Filling A Frame | Digital Scrapbooking Tips

Fill a Frame Photoshop Elements 10 Tutorial
by Kayla Chamberlain aka keepscrappin
We’re gonna start with my layout that is almost finished.  I used Chelle’s Creations E-I-E-I-O kit/alpha and E-I-E-O Quickies to make this layout.  Gotta love those quickies. They make for a really quick layout!

I’m going to show you how to add your photo to the pre-made photo cluster.  This method can be used on any square or rectangle frame.

There are many ways to fill a frame in PSE, but today I’m gonna show you what works for me.  My favorite way is to create a fill or photo mask layer for the opening of the frame.  An easy way to do this is by using the magic wand tool to select the area inside the frame opening.  This works great for non-shadowed frames, but the one I’m using already has all of Chelle’s fabulous shadows and I don’t want to have to do all that shadow work again.  When I use the magic wand tool on the frame with shadows, it doesn’t nicely select the area I want to fill.  See the image below to see that the marching ants are inside the frame where the shadows are.

Don’t fret though PSE has another tool that will help me easily select the area I want and still be able to use the shadowed version of the frame.  This tool is called the polygonal lasso tool.  It is the sixth tool down in the tool palette and is grouped with the lasso tool, and magnetic lasso tool, so  you may have to click on those and hold for the fly-out menu so you can get the one pictured below.

The nice thing about filling this frame is that we don’t have to be totally exact on selecting the inside of the frame because we will be putting our photo underneath the clustered frame layer.  We will want to make a new layer under the clustered frame layer.  You can do this by being on the frame layer and then holding down the ctrl key and clicking on the new layer icon at the bottom of the layers palette.

Once you’ve made your new layer under the frame layer, you will use the polygonal lasso tool to click on the upper left corner of the frame and draw a rectangle around the frame.  See the image below for what the marching ants should look like.

While you have the marching ants selecting the area you’d like to fill you will now make your fill layer or photo mask layer on the new layer you just made.  To do this you will hold down the alt key + the backspace key to fill that layer with your foreground color.  Don’t worry about the color of this mask, as it won’t show once we clip our photo to it.  See the image below to see that my black photo mask now fills the open spot in the frame.

Ok – now you can remove the marching ants by pressing ctrl and D.

Now, it’s time for the photo.  Open your photo and do any necessary editing and then add it to your layout on the layer above your photo mask.  See the image below for how the layers should look in the layers palette.

As you can see from the above image my photo is too large for my frame.  So I’m going to clip it to my photo mask layer by going Layer ] create clipping mask.  Or pressing control and g.

In the image below you will see that it looks like my image has been cropped, but really it all still there but is just showing the part that is clipped to the photo mask.  I can move it around, resize it and such so it will show what I want it to show.

I want to resize this photo to show more of my daughter in the frame, so I’m going to check show bounding box in the top options bar.  This will give me a box with handles to resize my photo as shown in the image below.

I want to bring in my photo from the corner handles so it will constrain the proportions of my photo.  If I resized it by clicking on one of the center handles it would distort my photo and make my daughter either look tall and skinny or short and fat and not good at all.  It is really important to always resize from a corner handle and make sure that the proportions are constrained so you don’t get weird looking people on your layouts.  The people on my layouts are weird looking enough without any help from me and photoshop.  LOL

Here’s what my photo looks like in the frame now that I’ve resized it and used the mouse and/or arrow keys to position it to show what I want shown in the frame.

And here’s my final layout zoomed out so you can see my little home grown beauty.

But wait you say!  How do I fill a circle or oval frame?  Well, let’s take a look at that right now.  Here’s my same almost completed layout with a circle frame cluster from the E-I-E-I-O Quickies.

The easiest way I have found to fill a circle frame is by making a circle photo mask layer.  We will do this with the elliptical marquee tool.  It is nestled in the toolbar with the rectangle marquee tool.  See the image below for where it’s located.

Make sure feather is set to zero in the top options bar and draw a circle around the opening of the frame.  Holding the shift key down while you draw out the circle will keep it a perfect circle.  You can also press the spacebar while drawing to move the circle to the position you want.  When you have finished you will have marching ants around the circle like in the image below.

