With layouts like this want to use a program like Photoshop. Since they've moved to a stupid subscription model and are insanely hard to pirate now, some good alternatives are
GIMP and
Photopea (but to be honest I'm not sure if Photopea will allow you to import custom brushes and textures. More on that later.) Deviantart is a GREAT resource for these.
Step 1.
You're gonna want to make a new canvas the size of your layout. 1000px x 500px or something as an example. Whatever you want.
Step 2.
In the first layer you're gonna wanna add some stamps and textures . (like in example 1, the background snowflakes and lines, example 2, the white paint looking streaks, and the spirals in example 3.)
stamps work like brushes in the program, you "draw" with them to place them.
Here is a tutorial on how to install the in GIMP. Any brush or texture that has "photoshop" in the name will also work in GIMP.
textures are like "overlays" that give the graphic effects.
On Deviantart, the download button is this arrow under the image.
Step 3.
Now you're gonna need is a transparent PNG. While its possible to
cut these out yourself , you can also look for them on Google and even Tumblr. There was an era when people were making and posting transparent PNGS.
Some sites to find PNGS are:
favpng
pngmart
pngitem
cleanpng
Step 4.
After you have arranged the image how you want it to look in terms of placement and design. Merge all the layers in your photo editing program and it's time to mess with the colors. (This step is optional)
There are a lot of tutorials and it takes a little bit of understanding color theory and what words like saturation, value, alpha mean BUT!!!!! do not be afraid to experiment.
my favorite of the color options is "curves". it's under the colors option but be sure to mess with ALL of these just to see what they do.
you know Final Fantasy X-2 is my favorite game (the only one thats all girls ;_;) BUT!!! Here is the before and after messing with the black, red and blue alpha channels under the "curves" option.
Here is a tutorial on how curves work.
Like I said, messing with the colors is optional and you can do it as much or as little as you like but sometimes, it can make a graphic more of one cohesive color scheme.
Let me know if you have any questions!!
