Digital Scrapbooking Tutorial #1 :: Creating Layouts with Digital Scrapbooking Layout Templates
Level: Absolute Beginner
The following tutorial will provide step-by-step instructions for creating your first digital scrapbook layout. It will take you through the steps of digital scrapbooking, from creating your first digital layout in Adobe Photoshop using a layered template, to printing and archiving your work.
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Digital scrapbooking is not that different from traditional scrapbooking. You go through the same steps of selecting your photos, planning your project layout, building your scrapbook pages with (digital) papers, adding journaling, and embellishing with (digital) elements like frames, buttons, ribbons, papers, tags, etc. Then instead of cleaning up your supplies you get to print them for your enjoyment! So let’s get started!
Digital Scrapbooking Supplies Required for Tutorial:
In order to follow this digital scrapbooking tutorial, you will need the following:
– Photoshop CS3, or Photoshop Elements. If you’d like to take Photoshop for a test run, visit the Adobe site and download their trial version today.
– A digital scrapbooking template for Photoshop, with the layout elements in layers. This is a .PSD file.
Download the DigiScrapGiRL #1 template used in our tutorial in 12×12 inch or 8×8 inch formats.
You can find additional digital scrapbooking templates on our resources page: Free Digital Scrapbooking Layouts — where to get them or the latest edition of GiRL Friday: Weekly list of scrapbooking freebies.
– Your own digital photos.
If you are using the template that accompanies this tutorial, you will need a photograph with a portrait orientation, preferably one that can have about 1/10 of the photo cropped off from the width. The photo should be 3600 pixels in height for a 12×12 layout, and 2400 pixels for an 8×8 layout (Multiply the height by the resolution — 8×300 dpi =2400).
– Your own digital scrapbooking supplies (digital papers and embellishments).
The papers and alpha used in this tutorial are: “Janeiro 2008 freebie” by Vir Brandi from Digiscrap4all.
If you need a digital scrapbooking supplies, you can start with our resources page: Digital Scrapbooking Freebies — free digital scrapbooking supplies & top 10+ places to get them or the latest edition of GiRL Friday: Weekly list of scrapbooking freebies.
– 30 minutes to complete this tutorial.
Create Your Scrapbooking Layout
The following instructions are for creating a digital scrapbooking layout using
a layered (.psd) template in Photoshop. For this beginner level tutorial I chose a template that does not require you to rotate your photos. Throughout the tutorial, I will be encouraging you to save your files. That way, if you make a mistake, you can easily undo (edit > undo), or as a last resort, Revert (file > revert) to the last saved version.
*Please note that I will not be using shortcuts so that this tutorial is user friendly for Photoshop users of various versions, and on both platforms (Mac and PC).
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(1) Open your template.
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(2) Save the project Save the template under a new file name — so you can keep the original template for other projects.
Some designers work in 8×8 format, not 12×12, so verify that the template is the size you want — for instance, 12×12″ at a resolution of 300 pixels/inch.
If you made a change at this step, and are happy with the results, SAVE your file (File > Save). |
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(3) Some basics about layered templates Look at your layers palette (Open it in Window > Layers) Notice that each element in the template is placed in its own layer. It’s important to know that the layers are in order, much like in traditional scrapbooking. The background layer, should be the bottom layer, and that’s where your background paper goes. Photos and elements are then layered on top, with each element overlapping the next. An active layer will be highlighted. The ‘eye’ indicates layer visibility, turning the layer on an off. |
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(5) Open your background papers
Drag the paper onto your template.
Your paper may now be obscuring other elements of the template. Go to the layers palette, and click and drag the paper layer so that it is positioned just about the background. Merge the 2 layers: (Layers > Merge Down) Your background layer should now be the paper. At this point I like to lock the layer, so that I can’t accidentally move it, or alter it.
If you are happy with the results, SAVE your file (File > Save). |
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(4) Open your photo. If necessary, adjust the photo exposure and fix red-eye first. Drag it onto the template.
Go to the layers palette, and click and drag your photograph layer so that it is positioned just about the template photo layer. If you are happy with the results, SAVE your file (File > Save). |
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(5) Position your photo within the template If you need to resize* or rotate your photo to make it fit the template’s photo layer:
If you are happy with the results, SAVE your file (File > Save). Now we are going to clip the excess. With the photograph as your active layer, create a clipping mask.
You will notice that the photo parts outside of the template were clipped away. Merge the 2 layers:
At this point you could lock the layer, so that I can’t accidentally move it, or alter it.
If you are happy with the results, SAVE your file (File > Save). |
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(5) Create a ribbon from paper We will now create a “ribbon” from another paper. If you have an actual ribbon you want to use, skip to the next step. Open the paper you want to use.
Drag the paper onto your template. Position the paper layer above the ribbon template layer. Now we are going to clip the excess so that we are only left with the “ribbon”. With the paper as your active layer, create a clipping mask, (Layer > Create clipping mask), then Merge the 2 layers: (Layers > Merge Down). If you’d like, lock the layer.
You know it — if you are happy with the results, SAVE your file (File > Save). |
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(6) Placing elements If you have an actual ribbon you want to use, open the file.
Drag the element onto your template. Position your element layer, sandwiching between the layers as you wish. For instance, above the photo, but below the title. Resize* or rotate your element.