You will now need to make a new layer under the frame layer for your photo mask.  This will be the layer you will clip your photo too so it will fit inside the circle frame.  Click on the new layer icon at the bottom of your layers palette to make this layer and then hold down the alt and backspace keys to fill the layer with the foreground color.  As before the color doesn’t matter because it is just a place holder for where the photo will go.

Now you can get rid of the marching ants by pressing control and D.  We will now bring in our photo to the layer above the circle photo mask you just made like in this image.

As you can see from the above image my photo is too large for my frame. So I’m going to clip it to my photo mask layer by going Layer ] create clipping mask. Or pressing control and g.  Then like before move and resize the image to fit in the frame how you’d like it.  Remember to always resize from a corner handle to NOT distort your image.

And here is my finished layout with a circle frame instead of a rectangle frame.

Here’s some fabulous filled frame layouts from the Chelle’s Creations Creative Team.

From Carol using Something Fishy

From Shannon using Oh Snap Quickies.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial and I can’t wait to see all your wonderful layouts in the gallery with filled frames.

take care and keepscrappin’

Miniaturizing Photos | Digital Scrapbooking Tutorials

Hi everyone… this is a photo tutorial. :) It’s Jenn, aka jk703 here to share a fun and maybe new to you technique!  Hope you like it!

Step 1:  Open your photo in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. Save as a new file. This way the original will be available if you need it.

Step 2: Choose the Quick Mask Mode. It is the little box with a circle under the Foreground and Background Color boxes.

Step 3: Choose the Gradient Tool. On the sub menu, click on the reflective gradient (3rd box), and also make sure that Reverse is checked. You can use any of these that fit your picture though.

Step 4:  Select the part of the photo that will be the miniaturized portion. To do this, click, and drag up. Let go when you feel you have a good space that will be mini. After I let go, my image gets the red gradient mask. The portion that doesn’t have as much red will not be blurred as much.

Step 5:  Click the Quick Mask Mode to turn off the red, and you will see marching ants marching on your photo.

Step 6:  Click on Filter > Blur > Lens Blur. A large screen will pop up, showing all the options that you can play with. When doing this type of photo, I used the Invert and Radius (below). Play with them, and see what you like for your photo.

Here is what my photo looks like now:

Looks pretty cool, yet still shows off that wonderful island!  Here is some more layouts and photo examples by Jennifer/jmljensen and  Erica/Stanworth:

Jennifer’s Before:

Jennifer’s After:

And here is Jennifer’s Layout, and she used the Summer Lovin’ Kit:

 

Eric’s Before:

Erica’s After:

Erica’s Layout, and she used the Traveler Collection:

Well, a quick tutorial to add a “little” miniaturizing to your photos!  Hope you learned something new!

Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FaceBook Cover | Digital Scrapbooking Tutorials


Hi Everyone!  It’s Jenn, aka jk703, here to bring a tutorial your way. Most everyone that I know, besides my mom and dad have a FaceBook account. Recently, they changed your main page to allow for a photo spot. We can dress up this space with a digital scrapbooking help to make it pop from everyone else’s cover pages!  Here’s how:

For my example, I used Chelle’s Summer Lovin kit to make a great summery cover photo.

Step 1:
Open a new PS file, and set up the canvas to 851 x 315.


Step 2:
Scrap on your canvas as you would a layout. Some items may need to be changed for sizing purposes.

Tip: 
– Make sure to leave space in the lower left corner where your Profile Picture will be. Your Profile Picture will be 125 x 125 pixels. The total image and border is 135 x 135, as FaceBook adds a 4-pixel white border and 1-pixel dark outline. The Profile Picture must be a minimum of 180 x 180 pixels when uploading. The Profile Picture is 23 pixels from the left, 210 pixels from the top

Here is what mine looks like when I am finished.

Step 3:
Save image as a jpg or png. Save for Web, and you are ready to upload to FaceBook.

