DIY: How to make an Instagram Halloween Costume (with Photoshop file!)

For Halloween this year (2014), I decided to make my own Instagram photo costume! I had come across it somewhere online and thought, hey that should be easy to make (even for me! I’m not very IRL-crafty). I had looked online to see if there were any good DIY steps on how to make one and couldn’t really find anything great (most of them just showed photos of completed Instagram Halloween costumes). You could go a very hands-on route, or…

I decided to play to my own strengths, and design the costume completely on my computer using Adobe Photoshop – then printing it out and putting it on a foam core board.

Here’s the completed costume:

My Instagram Halloween costume was a hit!

Now for steps on how I made it.

(Scroll down for the .PSD file!)

I decided 24×36 poster size would be good for dimensions for the costume.

Using Photoshop, I:

• Created a 24×36-inch new file, with Resolution set to 300 pixels/inch.
  (Resolution = VERY IMPORTANT!)
• I downloaded the free Billabong Font file.
• I took screenshots of my own Instagram feed and emailed them to myself, so I could use the Colour Picker Tool to match colours.
• (Instagram blue = #2e5e86. The grey I used was #9fa1a3.)
• I just picked a basic, clear font for the captioning, in this case Calibri Regular.
• I also used a screenshot from my own Instagram feed to cut and copy the ‘Like’ ‘Comment’ ‘…’ and bottom navigation bar. They are a bit smaller than the 24×36 but I just increased the size and Filter > Unsharp Mask-ed them a bit so they weren’t as blurry.
• For my photo in the top left corner, I just opened up the photo file and cut it out using the Elliptical Marquee.
• I left a good-sized blank square space in the middle of the image as that would be where I’d later cut out after printing.
• Save as a .JPG image or save as a .PSD. I provide both files to the print shop I work with depending on which is better for them.
• For my printing purposes, I went with the most conveniently-located – The Project Factory at NAIT. But any print shop would be able to do this for you.
• I requested my file be printed on a 24×36 glossy sheet ($30) and I also bought an additional 24×36 foam core with self-adhesive ($8).
• Once printed, I placed the sheet on the foam core (self adhesive side) DO THIS VERY CAREFULLY OR YOU WILL HAVE AN ADHESIVE EMERGENCY! I ended up having to print out my image twice because the first time I screwed up with the adhesive and it ruined everything!
• Once applied, use a ruler and pencil to mark your 4 points / square you want to cut out. Leave room on the side that’s sturdy enough to hold on to after you cut out the middle.
• CUT! I used an Exacto Knife.

Then … ta da!

Instagram Halloween fun!

Instagram Halloween fun!

Total cost to make this costume: $38

I got lots of great comments on the costume and it turned a lot of heads wherever I went on Halloween.

You can download a link to my Photoshop template below and make your own Instagram Halloween costume for next year!

Click here to download the Instagram Halloween Costume Photoshop (.PSD) Template

Happy Halloween!

Linda

Follow @lindork