Cliptures Snow Day Scrapbook Page
Using Photshop Elements
Scrapbook pages are a great way to share special moments and Photoshop Elements makes it both easy and fun to do. In this tutorial we'll show you how to create a fast and easy scrapbook page with your digital photos and a ready-made Cliptures scrapbook page graphic!
The project takes advantage of the powerful Layers feature in Photshop Elements. The Cliptures image has transparent areas in it for your photos. By layering the Cliptures image on top of your photos you can easily create a great looking scrapbook page without having to do any fancy cropping or additional framing of you photos. And it's fun too!
Important Terms:
Click and Drag: Click and hold the mouse button down. While continuing to hold the mouse button down, move the mouse to somewhere else on your screen before releasing the mouse button.
Handle: Small square boxes that appear at each corner of an object when it is selected.
Project Setup
Before we can make the page, you first need to gather up a few things!
Create a new project folder on your desktop so you can keep all the files for this scrapbook page project in one place.
We've created a special Cliptures Clip Art scrapbook page for this tutorial! Click the link below to download the version for your computer. Then move the downloaded file to your project folder and decompress it. (The files are compressed in .zip format.)
|:. Download Windows Image .:|:. Download Macintosh Image .:|
Prepare Your Photos
The scrapbook page has places for 3 photos: 1 photo about 5 inches wide by 3.5 inches tall, and 2 photos each about 3.5 inches wide by 4 inches tall.
(Your photos don't have to be exactly these sizes, but they should be fairly close. The photo openings are not quite this large but by having your photos a little larger than the openings, you will have a little room to nudge them around.)
Pick the 3 photos you would like to use for your Snow Day page and place a copy of them into your project folder. Do any editing to the photos that might need to be done.
The scrapbook page will have a printing resolution of 200 pixels per inch and your photos need to be the same resolution. Here's an easy way to both crop your photos to the right size and the right resolution, doing both at the same time.
1. With one of your photos open, select the Crop Tool from the toolbox. When you select the Crop tool, a shortcuts menu bar will appear below the menu bar at the top of the Photoshop Elements window. Click the Clear button to remove any prior settings. Then set the height and width you want the photo to be, set the Resolution to 200 and the Measurement to pixels/inch.
2. Now you're ready to crop the photo and get rid of any extra subject matter you don't want around the outer areas of the photo.
3. With the Crop tool selected (and after you have made your size and resolution settings) click and drag over the photo near the upper left point about where you want to start cropping and move the mouse towards the lower right corner of the photo. When you've selected the general part of the photo you want to keep, release the mouse button. (Because you have specified a height and width for the photo, the cropping tool will keep its height and width in the right proportions for that size photo.)
4. You can fine-tune the cropping area by clicking and dragging the handles that appear at each corner of the cropping area. Once you've adjusted the cropping area, click the Check symbol on the right part of the shortcuts bar. Your photo will be cropped to the size and resolution you set!
5. Follow these steps for each of the 3 photos you're going to use on your scrapbook page. Save each of your photos in the project folder. (If your original photo is a .JPG format image, don't save it in that format! Instead, save it as a Photoshop .PSD format file. From the menu bar select: File > Save As and select Photoshop for the file format.)
Okay, you should be ready to go with the following setup steps done:
1. Create a project folder on your Desktop.
2. Download and save the Cliptures image in your project folder.
3. Select, edit, crop, set resolution, size and save your 3 photos in your project folder. ( One photo 5" wide x 3.5" high and 2 photos 3.5" wide by 4" high.)
Now your ready to whip up your scrapbook page!
Create the Master Scrapbook Page
1. Start Photoshop Elements.
2. Create a new Photoshop Elements file by selecting from the menu bar: File > New
3. In the New File window set the file size to: Width 7.5 inches, Height 10 inches, Resolution 200 Pixels/Inch, and RGB mode.