Step 4:
Uploading your Cover Photo and Profile Picture to your Facebook Page is not difficult. You’ve probably done this before, but just in case you haven’t:
– If this is the first Cover Photo you’ve created for your Page, just click on “Add a Cover,” locate it on your computer and then upload it.
– If you’re replacing an existing Cover Photo, just hover over the Cover Photo and click “Change Cover.”
– Repeat for the Profile Picture, hovering over it and selecting: Edit Profile Picture > Upload Photo.

Tip:
– If you upload an image smaller than 851 x 315, it will be stretched to fit. This will make your image quality appear slightly grainy or distorted.
– Have fun with your Cover Photo. Express yourself, and play with your images!

 

Here is what the CT did – boy, I love the ideas and such great inspiration!

Jennifer/jmljensen:  She also used Summer Lovin!

Erica/stanworth made this beauty – with an awesome photo! Kit was Traveler.

Melissa/prettypeaches used Summer Lovin also for her handsome man!  That smile is contagious!

Lastly, Heather/snowdrop used Toe Pics & Figure 8’s to create this timeless cover.

 

Hope these help when you go to try a new cover photo!  Have fun and thanks for visiting!

 

6.28 Tutorial: Dreamy Photo Look in 5 Minutes

Hi Everyone! It’s Jenn, aka jk703 here…. bringing you a fun and really fast tutorial today!  Love the dreamy look to some older photos that you see?  Well, you can quickly add them in five minutes!  Ready?

Here is my original photo of my son, Colin.

Step 1: Open your image and re-save it. This way the original will remain intact for future use.

Step 2: Duplicate the image. (Cmd+J or Ctrl+J or by Dragging the Background Layer to the “New Layer” button on the bottom of the Layer’s Palette.) This is what the New Layer button looks like:  

Step 3: With the Duplicate layer (or Top Layer) selected in the Layers Palette, Click Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. A pop up will “pop” (lol). Enter 10-30px. Look at the preview to see the changes that are made. Play with the amount of blur that you like, and just make sure that the outlines of the face are evident. Click OK.

Step 4: With the Duplicate Layer selected, change the blending mode to Overlay. Your photo will take on a softer, dreamier look. This is within the Layers Palette, and near the top left corner.

Step 5: If your image is too RED, click on the little black and white circle on the bottom of the layers palette – the Adjustment Layer. Choose Hue/Saturation and set the Hue to around a positive 2 or 3 and the Saturation around a negative 2 or 3. Make sure Lightness is set to zero. Click ok. The way the photo appears can be played with in the Adjustment Layer – some photos may need more of an adjustment, so play with the numbers so the images is to your liking.

TIP: To get a specific color for the dreaminess, you can add an additional adjustment layer. With the Duplicate layer selected, choose the icon for the Adjustment layer again. Choose Photo Filter. Pick a color from the drop down menu, and choose the Density. You can add a pink, yellow, or blue dreaminess for the photo. Whatever color you are looking for!

Here is Colin… Dreamified! :)

Now, for some CT Inspiration for your enjoyment!  From Melissa, and she said “When I did this, it made my background really dark, so I turned down the opacity by 10% and it made it have a softer look!”

From Kayla. She had to work with the adjustment layer and advised that her photo was really red so she had to adjust the hue to +7 and saturation down to around -15 to get it to look right.

From Carol, who mentioned that she followed a different technique, but inspired by the Dreamy look. She said that she followed the following steps: Duplicate image, Filter > Blur > Gaussian blur, and then she added mask layer, gradient (circle setting) with a stroke from face to edge.

There you have it – Dreamy Looks in 5 Minutes!  Thanks for stopping by to visit,

6.14 Tutorial: Using the Eraser to Make a Mask

Hi Everyone!  I’m Jenn, aka jk703, here to bring you a quick and easy tutorial for blended masks.  For this tutorial, you will use the Eraser Tool. Something a little different – but so easy!  Let’s get started!

For my Example, I used Chelle’s Traveler Kit. This is a kit that can be very versatile for Men, Traveling, and Everyday Memories. Lot’s to work with and works with all types of pictures.

Step 1:  Open the image and save it to a new file, allowing the original image available if needed. You don’t want to ruin your only copy of a picture. This is a good habit for anything that you open and plan on changing.

