Articles : Tutorials - Digital

Digi Templates 101 Crop Class

Learn how EASY it is to use those digital templates!!

Before we begin, I'm going to go over some basic principles with you.

First let’s familiarize ourselves with our workspace.

1. Toolbar-The first icon at the top is the MOVE tool, (please make sure that is selected).
2. Workspace-This is where we will work on our layout.
3. Photo Bin-This shows all files we have open. You can switch between them by double clicking on their thumbnails in the bin.
4. Palette Bins-this is where you will see your layers. IF you do not see the layer palette here, perform the following actions:

Go to WINDOW>LAYERS (click)
In the pop up box click on MORE>PLACE IN PALETTE BIN WHEN CLOSED
Click on Red X to close.
 

Your layer palette should now be docked in the bin on the right hand side


Now let’s talk a bit about LAYERS.

You have to think of layers just like you would when you're paper scrapping. What would be on top of something else if you were sitting down with paper and photos.

So your bottom layer is your paper, then your photo matte, then your photo, etc.

Every time you add something to your project, it creates it's own layer.

You can move layers up and down in the palette (bringing the layer closer to the top, or the bottom), by clicking and dragging it in the layer palette.

The ACTIVE layer is the layer you are currently working on. To make a layer active, click on the layer in the palette bin OR click on the layer in the workspace. Both will work. To know which layer is ACTIVE, you can look at the palette bin and see what layer is highlighted. As long as the move tool is on (which we did in the first step), you should also see a BOUNDING BOX around that layer in your workspace.



 

Here is our workspace with the Bracket Matte layer active. Notice two things. First, that the layer is a lighter grey than the others in the palette bin and secondly, that a BOUNDING BOX appears around the matte in the workspace. (The BOUNDING BOX is the dotted lines with squares)





The BOUNDING BOX

This is what we use to resize our layer. Click on one of the squares in the corner. Now I want you to look just above our workspace. There is a box that says CONSTRAIN PROPORTIONS. Make sure this is checked. This will keep your elements from being skewed when you resize them. The same thing can be achieved by pressing SHIFT while dragging on these corners.



 

Go ahead and click on the CANCEL button. (Red circle with line through it)

ADDING ELEMENTS TO YOUR PROJECT

I’m going to show you two methods here, it’s up to you which you choose to use.

Open your template AND a piece of paper. Your screen should look like this:

Method 1
In the upper right hand corner just above our workspace there are three icons. Click on the icon to TILE your windows. DRAG & DROP your elements/paper onto your workspace. Close the file window of the paper/element after you’re done moving them.

 

Method 2-If you are using PSE 6.0 for WINDOWS do NOT use this method
This is the method I will be using for our class.

Click on your paper/element in the PHOTO BIN. DRAG & DROP your elements/paper onto your workspace.

This method may require you to resize the elements after you’ve moved them. BUT it will keep the file name in the layer. (See photo below) This is handy for doing your credits.




We’ve now gone through the basic information we will need to know to complete our layout.



I have opened my template and my photo and am ready to bring the photo into my layout. First- on our layout, click on the PHOTO LAYER to make it active. Then go to the PHOTO BIN and click on the thumbnail of your picture. DRAG & DROP the photo onto your layout.

Your photo should now be in it’s own layer directly above the photo layer in our project. (See palette bin in pic above)

My photo needs to be resized. So I am going to click on the photo so it’s active. Next, I will click on the top corner of the BOUNDING BOX. Then I will DRAG that corner up and away from the center until it is the size I want. Once I’m happy with it, I’ll click on the green check mark.

Now with the photo still ACTIVE, I will press CTL+G. This is called CLIPPING or GROUPING. It GROUPS my photo with the layer underneath and CLIPS it to the shape of that layer. So even though I resized my photo larger than the photo layer, once clipped, it is only as large as the photo layer. (You can tell the size of my actual photo by looking at the BOUNDING BOX in the workspace.)

Looking in the LAYER PALETTE you will see that my photo now has an arrow pointing to the layer beneath. This tells me that this layer is grouped with the previous layer.



 

You can move the photo around to center it by clicking on it in the workspace and dragging.



This is the basic principle of using templates. Dragging and dropping your papers, resizing if necessary, then clipping them to the template shapes.


Let’s add some paper.

This time I am going to open the paper I want to use for the background.

On my layout project, I will click on the BACKGROUND PAPER layer so that it is active.

I will click on the thumbnail of my paper in the PHOTO BIN and DRAG & DROP it onto my layout project.

I will resize the paper, click the green check mark, then press CTL+G to GROUP it with our Background Paper Layer.




 

Let’s do one more set together.

This time I will open the paper I want to use for my Bracket Matte.


On my layout project, I will click on the BRACKET MATTE layer so that it is active.

I will click on the thumbnail of my paper in the PHOTO BIN and DRAG & DROP it onto my layout project.

I will resize the paper, click the green check mark, then press CTL+G to GROUP it with our Background Paper Layer.

Continue this process until you have completed filling in all the layers of the template.


Here’s my project with all the template layers filled in.

Delete the layer that says “DELETE”. We now have empty spaces where our title and journaling will go.

Click on the TEXT TOOL. It’s the icon that looks like a capital T.  Click over your journal strip and type in your journaling. (For my layout I’ve used Courier 24pt).



 

Do the same thing for your title. (For my layout I’ve used an Arial font 225pt)

Since I’ve used that nice big font for my title, I can now fill that with paper just like we did in the previous steps. Drag & Drop your paper, resize, then CTL+G to clip and group.


Our template is done! Before we go on to add the finishing touches, let’s do some housekeeping. (This portion is optional).

We’re going to be working in the layer pallet, so let’s focus our attention there. WOW it’s huge! Let’s clean that up.

Go all the way down to the bottom of the palette. CTL+Click on The BACKGROUND PAPER LAYER and your Paper layer so they are both highlighted. Right click and choose MERGE LAYERS.



 

Working from bottom to top, go ahead and merge all of the template parts.

Here’s the layer palette after I’ve merged all the parts of the template. Please notice that because I used Method 2 of Adding Elements to my project, each of these layers has the file name included. This will make doing my credits MUCH easier!!

Your template is ready to add any additional embellishments you want. I’m going to add a staple to my journal strip, a zig zag stitch to my paper strips, and a flower to my title.

Just DRAG & DROP your elements onto your layout and move them around until you’re happy.


Here’s my finished layout.

 Layout credits can be seen Here

You now know everything you need to use any digital template!!!! I really hope you've enjoyed this class!

About the author ...
Tracy joined the Creative Team in June 2008. She has been Scrapbooking for 8 years, and has been Digi exclusive since 2006. Tracy has been featured in Bella Scraps Magazine and Gallery Standouts.

Submitted by -Tracy-