Articles : Tutorials - Hybrid

Inspiration: ideas altered from the book Computer Tricks for Scrapbooking 3 by Jessica Sprague.

This book is ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS! I have the first two editions as well, and highly recommend all of them, as they function as computer tutorials and idea books! The purpose of this class is to walk you through the book as if we are in a school classroom and her book is your class textbook. Please ask questions throughout the class, as this class is designed to support her book!  Throughout the class I will refer to PhotoShop Elements as PSE. I am using PSE 6.0, but you will be able to do most of these tricks with other versions as well.

  

Objective: to edit photos and create custom embellishments using PhotoShop Elements.

 

Photo Editing: I’m constantly editing photos, which can be time-consuming. Here are a couple of quick tips for lightening photos and for warming the colors within photos.

 

Lightening Photos: good for when your flash wasn’t strong enough, or the photo is underexposed.

1.       Open a photo in PSE;

2.       Photo must have at least a small portion of the color white;

3.       Enhance menu;

a.       Adjust Lighting;

b.      Levels;

4.       Click on eyedropper all the way to the right (set white point);

5.       Now click on the portion of your photo that is white;

6.       Your photo will now be brighter than the original.

7.       If you don’t like the changes, you can undo them and keep playing until you get the right amount of brightness.

 

Warming Photos: good for when the flash washes the photo out and it loses its warmth.

1.       Open a photo in PSE;

   

2.       I chose a photo with just a bit of a bluish tint that I wanted to make a bit warmer;

3.       Click on the “Create Adjustment Layer Icon” (looks like a black & white circle);

4.       Choose ‘Photo Filter’;

5.       Be sure that “Preview” is checked, so that you can watch the intensity as you increase/decrease warmth;

6.       Increase/decrease the intensity of the warming filter.

 

Creating a Photo Grid: very popular when using multiple photos on a layout, helps you resize photos without needing to crop them and lose important elements. I like to use this before printing photos so that I have a variety of sizes within my layout.

 

1.       In PSE, choose ‘New’ then ‘Blank File’;

2.       Preset = Photo;

3.       Size: I chose this size so that I could fit my entire grid on one sheet of photo paper to fit within a standard printer. You can also upload your photo grid to be printed at a photo center such as www.snapfish.com, www.shutterfly.com, or www.ritzcamera.com (my personal favorite).

a.       Photo;

b.      Portrait;

c.       8x10;

4.       Create new layers;

a.       Use the arrow next to ‘Layers’ on the right side of your screen to display the menu;

b.      Click ‘New Layer’ (or you can use the shortcut Shift + Ctrl + N);

c.       I created 3 new layers for my 3 photos;

d.      You will see the new layers on the right side of your screen in the Layers Palette;

5.       Create photo boxes;

a.       Use rectangular marquee tool;

b.      Set the Mode Option to Fixed Size;

c.       Choose the size of the photo box you want to create;

                                                               i.      I chose a variety of sizes as I created mine, but you can duplicate the same photo box over & over for a mosaic look if you prefer;

                                                             ii.      I began with a width of 5.5 and a height of 3.5;

                                                            iii.      This trick is also helpful if you are looking to resize a photo to fit in a certain frame or spot on your layout and you don’t want to crop it down any further;

                                                           iv.      Repeat these steps to create as many photo boxes as you desire. I chose to keep mine in a grid with space for a title.

d.      Fill the photo box with the paint bucket tool;

                                                               i.      Click on the paint bucket tool;

                                                             ii.      Click within the photo box you created to fill it with a color (color does not matter, mine was set to black);

                                                            iii.      You will see this on a single layer within your Palette Bin on the right side of your screen.

e.      Fill all other photo boxes with the paint bucket tool;

                                                               i.      Double-click on each layer and repeat steps from above.

6.       Open photos to input into grid:

a.       File;

b.      Open;

c.       Browse for photo files;

d.      Photos will show at bottom of screen;

e.      Click & drag one photo at a time into the desired photo box (it can overlap the blank space, but you want it to overlap your photo box);

f.        This will create a new photo layer just above the photo box layer you created;

7.       Resize photos within photo boxes;

a.       First you need to “clip” the photo to the photo box;

b.      To do this, you’ll need to simplify the photo layer;

                                                               i.      Right click on the + sign within the photo layer;

                                                             ii.      Choose “simplify layer”;

c.       Move your mouse pointer so that it is exactly between the photo layer and the photo box layer (in the Palette Bin on the right side of your screen);

d.      Hold down ALT (your mouse should change shapes if it is in the correct spot);

e.      Click and the photo gets “clipped” to the photo box;

                                                               i.      You will see the photo layer indented within the Palette Bin;

 

 

f.  Once your photo is clipped, you can resize it and drag it until you like how it is placed within your photo box;

 

g.       Repeat the steps to open, simplify, clip, and resize photos to fit within all of the photo boxes within your grid.

