Where to start with Beer label making?

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MarcJWaters

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I have ideas, but I don't know where to go to actually put them down on something tangible. Does this part of the hobby require photoshop, or are there alternatives?

Are people on these boards pretty willing to help people like me in terms of creation?
 
I only made one label, but it turned out wonderful. I googled for "Sleighride" or something like that and found a nice picture like a xmas card. I'm a total amature at graphics, but I was able to use the GIMP to crop it to size and add some text for the label. But here is the best part - when I went to print the labels, my ink jet printer was out of the red and yellow ink and only had the blue ink left, so the label came out in black and white with the colors all in shades of blue which oddly looked perfectly wintery in a xmasy sort of way. Considering I named my beer "Santa's Sleighride Stout" or something like that, the blue and white toned label just seemed to fit perfectly.

The beer was pretty damn good too. I only drank a couple of them that xmas, and I drank a couple last xmas too. I drank another one just a couple hours ago - more than 2 years later and it was fantastic.
 
All of my designs are drawn by hand, then I scan them in to the computer, add the color and text, maybe some misc effects, then wham I'm done! I cannot seem to get the look I want using just a computer so I draw it with pencil, then ink over and scan. Post up your ideas sketched in, everyone on here always seems to brainstorm on the designs and layout!
 
My procedure...

Step 1: Think of a name.
Step 2: Use Google image search to find raw materials. Use the "options" to find the right colors, size, etc.
Step 3: Find a decent background at deviantart.com.
Step 4: Import your raw materials as layers in Gimp (Photoshop) and start selecting and mixing elements.
Step 5: Find a font at dafont.com for your title.
Step 6: Add details to the title (outline, shadow, border) by selecting and expanding text.
Step 7: Post to this forum and incorporate all the excellent comments into the design.
 
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