Step 2:  Import the paper that you want to have the Brushed Mask on, and make sure it is the layer above the photo. Change the opacity to 70% or so. Save your file, so that this is a working copy of your layout. This way the original paper is still available to use for later.

Here is what the papers look like with the photo and Opacity lowered to 70%:

Step 3:  Choose the Eraser tool, and click on the small arrow next tot he number in the brush tool menu. Choose a brush you like, and make the size somewhere around 100 to 500. For my Example I used a Watercolor Wet Flat Brush, with an Opacity of 20%, and I actually turned the flow down to 60%.  My brush was on the larger side at 432 pixels. Remember, you can use multiple brushes to change the end result.

I decided to use another brush on top of this one. A splatter brush, 55% opacity, 422 pixels, and 55% flow.

Step 4:  Make sure you have the paper layer chosen in the layers palette. Brush on the layer and slowly show the image through the paper. Continue to brush the layer until your photo appears to your liking. Try out different types of brushes, sizes and opacities.

Step 5:  After your have completed the brushwork, change the opacity of the paper layer back to 100%. Your image now looks painted on that layer.

Close Up of the rose:

Super Easy technique there, and each brush will give you a different look on your paper and photo. Play with them and try it out!  Some of the girls on the CT give it a try!  Check out their layouts:

From Jenn:

 

From Jennifer:

From Erica:

 

We would love to see what you create!  Please let me know if there are any questions.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you come back soon!

 

5.30 Tutorial: Easy Blend


Hey Everyone!  It’s Jenn, aka jk703 here for a tutorial for you!  Yay!  I love learning new things about my software, as well as showing people a couple of new techniques!  Today, I’m going to do a quick but easy blending technique.

First, open a blank document, a plainish background paper to practice on and a copy of a photo.  When I am working on something, I save it with the title Working Copy, this way I know what I am working on, and can title it will all my used products at a final save.  Plus, by using a copy of a photo, I know the original is always available to me as a backup!

I’ve used Chelle’s Spic n’ Span, along with some added items from the Rainbow Collection for my example, and a template from Scrapping with Liz. The picture from a cruise vacation my family went on in 2007. It is a favorite sunset – and I love taking pictures of nature and landscapes. Here is my photo on top of a paper.

Remember, place your background paper, and then the photo on top.  When placing your photo, place it where you would like the main part of the image to remain.

Next, within the Layers Palette, and the photo selected, you can scroll through the different Blend Modes that are available to you in PS or PSE.

To “see” what all the blend modes look like with your picture is to do this:  Choose the layer that will be blended in the Layers palette.  Now, press the Shift key, and use your + and – keys to “scroll” through the different blend modes. How easy and cool is that?!

Next, there are two ways to go about blending. Either erasing first or erasing second. For this example, I am erasing first – but you can choose to flip flop the next few steps.

Choosing the Eraser Tool from the Tool Menus, you will choose a large  soft brush. You can change your opacity and flow to dictate how much you will erase, and how drastic it will be with each brush stroke. I lower mine to about 25% when first erasing.  But, with digital scrapbooking, there is always the Undo button, so I am usually not too worried about mistake brush strokes.

Erase away at the edges. Remove the blunt corners, and slowly make the shape that you want to show off from your photo. This may take multiple steps and different opacities while erasing.

Here is what I have so far:

I still think the erasing needs work, and the opacity seems harsh to me. So, I will keep erasing and working on my blend at this point.  After some more brush work, and playing with the blend modes, here is my photo blend.

I really liked the Luminosity blend mode and I also liked the Linear Burn, and Multiply.  Look at them all though – each picture will have a different effect determined by the background paper you choose as well as the picture itself.  Here is the Luminosity blend mode:

At this point, I will duplicate my photo and background paper onto my layout. To do that, all you have to do is highlight both layers in the Layers Palette, and right click. Choose Duplicate Layers, and copy them to the layout that you are working on!

Another fun idea is to combine the blends. Try duplicating the blended photo, and change each layer’s blend mode. You might be surprised what your blended photos look like when mixed with different blend modes!