Create Embellishments: Using your computer to create embellishments allows you to create custom sizes and colors. I like that I’m then able to print what I’ve created onto whatever type of paper I choose, whether it is scrap paper, digi patterned paper, cardstock, or even transparencies.

 

Creating Custom “Punched” Shapes: many times I’ve wanted a certain size heart, circle, or flower but haven’t had the right die-cut or punch on hand. This trick allows you to choose from a variety of shapes and alter them to the size you need before printing them onto patterned paper or digi patterned paper.

 

1.       In PSE, create new blank file:

a.       Preset = U.S. Paper;

b.      Size = Letter (8.5 x 11);

c.       I chose this size so that I could print my shapes onto standard letter size paper within my printer. I cut down my 12x12 patterned paper into letter size so that it will feed into my printer, then I print on the back side of the paper so that the ink doesn’t show.

 

2.       Choose desired shape:

a.       Use the shape tool;

b.      Choose shape from shape gallery (ex. hearts, arrows, flowers);

c.       I chose hearts because I plan to scraplift Susan Weinroth’s layout from pg. 88;

3.       Draw shape on page, then repeat in varied sizes;

4.       Merge Visible Layers:

a.       Click on arrow next to ‘Layers’ on the right side of your screen;

b.      Choose “Merge Visible”;

c.       This will put your layers into one single layer (to print/save).

 

Creating Custom Journaling Spots: another useful trick for using shapes is to create journal blocks to print onto cardstock/patterned paper/transparencies. This allows you to create journal blocks that are the exact size/color that you need. You can print text within them or else create blank lines to add journaling later.

 

1.       Repeat the steps from above to create a new blank file (letter, 8.5 x 11);

2.       Use the shape tool;

3.       Click on the arrow within the shapes gallery;

a.       This will allow you to view either groups of the same type of shape (ex. arrows) or all of the shapes within PSE.

4.       I chose two shapes and resized them on my letter-sized paper to cut down on waste & print both at once to save time;

5.       Use the text tool to insert text or blank lines;

a.       You can alter the font & font size of your text as well as format it as bold, italics, underlined;

b.      Use the option to underline to create blank lines by holding down the space bar to create underlining for blank spaces;

6.       Merge Visible Layers (see instructions above from last section);

7.       Print completed journal spots onto letter-sized paper.

 

Creating a Stacked Title: helpful for when you don’t have the correct color of chipboard/sticker alphas on hand. I love using my Cricut to cut titles, but sometimes I am looking for a particular font or style that I don’t have. This trick is also useful to create pages that have a graphic design feel to them.

 

1.       Repeat the steps from above to create a new blank file (letter, 8.5 x 11);

2.       Rotate the letter-sized paper to landscape;

a.       Image;

b.      Rotate;

c.       90 Degrees Right;

3.       Create straight lines to use as borders when placing your title/journaling;

a.       Use pencil tool;

b.      Hold shift as you draw the line with your pencil tool (creates a straight line);

c.       I created mine similar to Jessica Sprague’s layout on pg. 46;

4.       Use your text tool to type:

a.       Choose font (I chose ‘Good Times’);

b.      Vary the font sizes of each line to add style;

c.       Vary the font color as desired;

d.      After typing, use the Move Tool to display sizing handles around the font;

e.      Sizing handles allow you to resize the font as desired and to drag it in between your borders;

f.        Once you line up the font as you wish, click the green check to commit the font to that space (you can still move it later if you wish, using the move tool again);

g.       After you have typed all of your font, you can choose to selectively color a line or two:

                                                               i.      Highlight font;

                                                             ii.      Use color drop-down arrow to choose color;

h.      Print finished copy onto cardstock/patterned paper/transparency as you wish.

 

Create Custom Bracket Paper: edged paper is very trendy, and this will allow you to use any patterned paper or digi patterned paper you have on hand to create custom sizes and shapes.

 

1.       Repeat the steps from above to create a new blank file (letter, 8.5 x 11);

2.       Use the text tool to choose a font;