Articles : Tutorials - Digital

Repetitive Shape Madness!

Keep your layouts simple with repeating shapes and sizes

Ever have a ton of photos that you want to showcase on a layout in a clean, simple way? I'm going to show you how you can quickly create many little spaces for those photos to go.  We'll also be using a technique called a clipping mask, which you can see here: http://www.acherryontop.com/article?a=6965

We'll be using Adobe Photoshop CS3 Windows version for this tutorial here, and creating a layout using Sweet Digi Scraps Fruit Salad kit.

Step one:  I have twelve photos I want to use, so I'm going to make two rows of six photos each.  We're using a 12x12 format, so I know the photos will have to be less than 2 inches wide, so I'll aim to make my rectangle less than that. I already have the general placement down - I know I want them to fit inside the red paper area.  Use the rectangle tool (or any other shape or tool for that matter!) shown by the green arrow and create your shape. 

After you have the shape go to the layers palette, right click over "Shape 1" and select "Razterize Layer".

*note* I always add my drop shadow on my first shape - if you'd like to learn more about those go HERE: http://www.acherryontop.com/article?a=6982

Step 2: Again on the layers palette, right click over "Shape 1" and select "Duplicate Layer".  Repeat this step until you have your desired number of squares (in my case, 6)

Step 3:  Make sure the move tool (keyboard short cut "V") is active, and select one of the newly created shapes.  Drag it to the right side of the page.

Step 4:  Here's where you're going to get to know your new best friends in Photoshop....The Align Tools!  They area highlighted in the green circle.  I use these on a regular basis to help me line things up.

Select all of the layers you want to align and disperse.  Select "Align Top Edges" and then "Distribute Horizontal Centers", both shown by the green arrows.

Voila! Perfectly aligned rectangles! 

Step 5:  Now, these aren't the ideal spacing or size that I'd like, so I'm going to resize while they are all selected, and then repeat steps 3 and 4 until I think they are just about right.  Once that is down pat, I'll select all 6 layers, right click on the layers palette, select "Duplicate Layers".

Now you can use either the arrow keys or the Move Tool to take the six newly created shapes and relocate them down below the first row.

Step 6: Add your photos using clipping masks (Ctl+alt+G)

Step 7: Embellish, save and print!

About the author ...
Karin O'Brien lives with her husband Patrick (i.e. Honeybuns), her son Liam, and two kitties, Milo & Thalia, in a fabulous condo in the great city of Chicago. She traded in her Chemical Engineering Degree for the best job promotion a girl could ask for - being Mommy to Liam! Despite the lack of sleep and lack of money, she thinks life is very good right now! Karin began paper scrapping in 1999 in college, although she always seemed to make more of a mess than pages! When she moved to Mexico, the lack of a local scrap store forced her to explore digiscrapping! She started digital scrapbooking in March of 2005, and now is officially addicted and completely in love!

Submitted by mayerkt