Tutorials

Hi Everyone! This is Jenn, jk703, here back for another blog post today! I’m here to share how I easily share my layouts after they are completed by using photoshop to Save for Web. Photoshop makes it pretty easy, and I’ve been doing this version for a few years now.

For my example and layout, I’ve used the collab, Snowlandia by Chelle’s Creations and Ziggle Designs. My font is Special Elite, and my title was a free version of Thirsty Script. I’m also using a template that has been modified from Scrapping with Liz.

I’ve finished my layout, and I’ve saved the layout for my Album. Now, I’m going to save for web version. Here is what my working space looks like in Photoshop.

Next, under the File menu, you will choose the Save for Web and Devices option.

When I complete a layout and save it for my Albums, it is full size. I leave it as is, and after I choose the Save for Web and Devices option, I get a warning pop up. The warning does advise that it may run slow, and have errors. BUT, this error has only ever occurred 1 time when I completed this step, and since I have the album copy saved, I never worried about it. I’m also a bit lazy, and just go for the save for web and save myself a few steps. Here is what the error looks like:

ALTERNATE WAY: If that warning scares you, then before you choose the Save for Web option, you can resize your layout by choosing Image > Image Size. Then when the pop up appears, change your layout to 6 inches by 6 inches or 1800 pixels x 1800 pixels. Then the warning will not occur. All other steps remain the same.

So, once you have chosen Save for Web, a large pop up screen will appear. It will look like this.

On the right side, about halfway down, there is a Image Size option box. You will enter the size to be whatever size you require. Most galleries are 600 x 600, some are 700 x 700, 800 x 800 and even 900 x 900. Enter in that size, and keep the constraints locked. Once you hit enter, your image will shrink down.

Next, on the image, in the top you have choices for how you want to save. For the web, mine is set to JPEG, and it is also set to Very High, and Optimized. 

After you have JPEG selected, you will click on that SUPER SMALL itty bitty arrow that is to the right of “Unnamed.” A menu will appear, and you will choose Optimize to File Size.

Once, you click on that, you will then enter the number that you want the file to be – size wise. 😛 I’ve put mine to 249, just so it doesn’t cause issues if a gallery has a 250kb limit.

Click OK, and then click Save on the bottom of the Save for Web screen. Save your layout, and then you’re ready to upload to most galleries. Here is the layout that I was working on – perfectly sized, and ready to go for the Web:

Thanks for visiting today! Have a great week!

Washi tape is super fun, and a great little embellishment to have in your stash! This is Jenn, aka jk703, here to bring you Washi Tape Shadowing Techniques today. There are a lot of way to shadow, and we all have our little quirks, so hopefully one of these might work for you and your layouts!

Shadowing washi tape is a little tricky, but it doesn’t have to be. Washi tape is a fun element, to tack items down, use as a journaling/date location, and even as a border with multiple pieces across a whole edge on a layout. Once you use it, you will be “stuck” wanting to use it over and over again! Here are a few ways we can shadow washi tapes.

Here are the tapes that I have used for my examples. They are a part of Grill On. Plain Tape

Tape with Shadows – layered for you to see how they might look stacked.

#1 Easy Peasy

You start out with a piece of washi tape. First, you will want to make another (duplicate) copy of the original tape – right click, and choose duplicate. For this shadowing technique, I’ve added a shadow (mine are 45* – down and to the left) to the lower of the two copies. I have a distance of 4 and a size of 5. I lowered the opacity to 74, and used the Linear Burn Blend Mode.

The bottom layer tape has a blend mode of Overlay, and a Fill of 34%.

The top layer of tape has a Normal Blend Mode, and is at 51% opacity.

See, that wasn’t so hard! Next up, we will try something else – adding a little depth over paper. Oooooohhhhh…. 😛

#2 A Little Burn Won’t Hurt
Here is what my finished tape looks like stand alone. I’ve made it appear as if part of the tape has a higher lift on the top portion. This will be layered onto another piece of paper. If you look above, you will see this on top of another tape layer too. It will appear as if the edge of the underlying paper has put an edge into the tape.

For this shadowing process, you will want to have two duplicate copies of the tape layer. With the bottom one selected, I’ve set my shadows to Linear Burn, 40% opacity, Distance of 4 and a size of 5.

My bottom layer has a Normal Blend Mode, and a Fill of 70%

The top layer of tape has a Soft Light Blend Mode, with a fill of 50%.