Note: Since most printers will not print all the way to the edge of an 8.5 x 11 inch page, the printed scrapbook page will be 7.5 x 10 inches. After it's printed, trim the white borders off the printed page and mount it on a piece of complimentary colored 8.5 x 11 inch paper. That will leave a 1/2 inch colored border on the scrapbook page.
Add Cliptures Scrapbook Page Graphic
The Cliptures clipart image is a "vectored" EPS format graphic. All Cliptures clipart is created with another Adobe product: Adobe Illustrator. The EPS format they are saved in works great with Photoshop Elements and all of Adobe's other products too. One of the cool things about using Cliptures clipart with Photoshop Elements is that you can make the images as large or small as you want and they will retain their crisp, high-resolution appearance. Another cool Cliptures feature is that the places for your photos inside the scrapbook page graphic are transparent!
1. From the menu bar, select: File > Open
2. Click on the Snowday.eps image to select it and then click Open. This will pop up the "Rasterize Generic EPS Format" window.
3. Make sure that the check box for Anti-aliased is checked and the box for Constrain Proportions is NOT checked. Set the Width to 7.5 inches, the Height to 10 inches, Resolution to 200 pixels/inch and Mode to RGB Color. (This is going to open the border image slightly larger than the finished scrapbook page.)
4. Click OK and the image will open in a new window.
5. Lets tweak the color brightness in the image a little by selecting from the menu bar: Enhance > Auto Color Correction. This will intensify the colors in the image a little and really make it pop!
6. Select the Move tool from the toolbox.
7. While holding down the Shift Key, click and drag (click on top of the Cliptures image) over onto the scrapbook page window. This will copy the Cliptures image onto a new layer on the scrapbook page. (Holding down the Shift key while you click and drag the border will center it on the scrapbook page.)
8. You're done with the separate Cliptures image window so you can close it. When Elements asks if you want to save the file, click No.
Layers
As you add each photo to the scrapbook page, Elements will place it on a new separate layer. This makes it easy to move around the individual elements on the page. This is a powerful feature of Photoshop Elements because it allows you to overlap objects on top of each other.
To see the current layers in the scrapbook page open the Layers tab window by selecting: Window > Layers. This will show you how many layers there are in the page and their current stacking order.
The layer at the top of the list is the topmost layer in the page. Anything on this layer that is not transparent (or partially transparent) will cover over everything in all of the layers below it.
You can use the Layers window to change the stacking order of the layers. Just click and drag a layer above or below whatever other layer (in the Layers window) you want.
At this point, your scrapbook page has two layers: the background layer created when you created the new scrapbook project page, and, the layer with the Cliptures image.
The thumbnails next to the layers are helpful but they're not very big. Renaming the layers to something more specific to your project than Layer 1, Layer 2 can be helpful if your project has more than a few layers in it (they can add up quick). You can rename a layer by right clicking on its name in the Layers tab window, selecting Rename Layer and then typing in a new name.
Rename the Cliptures layer with the border to "Cliptures".
Lock the Cliptures Layer
Locking the Cliptures layer in place will keep it from getting accidentally moved around as you add and work on your photo layers. As you add your photos and get them just where you want them, you can lock their layers too!
In the Layers tab window, click the Cliptures image layer to select it. Near the top of the Layers tab window, click the padlock icon to lock the Cliptures layer in place.
(Locking a layer is not permanent. If you decide you need to tweak anything on a locked layer, you can unlock it by selecting the locked layer and then clicking on the padlock icon at the top of the Layers tab window.)
Save the Scrapbook Page
Save your page as you go along just in case something happens while you're working on it.
Save the scrapbook page by selecting: File > Save As from the menu bar. Browse to the project folder (if it's not the current folder) and save it along with the other project files.
Give it a short easy name and click Save.
Keep the scrapbook page file open so you can add the other elements to it as your continue the project.
Select the Background Layer
Whenever you add a new element onto a layout, Elements creates a new layer for that element directly above the layer that is currently selected.
For the scrapbook page, you want to add your photos below the Cliptures image layer so that they show through in the photo cutout areas. So before you add the first photo, select the background layer (below the Cliptures layer). That way as you add your photos they will already be below the Cliptures image.
