I wanted to create an art print with a quote that inspires me. I’ve always liked the quote from Othello, “The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief”. To me, it serves as a reminder to stay positive in the face of adversity.

Step 1: Download Assets and Read Licences

Set of Seamless Patterns + Great Bonus from Creative Market.
1.000.000 Catchwords Black - Jabana from Creative Market
Dancing Script from Font Squirrel

All of these assets are free to use for personal or commercial use. What you can’t do is redistribute them or use them in such a way that the core value of your product is the asset. For example, in the Set of Seamless + Great Bonus set, you’ll notice there is a wedding invitation design. You are not allowed to sell that wedding invitation design as your own or give it to anyone else to use.

Step 2: Open File in Illustrator and Resize New Canvas

You don’t need to use illustrator, any vector based editing software will work (like Corel Draw, Inkscape, or Serif DrawPlus).

Open the flower-06 (02).eps document in illustrator. To change your canvas size go to: File > Document Setup. Click Edit Artboards and change your canvas size to 10 in x 8 in. Select the artwork and click Transform in the top bar, and change the height to 8 in.

In the top left corner of the Transform window, you’ll notice a little box with nodes. That box represents your canvas. You’ll want the top left node to be selected so you can position your artwork relative to your canvas the easiest. Change your X and Y coordinates to 0.

You can then delete the “Happy Valentines Day” in the centre.

Step 3: Remove Clipping Mask and Extend Flower Frame

To remove the clipping mask around the illustration, select the illustration, then go to Object > Clipping Mask > Release.

Select the flowers on the right side of the artwork and position them to the right side of your canvas. At this point you can also select the charcoal rectangle in the middle and drag it to the end.

Luckily for us, DaryaGribovskaya, the illustrator, left extra goodies hidden by the clipping mask. Select them, and go to Object > Arrange > Bring to Front.

Step 4: Add New Clipping Mask

Now we’re left with a new boarder around a larger canvas. I’m happy with it at this point so I’m going to add a new clipping mask to contain anything that overlaps the canvas. First I’m going to group this layer by going to Object > Group. Then create a rectangle by selecting my shape tool, clicking off to the side of my canvas, then entering the same dimensions of my canvas (10 in x 8 in). I want it to be precise so I go to the top where I can enter my x and y values and change them both to 0. Now select everything and go to Object > Clipping Mask > Make.

Step 5: Add Quote

Find a quote you like. If you haven’t already, download 1.000.000 Catchwords Black - Jabana and install the font.

As I mentioned before, I’m using a quote by William Shakespeare: “The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief.” I want “steals something” to be in the banner. You’ll notice that in order to do this you can’t have a space between the two words. What you can do is adjust the kerning between “steals” and “something”. You can do this by placing your cursor between the words, holding “option” and using your arrow keys to increase the kerning. Alternatively you can can open up your character window and adjust it from there. Now there’s a gap in the banner, but we’ll fix that later.

Download Dancing Script, and change “The robbed that smiles,” and “from the thief” to dancing script.

Step 6: Edit Type

Move your type off canvas and convert to outlines by going to Type > Create Outlines. Ungroup the text by going to Object > Ungroup. Now regroup each line separately by selecting the line and going to Object > Group.

Select it all and move it back on canvas. Move each lines around until you’re happy with the position.

To fix the space between “steals” and “something”, use your direct selection tool (the white cursor) and select the nodes on the left of the “s”. Now drag the box so that it touches “steals”.

Step 7: Finishing Touches

Add some colour to your text. I used the eyedropper tool to steal the colour from the flowers. Then I added William Shakespeare’s name at the bottom in a small san serif font. Once you’re happy with the layout, save the file as a PDF and have it printed.

Let me know your thoughts!