So you need something like a poster to advertise a rock show, update your FB profile image or print out as a gift for someones wall?

Well it's pretty easy, just follow these steps to make a poster in the style of a Soviet Propaganda Lithograph.
First maybe you should look at some real examples: Soviet Propaganda Research

Go!

Step 1: Create a New Document

Step 1:

Open Photoshop and create a new document with the settings 8x10 inches @ 72dpi.

Easy, Yes?

Step 2: Wrinkled Paper

Find an image of wrinkled paper using 'google images' for your background. After working with the rest of the layers that you'll create this wrinkled paper will show through giving the whole image an older feel.

I changed the color and brightness of this image a couple of times over the following steps until I got something which went with my color scheme; I added a 'color mask' with which I set to Multiply at 55% transparency and I adjusted the images hue and saturation a bit.

Step 3: Imagery

Find a picture that you want to add to your poster. Cut away any background from the picture and paste the image as a new layer in front of your wrinkled paper.

Step 4: Desaturate

Now desaturate the image you just made into a new layer; go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate

If you want to keep some of the original colors go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation and reduce the saturation to a desired level.

Step 5: A Poster Aesthetic...

To give your image an aesthetic similar to a lithograph use one of the following filters: Poster Edges, Cutout, or Sumi-e

I used Poster Edges for my first image.

Step 6: The Time Is Now

Ok, so now that you have a basic image for your poster, hopefully you have an idea for what kind of color scheme you want your poster to be (if not, come back to this step later).

Double click on the layers for your image and wrinkled paper and do the following steps:
select color overlay - choose the color you wish
change the Blend Mode to Multiply
then change the Opacity to about between 50 and 75%.

Step 7: For Text.

Now is a good time to add text. I started with a large body of text running the vertically down the poster.

Step 8: Color Dodge

With your text layer change your Blending Options to Color Dodge.

Step 9:

Add more text!

Now with your text there are a few things you can play with:
Blending Options...
I used the Rectangle Tool behind some of my text and put a Drop Shadow on the boxes
You can also add a Stroke around your text if you need some contrast between it and the background by double clicking on your text layer and selecting Stroke and changing the color and size of your stroke. If you wanted some depth you could repeat this last option but instead of selecting Stroke you could choose Drop Shadow.

Step 10: More Imagery (optional)

Repeat steps 3 and 4:

- Get an image from your computer or off the internet
- Remove the background
- Desaturate it!

Step 11: Step '5'...I Mean '11'

Repeat step 5:

Use one of the following filters: Poster Edges, Cutout, or Sumi-e

Step 12: Magic Happens in Photoshop

Mess with the Blending Options and Opacity of the image you just added and your poster should be done, just save it in your preferred file format and do what you will with it.