Layers palette. Then select the "Text" tool from the Tools palette.
  
  
• 2). Click-drag a text box along the top of the page for a newspaper header. Choose a font that is easy to read, but interesting and attractive to the eye. Avoid overly illustrated or cursive type fonts.
  
  
• 3). Click-drag a text box within the constraints of the column width. Do not let text go into the yellow in-between margin areas. Choose an easy to read serif font such as Times New Roman, Perpetua, Spectrum, Fairfield or Garamond. Go to "Window" > "Paragraph" and make sure the text is set to "Justify Last Left."
  
  
• 4). Add pictures to the layout. Make sure the pictures stay within the the columns. For example, a photograph can take up three columns; however, the left and right sides of the photo should not sit within the eighth-inch margins.