I ended up layering it, and showing off the original with the blend. I also switched my blend mode. I love this photo and love how the blend really pops with the original photo next to it!

Hoping that was an easy blend tutorial for you!  Thanks for visiting and we hope to see you here again!

5.15 Tutorial: Swiss Cheese Font Edition

Hi Everyone!  i’m Jenn, aka jk703 here this great Thursday!  Hey… it beats Monday in my book!  :) Hope you are all having a great week and getting some scrapping in!  There is so much you can do with your layouts, and so many new techniques that are out there to try!  We often use alphas, and font on our layouts, as well as part of our journaling.  Alphas help up spice up the titles and add a little more to the page than just a plain font. Fonts can be decorative, handwriting or even themed. So, let’s see what we can come up with today!

One that I like is the “Swiss Cheese” Technique. Today’s tutorial is a spin on that technique, by using the font as the “swiss cheese holes.”  For my example, I used Chelle’s Happy Papers.  This is just one great part of the Happy Collection of goodies – Papers, Brackets & Frames, Elements and a Alpha!  Fun, and can be used for a perfect or magical day!  :)

Step #1: Open some papers, and  make sure to have at least 2 papers open in your workspace.

Step #2:  Select the Text Tool from your Tool Menu.  Then choose your font.  Mine is Cooper Std. type in the words that you will cut out.  Before the next step, make sure to put your words where you want them to be on your layout. You will not be able to move them easily later on. Here is what your layers will look like as of now.

Step #3:  Command (Control) + Click on the Font Thumbnail, and you will see marching ants all around the outside of your font.

Step #4: With the marching ants still marching, select the topmost paper in the Layers Palette. This should be the paper that is your background, the one that will have the cut out. Press Command (Control) + Delete. This will delete the font’s shape from that paper.

Step #5:  Turn off the visibility of the Font Layer  – Click on the Eye on the left side of the layer.

Step #6: Lastly, Command (Control) + D to stop the marching ants from marching.  Add a shadow Style to the top paper layer. There you go – Swiss Cheesed Fonts. :)

Here are other fun techniques that you can do with fonts and Alphas.

Ronnie (ronnie_texas) used a font for the main title “A Taste of Winter.” She then simplified the layer, clipped paper and merged layers. Lastly, she added a white stroke. The subtitle was also created using a font, adding an adjustment layer of white and once again, she added the white border using stroke to give it more impact.

Heather (snowdrop) also created a sticker look with the word Fairmount – it almost looks like it is a thick sticker and it might be  raised with pop dots! Cool!

Roxana (roxanamdm) created this layout with such pop – and added some cool effects to her subtitle word. See the word memories – it looks almost like a puffy sticker to me!  That is awesome!

This layout by Cara (colson) made a bright a fun layout with an awesome blend to boot!  Check out that cool font that she stickerized (yes, my own term, lol) and then outlined!  It really stands out!

Well…. lots to see and try on your layouts!  Thanks for coming by and visiting – hope to see you again soon!

4.26 Tutorial: Saving A Custom Shape

Hi Everyone!  It’s time for a tutorial!  Yay!  I’m Jenn, aka jk703 – happy to be here to share a easy but useful workflow process to save you time! A couple of my recent tutorials focused on the Shape Tool for using it to make a Custom Shape, and another for Rounded Edges. This tutorial will show you how to save your custom shape to your shape library. There are many ways to do things in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements – I’m just sharing one of the ways. To me, this is a very easy way.

Now, I understand that this is not as amusing or fun as creating your own custom shapes, but it is definitely helpful to learn. If you save your custom shapes as you create them, you can reuse that shape over and over again. When I made my rounded edges square, I saved it – so I could use it for background mats or photo mats later on. I’ve done this with irregular star shapes, fun wavy shapes, and flowers too!

For this tutorial, I’m going to use the Rounded Edges Example from the previous tutorial. It is HERE if you would like to look at it again. That tutorial ended with us clipping a background paper to our new square shape with rounded edges, as seen below.
Let’s save that shape!

