Digital Scrapbooking!

Okay, for those of you who want to start digital scrapbooking...
(I never thought I'd do it, but it's oh so easy and NO messes!!!)
First thing you need is Adobe Photoshop.
Here's a couple links to download freebies.
http://ikeagoddess.blogspot.com/ and http://scrap-a-lot.blogspot.com/
and really cute word art @ http://elegantwordart2.blogspot.com/
thanks to my cousin Bri.
Also, my friend Terri gave me this which totally helped me out!
GETTING STARTED:
1. Open Adobe Photoshop Elements

2. Click “Start From Scratch”

3. You will see a box entitled “NEW”. Make sure it looks like this:
Name: This is where you will name your scrapbook page. I usually just leave it as
“Untitled-1”. I give it a name when I save it later.
Preset: Custom
Width: 12 inches for square scrapbook pages (you can change height and width
depending on what you’re doing)
Height: 12 inches
Resolution: 300 pixels/inch
Color Mode: RGB Color
Background Contents: White
Click OK.

4. Here is your canvas! Make sure you have rulers showing on the top and left side of your page.
Click View.
Click Rulers.

5. Next, I drag my mouse to the bottom right corner of the page until it turns into a black arrow with pointers on each end. Then I click and drag it out a little bit so that I can see a light gray border around my page. This is so I know exactly where my edges are.

TOOLS:
On the left side of your screen you have your TOOLS. Each time you select a tool, the top of your screen directly above your page will change, depending on which tool you have selected. Each tool has different things you can do to adjust what it does. Rest your pointer over each tool for a second and the name of it will appear. If you click on the name when it appears, a box will pop up telling you how the tool works.

RIGHT SIDE:
You can set up the right side of your screen many different ways.
Layers. This is the most important thing to have open! It should already be there when you open it the first time.
Styles and Effects. There are only a few options I ever use here, but I use them a lot. You can hide this until you are ready to use it.
I also usually hide the “How To”; you can do this by clicking on the little white triangle next to the title.
I don’t usually have these open, but I know some scrapbookers also like to have these:
Undo History. This shows every step you make as you scrapbook. If you want to go undo a lot of steps this can be handy; you just click on the step you want to go back to. To pull this up click Windows, click Undo History.
Color Swatches. Click Windows, click color swatches.

START SCRAPBOOKING:
1. Start by opening the picture(s) or scrapbook element(s) you want to use. You can do this one of three ways:
1. Click File, Click Open.
2. Click the yellow folder with the blue arrow at the top of your screen (underneath the word “edit”)
3. Place your arrow anywhere on the DARK GRAY area, outside of your scrapbook page widow. Double click. I think this is the easiest way to do it!

Now you can select pictures, and/or a scrapbook paper or element from your CD. You have to go through the opening process (above) each time you want to open a file.

OPENING SCRAPBOOK ITEMS:
1. Make sure the CD you want is in your CD ROM drive!
2. Double click anywhere on the dark gray area.
3. Click on the “my computer” icon
4. Click on the CD drive.
5. Click on the folder of the collection you want to use. Now you should see a list of scrapbook papers and/or elements.
6. To view the items, go up to the little blue and white box at the top of the window and pull down the menu; click “thumbnails”. Unfortunately, this won’t reset itself so you will have to select “thumbnails” each time you open something from your CD.
7. Double-click on the item you want, and it takes a second or two to open in your Photoshop program.

The file you open will open in a new widow, which will cover your blank page. Every time you open something, you will want to move it a little bit so you can see at least some of your page. You can do this by placing your pointer on the gray bar at the top of the paper – then just click and drag it a little to the right.

Toolbox The toolbox should always be on the left side of your screen. If it’s not there go to Windows (in the Drop-Down Menu) and click on toolbox. Look for tools that have a tiny little triangle in the bottom right side of the box. When you find one right click on it and you will find more tools. Don’t be intimidated by the toolbox. You really only need to know a few tools for scrapbooking. I will explain the move tool right now (as it is the most important) and the rest of the tools are explained after the section on layers.
MOVE TOOL:
1. To move your file onto your scrapbook page select your move tool by clicking on it. This is located at the top of the tool bar (on the left) and has two arrows.
2. Place your pointer anywhere on the file (it should look like a black arrow head).
3. Click anywhere on your file and drag your arrow over toward your scrapbook page until it touches your scrapbook page.
4. Let go; you should see the item appear on your page, with a dotted line around it.

