"Compliment" Printable Mockup

From time-to-time, my client work involves creating downloadable content to help spice up a blog post so that online users have a reason to stick around. This often comes in the form of a printable, whether in the form of a cheat sheet, sticker set or (in this case) a COVID-friendly page of inspirational messages to send coworkers.

Creating proper shadows is essential to selling these photorealistic mockups. I do this in part by duplicating the stock photo, placing it on top of the artwork, converting it to black/white, then changing the layer style to Multiply. With a curves layer to bring back the luminosity, you can easily turn a blank flat-lay image into a custom scene.