In this case, the ribbon is straight, but your may be slightly curved, or a little bit wider or narrower than the template. In this case, we just used the template as a guide, and do not want to use the clipping mask. You have 2 options here. You can turn off the layer visibility for the ribbon template layer (click on the eye for that layer), or delete the layer (drag it into the trash can, = or = with the layer active, Layer > Delete > Layer) You know it — if you are happy with the results, SAVE your file (File > Save)! |
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(7) Add your title & journaling Once again, SAVE your file (File > Save). |
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Archiving your first digital scrapbooking layouts
Congratulations on completing your first digital scrapbooking layouts! What you should do now.
– If you have not already done so, SAVE your file (File > Save).
– MAKE a flattened copy of the file (.JPG) for printing. (Layer > Flatten image). Save this version as a JPG, and preferably using a different name - you can add a word like FINAL, FLAT or PRINT to the file name to indicate that this is the print version.
Note: If you are having this printed by a by a photo finishing service, check their print sizes. If your layout dimensions differ from their print dimensions, reopen the flattened file, and resize the canvas — this will ensure that the printer does not end up stretching your document to the canvas size.
Let’s pretend that your document is 12×12, but the print size will be 12×18…
Go to Image > Canvas Size; Under New Size, change the width or height attribute to 18″. Your document will remain unchanged, but placed on a larger, 12×18 canvas.
Now you are ready to get your file printed.
– SAVE a copy of the .PSD file to your archives folder. You want to keep the layers in case you need to make adjustments.
– If you wish, make a smaller/lower resolution version for sharing via email, on your blog, or in forums.
To resize: go to Image > Image Size; change the document size width or height to 8. If you checked the ‘Constrain Proportions’ box, the change will apply to both variables. A suitable resolution for print is 72 pixels/inch. Printing requires resolution of 200-300 pixels/inch.
Happy Digi-Scrapping!
Digital Scrapbooking GiRLs
Published in: DigitalWorld, Digital Scrapbooking Tutorials, Digital Scrapbooking
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Organizing Your Digital Scrapbooking Supplies
The steps to organization
As with traditional scrapbooking, it’s important to organize your digital scrapbooking supplies so that you can easily find them. If you build a routine from the start, it will be much easier to keep down the digital clutter, and find the scrapbooking supplies when you need them.
1. The first step is to place all digital scrapbooking supplies into their own folder. Mine is called “Digital Scrapbooking” and absolutely everything goes in there.
2. When I buy or download a digital scrapbooking freebie, the file goes into my “downloads” folder. I also save a copy of the preview that the designer offers. Once the file is downloaded, I match the download with the preview, and move the matched set to my “Digital Scrapbooking” folder.
The 2 files are not always named the same, so I take the time to make some adjustments, like giving the preview the same name as the actual download. It may seem tedious, but it pays off in the long run. When you see a preview of a kit you like, all you have to do is open the file with the same name, and you’re scrapbooking!
3. I personally like to keep track of the files by designer; that way if I want to scrapbook something in a particular style, it’s easy to find the right digital supplies. So if the designer’s name is not already there, I include it at the beginning of the file name. Then I rename the other file to match.
4. Sometimes designers offer scrapbooking freebies in little bits, building a complete digital scrapbooking kit over a period of time. I like to combine my files, so that “Designer DigiScrap Papers1″, “Designer DigiScrap Papers2″, “Designer DigiScrap Elements” and “Designer DigiScrap QP” files all end up in one folder called “Designer DigiScrap Kit”.
I also like to do that with collaborative kits, ones where several designers get together to create digital scrapbooking papers and elements using a common theme and style.
5. You may want to take this a step further, by organizing your digital scrapbooking supplies by designer, style (retro, grungy, shabby, girl, boy, vintage…), occasion (Christmas, Halloween, vacation…), colors, seasons or type (templates, digital kits, word art, stitching, overlays…).
You really need to use your judgement here. If you always use templates, then you may want to group templates in a sub-folder. If you use staples or stitches in all your layouts, then you may want to separate those out so they are handy. On the other hand, you don’t want to over-classify. Many scrapbook papers and elements work well for multiple scrapbook layout themes, so you just need to find the balance between having to look in too many sub-folders, and seeing all the Christmas kits in July.
Opening downloaded digital scrapbooking files
When you purchase, or get free digital scrapbooking supplies online, they are provided as a compressed file — typically you will see a zip or rar format. The utility compresses the file folder by running an algorithm that removes the “blank information spaces” in a file folder, thus making it significantly smaller. The compressed file version is used in online file sharing because it takes less time to send or download.
In order to use the graphics, you will have to uncompress the information. Therefore you will need software on your computer that allows you to do that. If you’re using Windows XP, then your operating system can already do it for you — all you have to do is double-click on a zipped file, and it will open like a folder. If you’re using older versions of Windows, then you will need to install an application to open Zip files.
WinZip: is the most widely used compression tool for PCs. You can download the free evaluation version at: http://www.winzip.com/downwz.htm. Full software costs about $30.
Stuffit Expander: Decompresses all files in any of the StuffIt formats, including .zip, .rar and more. Comes in Windows and Macintosh versions.
Saving your digital scrapbooking supplies
Finally, you will want to save your digital scrapbooking supplies, especially your purchased ones. Depending on your hard drive space, you may need to get an external hard drive to save the digital scrapbooking supply files.
For other digital scrapbooking tutorials, check out the digital scrapbooking tutorials category link.
If you started with this post, you may want to check out our Digital Scrapbooking page, with an overview of digital scrapbooking, and links to detailed information on everything you need to know to get started with digital scrapbooking today.
Happy Digi-Scrapping!
Digital Scrapbooking GiRLs
Published in: DigitalWorld, Digital Scrapbooking Tutorials, Digital Scrapbooking
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