Step #1:  In your layers palette, you will want the shape layer active.  Right click on it and click on Duplicate Layer. A Duplicate Layer pop up will appear. Click on the Destination Document and choose New. I duplicate to a new document so that I don’t ruin anything in the layout I am working on, and so I don’t save the wrong item as my shape.

Step #2: Next, you will be in the New Document, and the only layer will be your shape. Right click on it, and choose, Clear Layer Style.  This clears your shape of any styles, such as shadows.

After removing the style, this is what your layer should look like.

Step #3:  In the Layers Palette, click on the actual shape once. In the above picture, there is a slight double line on the corners of the Shape Box. That is important for the next step.

Step #4:  Then on the Top Menubar, click on Edit > Define Custom Shape. A pop up will show, and ask you to name your shape. Enter the name.

Step #5:  Choose the Shape Tool. In the Shape Tool Options bar, click on the small arrow next to the shape and you can scroll through the shapes until the end.  Your shape should be the last one there. Tadaa!

Tip:  To organize or delete shapes after creation, just click on that arrow next to the shape listing on the right. It’s really small!  Then choose Preset Manager. In this pop up box, you can move shapes, rename them, and delete them. You can also save your favorites as a set!

There you go… creating a shape, creating rounded edges, and now saving your shapes. I think we have shapes covered!

Here is some awesome inspiration that the CT came up with!  Check these layouts out!
From Jenn (jennshultz). She made strips for her title and for a little pattern breaks here and there! Look at that blended photo – it pops!

From Stefanie (eyeore). She used the heart, and clipped a background paper, adding an overlay too!  Awesome twist to this kit!

From Jennifer (jmljensen). She used the rounded edges to make her edges rounded like the little epoxie element!  Great idea!

From Melissa (prettypeaches). Love the way the rounded edges look – but the focus on the layout is her journaling!  Beautiful!

Lastly, from Karen (karen32). Look at the shapes below her layers and cluster work – see what it is?  It is the silver circle with the star in the center!  How awesome is that shape – and once saved – it can be used over and over again!  Even for journaling! Love the shapes and how they are cut out of the brown paper!  Really cool!

Well, there you go…. shapes and saving them!  Hope that was helpful! Thanks for visiting!

Create “Sanded” or “Inked” papers with CU Grunge Bundle | Digital Scrapbooking Tutorials

Want to create fabulous papers that look “sanded” or “inked”.  It’s a snap with our new CU Grunge Paired Bundle.  Here’s a video tutorial showing how simple it is:

Want to know when I release new video tutorials?  You can subscribe to my Youtube Channel by clicking on the subscribe button under the video title.

Try it out! Here’s a free sampler so you can see how it works:

4.05 Tutorial | Using Shadow Styles

This is the first in a series about Shadows in Digital Scrapbooking.
Most software programs come with standard options for adding shadows to items. And shadows make a BIG difference. Here is a layout without and then WITH shadows: Shadows add realism and make a layout POP!

But the reality is that shadows are different.  Papers have smaller shadows than flowers.  Buttons have smaller shadows than strings.  Vellum & acrylic have unique shadows.  If you use Photoshop Elements or full Photoshop, you can use layer styles to quickly tweak your shadows so each item will have a shadow that fits with its style.
First you need a set of shadow styles.  For example, Me & My Shadow:

You should pick a shadow direction and stick with it.  At least use the same direction on a single layout.  But I use the same direction on ALL of my layouts for continuity.  Here’s an example showing all three of the shadow directions in Me & My Shadow.  My favorite is Upper Left.

Next you need to install the styles.  That is a little complicated because the directions are different depending on which version of photoshop/elements you use & which operating system your computer uses.  If you use PSCS or PSE 8 & lower, the Daily Digi has this tutorial.  If you use PSE 9 or 10, I would google “install layer styles in PSE 10 Windows Vista” (but use your version & operating system)  There will be plenty of tutorials for your specifics.
Finally you can use the styles.  Here’s a quick video showing how I used the styles to shadow this layout.

Here’s some inspiration from the CT using Me & My Shadow.

From Ronnie using On the Trail

From Jenn using Under Construction

From Kayla using Kick It! and Rainbow Reds

From Melissa using Girl Power