(Elements will let you change the stacking order of the layers at any time by just clicking and dragging them from one position to another.)
Adding Your Photos
Your photos can be added to the scrapbook page the same way you added the Cliptures graphic. Open a photo and then click and drag it onto your scrapbook page. You can add your photos in any order.
1. From the menu bar, select: File > Open and then select the first photo to add to the scrapbook page. (Make sure it is a single layer image by selecting: Layer > Flatten Image from the menu bar.)
2. Select the Move tool from the toolbox.
3. Click and drag the photo from the photo window to the scrapbook page window.
Moving Photos (and other objects)
Elements is pretty smart. Select the Move tool from the toolbox and then click on top of photo or any other object on the page that is on its own layer. In most cases Elements will select that object regardless of what layer it is on. (If you have trouble selecting it this way, you can also select it by choosing its layer in the Layers window.)
With the move tool selected, you can click and drag the photo around anywhere you like on the scrapbook page. Even though the photo is below the Cliptures image, the Cliptures image stays in place because its layer is locked.
Position your photo inside an appropriately sized photo placeholder on the scrapbook page. If you sized your photos as we suggested for this scrapbook page, you should still have a little room to move them around inside their frame without the background being exposed.
Resizing Photos (and other objects)
It's easy to fine-tune the size of your photos on the page. Be careful though! If you take a small photo and make it real big, it will probably print fuzzy.
To resize a photo select the Move tool in the toolbox and either click on the photo or select its layer in the Layers window. When the photo is selected you will see a handle in each corner of the box around it.
While holding down the Shift key, click and drag one of the four handles. Dragging outwards will make the photo bigger. Dragging inwards will make it smaller. Holding down the Shift key while doing this keeps the photo from getting its height and width distorted out of proportion. (Sometimes you might want to distort a photo!)
After you have changed the size of the photo, press the Enter/Return key on the keyboard or click the check mark on the shortcuts menu bar to make the resizing permanent.
Rotating Photos (and other objects)
Adding a little tilt to a photo can give a scrapbook page an informal look and it's easy to do too!
Select the Move tool in the toolbox and click on a photo on the page. When the photo is selected you'll see the handles in each corner of the rectangle around the object.
Move the mouse a little outside of one of the handles. When you get it in the right spot the mouse cursor will change to a little curved line with an arrow on both ends.
When you see the cursor change, click and drag the mouse a little bit left or right. As you drag your mouse you will see the photo begin to rotate. When you're happy with the rotation, release the mouse button.
After you've rotated the photo, press the Enter/Return key on the keyboard or click the check mark on the shortcuts menu bar to make the rotation permanent.
Add "Journaling" Text
Over time some of us forget the special little things about an occasion. Adding "Journaling" (notes) to a scrapbook page can help us remember those moments, a date or just add some fun.
To add text, select the Horizontal Type tool in the toolbox.
In the shortcuts bar underneath the top menu bar set the font face, size, color and other font options for your text. Once you have set the font options click on the page where you want the text to begin and type in your text. When you're done, click the checkbox in the text shortcuts bar.
Using the Move tool you can fine-tune the text by moving it around, changing the layer stacking order, and rotating it.
If you want to change any of the text styling, click on the Move tool on the toolbar, click on top of the text to make sure it is selected and then click on the Horizontal Type tool. When you do, the shortcuts menu bar for that text will appear under the regular menu bar and you can change the options.
Save Your Page
From the menu bar select: File > Save. You named the page earlier so all you need to do now is click OK and the file is saved!
From the menu bar select: File > Print. Check your printer to see if there are any specific options for printing photos. If there are, use them so that the photos will look their best.
Trim & Mount
After printing, let the ink dry really well before touching the printed areas. (Letting them air dry over night works really well.) If you're printing more than one page, spread them out in a safe place (don't stack them up).
When the ink is dry, trim the non-printed edges of the page and then mount the trimmed page on a piece of colored paper.
Happy Scrapping!
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