You can also move the item around on top of your white background. Just click, hold it, and drag it around until it is placed where you want it.

The move tool is also used to resize items.
1. Place your arrow on the corner of the item you want to resize until it becomes a double sided arrow.
2. Press shift and hold it down until this process is complete. This is very important – it allows the item to keep its proportions rather than pulling it wider or skinnier.
3. Click and drag your item bigger or smaller, depending on what you want. Let go of your mouse and the shift key.
4. Your item will now have a solid line rather than a dotted line. Anytime it has a solid line, push ENTER and it will make the adjustment.
This is so handy! You can make pictures, papers, and elements as big or as small as you want!

With the move tool, you can also move things slightly on an angle, tilting to the right or the left.
1. Place your arrow slightly to the side of the item you want to tilt, until it becomes a curved, double sided arrow.
2. Just click and drag it to the right or left, depending on which way you want it to tilt.
3. Again, the solid black line will appear. Once you get it in the position you want, push ENTER and it will adjust.

LAYERS:
Understanding layers is the key to understanding digital scrapbooking.
When you understand this simple concept you will be amazed how easy it is to scrapbook on the computer. Using layers while creating your scrapbook page makes things easy because you can move things around all you want as you work on the page just as you could if you were working with paper and glue.

If you were creating a scrapbook page with paper and glue what is the first thing you would start with? A background, right? It’s the same in Photoshop. When you open a new file that graphic (picture) becomes the background. If you are working with a new blank document your background will be blank. The next thing you would do with paper scrapbooking is start laying pictures and embellishments on your page. Each picture and element you lay down is really just a different layer to your page, right? When paper scrapbooking if you set your picture down then decide you want to put a matte behind it you could change the layer order by simply putting the matte under the picture. Again, it’s the same in Photoshop. If you want a top layer below another just drag it down below in the layers palette on the right of your screen. You can move your layers around all you want. Each time you open an item and move it to your page, it will create a new layer.

Layer Visibility In the left column of your layers palette you will see little eye icons. If you want to see what your page looks like without a certain layer you can click on the eyeball to hide that layer from sight. You can keep it hidden as long as you want and it will be there for you if you decide to use that layer later.
You could also permanently delete the layer by:
1. Right clicking on it, and selecting ‘delete layer’. OR
2. Highlight the layer you want to delete, then click on the little trash can icon at the top of your layers palatte. Linking layers In paper scrapbooking you can glue layers together to make sure they always stay together as you move them around the page. Same with Photoshop. You can merge the layers together by clicking on the box in the second column of your layers palatte:
1. Highlight one of the layers you want to link
2. Click the box in the second column (just to the left of your layer name and visual) of any of the layers you want to merge it with.

Duplicating Layers.
Often, I will want duplicates of an element (like a little flower or a brad). Rather than open the file again, select the item, and drag it onto your page you can just make a duplicate of what you already have.
1. Select the layer you want to duplicate by clicking on it in your layers palatte.
2. Right click on the layer, and a menu will appear.
3. Select “duplicate layer”.
4. Another box will pop up; just click “ok”.
5. The duplicate is made on your scrapbook page directly on top of the original, so you can’t really tell it’s there. Select your move tool (if it’s not already).
6. Click on the item you duplicated, and drag the duplicate off the top of the original to the place you want it on your page.

MARQUEE TOOL.
Located in your tool box on the left, the marquee tool looks like square drawn with a dotted line. This tool is used to select individual scrapbook elements from file with many, or to select a specific area of a picture or paper to work with. For example, the alphabets, brads, stitches, flowers, and other embellishments on the CDs are all in one file. If you were to open a file and move the whole thing to your page… well, you wouldn’t want to do that. To select the one(s) you want:
1. Open the file.
2. Select your marquee tool from your toolbox.
3. Drag your pointer onto the file; your pointer should look like plus sign.
4. By clicking and dragging, draw a box around the element you want, making sure it does not include anything you don’t want. Sometimes it takes a few tries to get it exactly right. If you mess up, just click anywhere else on the page to get rid of the box you drew, and then try again.
5. Once you have your dotted line box, go back to your toolbox and select your move tool.
6. Move your pointer back to your item and drag it onto your scrapbook page, just like you would a picture or paper.