Next, with the bottom layer of the tape selected in the Layers Pallette, you will choose the Polygonal Lasso Tool. You will use this tool around to make a box around the tape portion that is OVERLAPPING something – a piece of paper, or a photo, whatever the tape is overlapping. Once your box is made, you will get marching ants.

Now, click on the Burn Tool. It’s the one that sort of looks like the fingers/hand are making a circle.

Now, my settings are at 65 size, Exposure 30%, and Protect Tones is checked.

At this point you should still have marching ants on the bottom layer of tape. With the Burn tool, brush over the bottom edge of the marching ants – where your tape overlaps another paper/photo, etc. You should get a slight darkness added to this layer of tape. Almost like a crease.

No too bad, and looks especially good when using on top of paper layers. Makes it just a little more realistic with a darker bump where the overlap occurs.

#3 Textured Tape
This is a fun shadowing technique for washi tape. It adds a little dimension where you might not have realized you wanted it, lol!

Make 3 copies of the tape for this shadowing technique. My piece of tape above has a Drop Shadow using Linear Burn, 34% opacity, Distance of 5 and a Size of 10.

THEN, it also has a Inner Shadow using a Multiply Blend Mode at 41%, and a Distance of 9.

THEN on top of that, I have a Bevel and Emboss – Texture added! My Scale is 101%, and my Depth is 100%.

See that little triangle pointing down on the right of the pattern box? Click that, and choose a pattern that you like. I’ve chose Wax Crayon on Sketch Pad.

Bottom layer of tape is set to Linear Burn, with 50% opacity.

Middle layer of tape is set to Overlay, and 49% opacity.

Top layer of tape is also set to Overlay, and has a 51% opacity.There you go – a textured, fun, washi tape.

Jenn (jennschultz) created this fun page using tape from See Clearly Now. She tacks down her picture and the eye chart with it.

Hope you learned something new with Washi Tape Shadowing Techniques. There are so many ways to shadow things in PS/PSE. Make sure you like what you have, and play with the blend modes. They can make or break the coloring. Have fun! Thanks for stopping by today! See you next time.

Hi Everyone! This is Jenn (jk703) here, hoping you are all doing well on this wintry (for me) Thursday! We’ve got a smidge of snow on the ground, and it is so cold out! I’m home with a sick child, and it is nice not having to go out and about today! Today I’m going to show you how to make a blend, but backwards, lol! It’s super easy, and looks great!

For the Backwards Photo Blend tutorial, I’ve used Chelle’s One Year Older Kit, and some new products from Scrapping with Liz. They were a perfect match and I love how my layout turned out! Here is my layout so far… a little bit of fun, and a lot of open space. I love open space layouts, but I’m not always the best at them. Sometimes, I feel like I spend more time trying to work on a clean layout versus a bit of clustering. So, let’s fill that BIG open space with a picture.

Next, I’ve pulled in a picture and for this image, it is above the paper. Just so I can see where I want the image, I’ve changed the blend mode for the time being. This way I can move the photo and see how it might look for the blend. This step is just for placement. After doing your photo moving, you will then put the image behind the background paper layer. (Remember, to change your image back to the Normal Blend Mode.)

Here is my Layer’s Palette. Photo on the borrow, background paper and then all the papers and embellishments. These are not the originals, just “copies” of the kit pulled into Photoshop. You also want to have a duplicate image of your photo. Not the original. The reason for this is that this method of blending/masking could damage your original photo or papers.

Next, I’ve selected the Eraser Tool.

For my selections on the Eraser Tool, here is the sub menu. I’ve selected a large soft brush eraser, and a flow of 25%. I usually start low, and if I need more erased, I go over again, or adjust the flow higher.

With my kraft background paper selected in the Layers Palette, I slowly click on where my son’s head is, to erase the paper. I click in a couple more spots, and after erasing, here is what my Backwards Photo Blend looks like. It is intended for him to look excited at the pictures of him, lol!

Next, I add a title and my journaling and I’m good to go. Space filled, a bit a cluster, title and journaling. All done!

Jenn (jennschultz) created a page using Chelle’s Rock the Vote and the Summertime mini kit! Perfect combination! She made a layout for a visit with Chip & Dale, and the backwards photo blend was done on the family picture!

A super easy way to try out the Backwards Photo Blend – I hope you liked it! Can’t wait to see your creations using the technique! Have fun, and thanks for visiting!