Creating Digital Paper on the Fly

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My goal for this year is to reduce my dependence on pre-made digital paper and elements.   Instead I want to create a toolbox of skills, or quick procedures, to create paper and elements on the fly, as part of designing a  page layout.

I found a quick and easy method of creating solid colored, textured, digital paper being demonstrated in a video on YouTube by Chris Beasley of DigitalScrapbookingPages.com.

Watch the video (it's nice and short!), learn the technique, then use my cheatsheet notes below to refresh your memory when needed.




Cheatsheet notes:

1.  Open a new 12x12 blank document.
2.  Fill the background layer with the color of your choice.
3.  Create an adjustment layer, select Pattern, and choose "Gouache Light on Watercolor" from the "Artist Surfaces" group of patterns (load these, if needed, as shown in the video). Increase the scale to 1000%, or as desired.
4.  Change the layer's blend mode to Overlay.
5.  Reduce the opacity to 40%, or as desired.
6.  Create another adjustment layer, select Pattern, and this time choose "Dark Coarse Weave." Increase the scale to 125%, or as desired.
7.  Change the layer's blend mode to Soft Light.
8. Reduce the opacity to 30%, or as desired.
9. Save as a .JPG file.

DONE!

I recommend keeping the .PSD file as well as the .JPG.  As CB mentions at the end of the video, if you have the .PSD file (or .TIF, if that's what you prefer), you can open the original file and experiment with different blend modes, scales, and opacity on the adjustment layers.

You could also swap out the Patterns and experiment with those, trying different combinations of patterns for endless possibilities.

One of my favorite things about having the .PSD file handy is that I can use the Paint Bucket and simply fill the background layer with a different color (pull a color from your photo or from a patterned paper that you are using) and instantly have a coordinating paper with the same texture to use in my layout. How about orange?

Or experiment with the Gradient tool:

 

How cool is that????

I'll be collecting more fun techniques for creating digital paper On the Fly, and writing them up in Cheatsheet format.  Feel free to copy and paste to your own blogs, share my Cheatsheets with your friends, print them out for easy reference, they're copyright-free.  (A link back to me is appreciated, but not necessary.)

Put that in your Digital Toolbox and Use It!

How to Make Outline-Style Digital Elements - Free Tutorial

So I really didn't forget that I had promised to show you how to make the outline-style digital scrapbooking elements....I just forgot that I said I would do it in my "next post!"  Uh, that was several posts ago, heh!  So I apologize if you've been waiting and watching for the tutorial.

So, here's how to do it.  It's easy, and there's nothing to buy!

1.  Open a new document in PS or PSE.  Specify a 4x4 doc at 300 dpi with a transparent background.

2.  Get your Custom Shape Tool, then pick any fun shape from the drop-down list.

3.  Draw the shape (hold down the Shift key to keep the proportions accurate) until it pretty much fills your document.  When you let go of your mouse button the shape will fill with whatever color is your foreground chip.  The color doesn't matter; you can easily change it now or later.

4.  Rasterize the layer (for PSE users, Simplify the layer).

5.  Hold down the CNTL key and click on the shape image in your layers palette.  You should see the marching ants around the entire shape.

6.  From your menu choose Select, Modify, Contract and enter a value of 15 pixels.  (You may need to adjust this number, depending on the shape you select, so don't be afraid to back up and try again if you aren't happy with the results.)

7.  Now press the delete key to delete the inner portion of your shape.  You now have an outline-style shape!  Be sure to save it as a .PNG file so that it will have a transparent background.

Use it as is to frame a photo, or apply a bevel/emboss or another style, re-color it, clip patterned paper to it, whatever you want.  For my christmas tree elements I used the Bevel/Emboss layer style with the following values: Inner Bevel, Smooth, Depth 205, Direction Up, Size 21, Soften 0.

Experiment with the values and see what you like best.  (Try using Direction Down for a fun letterpress look!)

These are quick and easy enough to make on the fly, as you are working on a layout.  You can even create them directly in your layout and not bother to save it as a separate file (one less file to tag and keep track of and then not be able to find when you want it next)!

Have fun with it!

Happy Birthday Freebie for Digital Scrapbookers

Today is my birthday so I have a gift for you: two photo masks for birthday layouts!

I made these really large, they nearly fill a 12 x 12 canvas so in addition to resizing the mask and using it for a single photo, you could leave it at the large size and put a collage of photos inside (something I've been wanting to try).
Download them both at 4shared or mediafire along with a copy of my new Terms of Use which states that my digital designs and products are ALL copyright-free!

{Sorry, links have expired, but you can still get the photo masks here.}

You may recall a tutorial that I wrote recently on how to use photo masks? A lot of you downloaded it, and left me nice comments or sent emails. I'm glad to hear it was useful for so many of you. Because at least one person (who is using PSE 5 & who has become a goldmine in feedback) was still having trouble I added some more descriptive step-by-step instructions. I've updated the tutuorial and re-uploaded it to 4shared and mediafire. If you are using an earlier version of Elements, and had trouble with the first version of the tutorial, try this new one!

The tutorial is also copyright-free per my TOU so go ahead and share it with your friends and fellow digi-scrappers, pass around the link, or even post the contents on your own blog or website. Credit to me is appreciated but not required, as are small donations.

If you'd like to give ME a birthday gift? Send me your layouts (or a link to them) using any of my products! I really enjoy seeing what people do with my humble offerings. There are so many talented designers out there Be sure to let me know whether or not it's ok to use your layout on my blog and/or website.

Stop back by soon for more FREE photo masks - in honor of Father's Day and Graduation.

Now, go scrapbook something!

FREE Tutorial - Creating Digital Photo Masks

You've seen layouts like these:

So fun! Made using a photo mask to shape the photo, or as a layer with the photo on top, or in lots of other ways.

Lots of digital designers (including me) offer these photo/word masks for sale. But did you know these masks are super-easy to make??? You can custom-design your own, using just the right word for the layout you have in mind, or use your child's name, or your family's last name, or use two or more words, the possibilities are endless.

Want to know how to make these masks? Just click here (4shared) or here (mediafire) for a tutorial (in Word format). This tutorial is FREE for a limited time after which it will be available in my online store for only $1.

INCLUDED is a second, bonus tutorial detailing two quick and easy ways to USE your photo masks once you've created them.

And, in accordance with my latest Terms of Use, these tutorials are copyright-free. Share them with your friends!

NOTE: I would love feedback on my tutorials ('cuz I'm kind of a newbie at writing them). If you find them difficult to use, or the instructions are not clear, etc., please let me know! Use the "Contact Me" button on the right-hand side of my blog. Thanks!!!