You can also use this to select just a portion of a paper or a picture before you drag it onto your page – just like cutting if you were paper scrapping. You can also use the CROP TOOL for this, which will be explained next:

CROP TOOL:
This tool is used as the equivalent of scissors in paper scrapping. It looks like a square with a diagonal line through it. You can crop paper and pictures to any size you want. You will want to do this BEFORE you drag your items onto your scrapbook page.
1. Open the file you want to crop.
2. Select the crop tool from your tool box by clicking on it.
3. At the top of the screen, you can either select a common size to crop (by clicking on the arrow next to “present options”, then click on the size you want) or type in your own size in the width and height boxes. I would recommend if you enter an exact size that you always put 300 pixels/inch with your measurements. You can then crop as much or as little of the picture you are cropping and the computer will make that crop the size you instructed it to do.
4. Place your pointer where you want to crop then click and drag it.
5. Once you have drawn your box, you can also move it around and make it bigger or smaller.
6. Once you have your box where you want it, push ENTER. Remember, with this and anything else you do, it’s not permanent! If you don’t like it, just hit the blue “undo” arrow at the top of your screen.

ZOOM TOOL:
The zoom tool allows you to zoom in (or out) – I use this all the time! It looks like a magnifying glass.
1. Click on the zoom tool in your toolbox.
2. At the top of the screen, you can select whether you will zoom in or zoom out. The zoom in option looks like a magnifying glass with a plus sign, the zoom out is a magnifying glass with a minus sign. You will have to change it at the top each time.
3. Click on the area you want to zoom in on, keep clicking as many times as you need to until you get where you want to be.
4. Once you have finished, select the zoom out option, then click on your page until you can see the whole page again.

TEXT TOOL:
The text tool looks like a capitol T in a square box.
1. Click on it in your tool box, and drag your pointer to your page. It should look like a vertical line with a little horizontal line through it, and a dotted line box around it.
2. Click anywhere on your page that you want to put a title or journaling.
3. At the top of your screen, you will see that you can select the font, size, color, whether you want it to the left, right or center – all of the things you can do in a word processing program. This is why I’m so crazy about getting lots of cute fonts – because I use them on EVERY scrapbook page.
4. Just go ahead and type! You can also change things after you have typed them – you can just highlight your text by clicking and dragging over it, then change your font, size, color, etc.
5. Each time you type, a new layer is created with just the type. If you want to move it to a different place, just select the layer of type in your layers palatte, and then select your move tool. It will move around (and you can even resize this way, too) just like you could a picture or element.
tip: If you want to change to color of your text to match another color that is already on your page, use your eyedropper tool (explained below) to select the color you want. Then highlight your text, and click on your foreground color in your tool box (also explained below).
tip: The size options for text only goes up to 72. If you want to go bigger, or if you want to get very specific (say, 62.5), then you can place your pointer in the white box where the number is and it will turn into a cursor. Simply click, then you can delete the number that is in there and type in any number you want.

BRUSH TOOL: Use this tool to paint brush strokes on an image. After you click on this tool in the toolbox you will find all sorts of fun options in the options bar including a drop down menu where you can choose from all sorts of different brushes.

ERASER TOOL: Use this tool to erase any part of an image. You can only erase the layer that is selected in your layers palette. You can erase with a number of different brushes by clicking on the drop down menu in the options bar. Tip: Change the opacity in the options bar (after your eraser tool is selected) for different effects. For example, setting it at 50% and then erasing a whole piece of paper will make it look like vellum paper! Very cool!

EYEDROPPER TOOL: If you have ever wished you could match perfectly to your photos this is the tool for you! Use this tool to select any color in your picture (or any paper or element). You can then use the brush or paint bucket tool with the color selected. Isn’t digital scrapbooking the best?

FOREGROUND AND BACKGROUND COLORS: At the bottom of your toolbox you will see two square boxes slightly overlapping. The box on the top shows your foreground color. The box in the back shows your background color. The foreground color is the color that will be used when you are using the brushes and paint bucket. You can change the color by clicking on a color in your colors palette OR by clicking on the foreground color itself (which is what I prefer to do!). You’ll find hundreds (thousands?) of great colors. Note: The background color will be used later when you start to learn more advanced techniques. You shouldn’t have to worry about it as a beginner. If you ever apply a filter and have a weird color come up try changing the background color to a better color.
PAINT BUCKET TOOL: This is a useful tool that will spread the same color of paint as far as you want it to. Click on the paint bucket in the toolbox then select the color you want to you use in your color palette, or by using your eyedropper tool and clicking on a color from your page or another opened file. Click once in your document to pour the paint. Notice: If you are on a new layer the paint will fill the entire layer. If you are on an existing layer that already has picture on it the paint will only fill the color you clicked on. Try it.


DROP-DOWN MENUS:
Most computer programs have drop-down menus; I’m sure you are familiar with these. At the top of your screen you have a list of words such as “file”, “edit”, etc. As you click on each of these a menu will drop down. I’m sure there are many great things here – I only use a few of them, which I will explain.

Rotating items:
Sometimes you will want to rotate an item exactly 90º to the right or left, or 180º, or flip it vertically or horizontally.
1. Click Image.
2. Click Rotate.
3. Then select the option you want. Important: If you are flipping an individual layer that is already on your scrapbook page, make sure you have selected that layer in your layers palatte first. You must select the option from the second section down (i.e. “layer 90º right”, “flip layer horizontal”. If you select from the top part section, it will flip your entire page.
Remember, if you want to rotate something just slightly, use your move tool as explained above.

Color Variations:
You can use the enhance menu to adjust lighting and colors.
To make your pictures black and white: (make sure your picture is selected)
1. Click Enhance.
2. Click Adjust Color.
3. Click Remove Color.

If you want a variation in the color of a picture, paper or scrapbook element,
1. Click Enhance.
2. Click Adjust Color.
3. Click Color Variations.
4. A menu will pop up with the item you have chosen, and you click on the options to add or take away green, red, blue, etc. This is kind of fun to play around with.

Grid:
If you are trying to line things up perfectly, the grid is a great help.
1. Click View.
2. Click Grid.
3. You will see a grid appear over the top of your page. I usually zoom in to the area I want to work on so I can line up my pictures (or whatever) using the grid to guide me.
4. When you are done using the grid, just click “view”, and then “grid” again to turn it off.

Styles and Effects:
This is not a drop-down menu – it should be to the right of your page with your other palattes. If it’s not already there, click “window” and then click “styles and effects”. There are a lot of options here. I usually just use layer styles selected in the box on the left, and drop shadows or bevels in the box on the right.
1. Click a layer of text or a picture from your layers palatte.
2. Then click on the specific layer style you want it to have in your styles and effects palatte, such as “soft edge” or “low” (the two I use the most). This gives things a nice effect. Play around with all the different options!
3. If you want to change the style, you can either click UNDO (if it’s immediately after you’ve done it) or you can right click on the layer, and select “clear layer style”.

Saving Your Pages
One of the greatest things about digital scrapbooking is that I can work on a page for 10 minutes here, 30 minutes there, and there is no mess! However, this means you will probably not be able to finish a page in one sitting. Always save your pages as a .psd file until you are finished! This will allow you to continue to work on them with all the separate layers each time you open them.
1. Click File, Click Save As.
2. You will need to name your file. Type the name you have selected.
3. Make sure the format box says “Photoshop .PSD”. If not, pull down the menu and select it.
4. You will also need to decide where you want to save it. I save my pages in My Pictures folder. I have created a folder titled “scrapbook pages” for my unfinished pages.
To do this:
a) select My Documents on the left.
b) double click My Pictures from the list.
c) click on the icon at the top that looks like a folder with a little orange flower; this will create a new folder for you.
d) type in a name for the new folder and push ENTER.
5. Once you have selected the location, push SAVE.
6. Another box will pop up – just click OK.
Remember, this is a pretty big file so it takes a while to save it. You can track the progress in the bar at the bottom of your screen.


Once you are finished with your page, and before you can print it, you must save it as a JPEG (.jpg) file.
1. Select File, Save As
2. In the format box, pull down the menu and select JPEG… (not JPEG 2000!)
3. Next you will want decide where to save your file, just like you did with your .psd page. I always save my finished pages in My Pictures, but I make another folder for them titled “finished pages”. To do this, follow the same instructions listed above under number 4.
4. Click Save.
5. After a minute, a box titled “JPEG options” will pop up; just click OK.
Your .psd file will still exist, but it’s a big file that takes up space on your hard drive, so once you have your page saved as a JPEG file, you can go back and delete your .psd file.

E-mailing Your Pages/Posting them on a Web Site
This tutorial will show you how to e-mail your pictures properly so that the recipient doesn’t have a GIANT picture that goes off the screen or takes forever to view. To e-mail an individual picture or your entire layout, you must save it differently.
1. Click File (in the drop-down menus) then Save For Web. A new screen will appear. Your goal is to make the picture or layout a nice viewing size that is less than 100 KB. Tip: If you get a message your file is to big to save for web change the image size of your layout to 5 inches wide at 72 dpi. As soon as you are done saving for web make sure you change the original file size back before it is saved forever at the small size.

2. After you have clicked Save for Web and get the new screen change your image size to a nice viewing size. Something that fits on the screen. I usually choose 500 pixels for the width but you can go a little bigger. You can usually find the place to do this on the right side of the screen where it may say New Size or Image Size depending on the version of Photoshop you have. Once you have your pixels set, click Apply. 3. If the number below your picture is still above 100K change the JPEG size to medium then small if you have to. Depending on your version of Photoshop you may see two versions of your photo or layout. Look at the number that is not indicated as the original. It’s ok to e-mail higher than 100K but try to stay under 100K as a general rule in case you are e-mailing to people with slow computers and connection speeds. 4. Next, click Save at the top. You can name this low resolution file anything you want. I usually name it the same as my original file but add the words LowRes. For example if my original file is named Princess I would name this one PrincessLowRes so it’s easy to tell the two files apart. I also usually save them on my desktop so I can easily remember to e-mail them.
Printing Your Pages: I know there are a lot of different options when it comes to printing your pages, but I don’t know a lot about them. I’ll just tell you how I do it! First I burn the ready to print pages (from my finished pages folder) onto a CD. Then I take it to Staples, and I just specify that I want them printed on 8.5x11 photo paper, so they will be 8 inches x 8 inches. They charge $1.09 per page printed, plus $2.50 to rip the files from the computer. So, the more you print at a time, the better the deal. You can also e-mail the pages to them and pick them up later (this way you wouldn’t have to burn them to a disk). Their e-mail is: cc1535@staplescopycenter.com. If you wanted to print your pages at 12 inches x 12 inches, you would have to find a photo lab that can print that big. I buy my 8x8 albums (Pioneer brand) at AC Moore.
A few more tips:
- Always keep your CDs clean! If you are ever having trouble opening files this may be the problem. Just wipe them off really well and you should be good to go.
- Anytime you get stuck and it seems like the program isn’t letting you do something, check to see if any an item on the page is surrounded by a solid black line. If this is the case, just hit enter and it should adjust itself and go back to the dotted line, and then you can continue.
- The UNDO option is your best friend when it comes to digital scrapbooking. If you don’t like something, just keep clicking the blue UNDO arrow at the top of your screen until you are happy again.
- Many digital scrapbookers don’t use CDs like this, but rather they buy individual elements and papers, or digital kits, online and download them. (Sometimes you can find free things, too!) It takes a high speed connection to do this, and is usually equivalent as far as price to paper scrapping. It also takes space on your hard drive.
- My favorite scrapbooking website is www.twopeasinabucket.com They have a great digital section, a digital gallery where you can post your own pages or view others pages (which is where I get my inspiration; I’m a scraplifter), and a great resources center where you can get ideas for titles and quotes and all kinds of fun stuff. The internet is a great resource for scrapbooking.
- Please don’t hesitate to CALL ME! I am happy to answer any questions you might have, however small or stupid it may seem. I really don’t mind, and I can usually sit down at my computer so we can look at the program together and figure it out fairly quickly. I know reading how to do it is one thing, and actually doing it is another. Let me know if you are stuck! I LOVE digital scrapbooking, and I want it to be as fun for you as it is for me.

Find It:

http://kimsprojectsandideas.blogspot.com/2008/06/digital-scrapbooking.html

Using Templates

Monday, October 20, 2008
Quick Template Lesson

I have had a couple of people ask me how to use templates so I thought I would give a quick lesson. It's pretty easy and once you get it you will be able to do layouts in just minutes! (That is unless you take forever deciding what paper to use and what embellishments to put on like I do...)

Step 1:

Choose your picture, drag it onto the template and on the layers list be sure it is just above the shape you want it to conform to.





Step 2:

With the picture highlighted press the Alt key and hover the mouse between the picture and shape layers. You will see the hand turn into an arrow with two circles joined together. Now click and this will group the two together. It's a simple as that, unless I have totally confused you. If that is the case, you can go to http://www.designerdigitals.com/ and get the tutorial by Cassie Jones called "Getting Started with Templates" for $5.99. She goes into much more detail.

Find it:

http://www.moriginalsblog.com/2008/10/quick-template-lesson.html