In this tutorial I am going to demonstrate a quick and easy way to cut shapes from Digital Scrapbook Papers/Backgrounds in Photoshop. This method will work in all versions of Photoshop.
First we need to create a new layer above the paper layer.
I am going to cut a heart shape from my paper, and will use the custom shape tool to create the heart to cut my paper with. The custom shape tool can be found above the hand tool on the left hand tool bar.
Once you have clicked this tool you will see the custom shapes menu appear in the above menu bar.
First you need to ensure the Fill Pixels button is selected.
Once the Fill Pixels button is selected you can go ahead and click on the Custom Shape Picker to choose your shape. Photoshop has several preinstalled shapes, but you can also create or add more.
I will use a Photoshop custom shape for the purpose of this tutorial. The shape I am using is called Heart Card.
Click on the Heart Card Shape to select that custom shape. Click on your new layer to ensure it is selected. Using your mouse, click and drag over the canvas to create your shape. Hold down the SHIFT key while doing so to maintain aspect ratio. (keep the shape in the correct proportions) Holding down the SHIFT key is a good tip to maintain aspect ratio when resizing any object in Photoshop.
You can now see on the layers palette that there is a layer with your custom shape and the layer underneath with the paper.
Next we need to hold down the CTRL key and click on the shape layer to select the outline of the shape. When you do this you will see ‘marching ants’ appear around the outline of the shape.
Now we need to select the paper layer so that we can cut the shape from it.
Once the paper layer is selected, you can use the Edit>Copy command or press CTRL and C to copy.
Now we need to open a new canvas to paste the shape onto.
Ensure the background contents are selected as transparent and click on OK.
Now use the Edit>Paste command or press CTRL and V to paste. You will now have your shaped paper in a new canvas, to save or drag to your layout.
Once you have dragged the shape onto your layout add a drop shadow to complete the look!
Have you ever thought about experimenting with Shutter Speeds on your camera? You can achieve some interesting effects by using slower than normal shutter speeds. Unfortunately not all camera’s are able to do it but most SLR’s and higher end compact camera’s can. You will need a tripod or stable surface to keep your camera nice and still.
You can achieve some very interesting patterns and effects by using slower shutter speeds than normally required to capture the action. Lower light conditions are usually required to achieve the slow shutter speed effects. The image above was taken from a stair case at twilight in a large crowd.
The lower light enabled me to use a slow shutter speed to blur the action. The faster movements are more blurred and ghost like and the movements not quite as fast, have slightly less blur to them.
You may have seen a similar technique used on photographs of moving water, such as a waterfall or stream. It can produce some very interesting dreamy looking effects.
The image to the right is a photo I did late in the afternoon of a small waterfall at a nearby park. I used a shutter speed of 15-30 seconds to create the effect of the softly blurred movement of the water. Because there is no movement in the rocks they remain nice and sharp.
You can also combine slower shutter speeds with a burst of flash to show both movement and capture detail in an image.
The following image is at a Christmas Concert at twilight. My son had a light up candle that had various colours within the light. We had a wonderful time experimenting with shutter speeds of around 1/10th of a second, and using a burst of flash to capture more than just the light trail.
The slower shutter speed enabled the light trail to be captured, and then a quick burst of flash allowed the image of my son at the end of the exposure to be nice and sharp. The light trail shows because it is brighter than the surroundings and it appears on the image first, with the darker elements needing the help of the flash to be seen on the image. The quick burst means it is nice and sharp.
You can do some wonderful light trails just using the slower exposure without the flash. Because the bright object such as this candle or sparklers is so much brighter than the surroundings, it makes a trail on your image leaving the rest of the exposure dark. Experimenting with shutter speeds is a lot of fun. I encourage you to do it, because it teaches you a lot about the effects of light on your images.
You can produce some interesting selective blur effects with the Lens Blur filter in Photoshop. It is a technique originally created with a specialized camera and sometimes used in advertising images. Following is a quick tutorial on how to create a similar Lens Blur effect in Photoshop. Photoshop gives us a lot more control after the image is taken and how the blur is applied. It is a very effective technique great for emphasising a focal point or drawing the eye to a specific area of your photo.
First, create a selection on you photograph with the Elliptical Marquee tool. (situated on the rectangular marquee button).
Now feather the selection using Feather Selection in the Select – Modify – Feather Selection.
Type in 80 as a feathering range. (can vary depending on photo size)
Click on ok. Your selection may not change much on the screen but it will now be a feathered selection.
Click on Filter – Blur – Lens Blur. This will bring up a window for adjusting your lens blur settings.
Within this window you can adjust your settings. Select invert so that the outside of your subject is blurred. Below are the settings I used, you can adjust yours and experiment with your own settings to get an effect you are happy with.
And here is the final image. I love this effect and I am sure you will find many uses for it as well.
Each month at DSP I hold a Graphically Challenged Challenge! It is a great way to get those creative juices flowing to make graphic style or blendy layouts. I have always loved doing ‘blendy’ layouts and there are several Tutorials at DSP to help you out. Here is one I wrote on using Blend modes in Photoshop. Here are some tutorials on doing graphic style layouts for various different programs. Completing Your First Graphic-Style Page [PS] [PSP] [PSP12] [DIP]
If you want to give graphic style layouts ago, these tutorials are a great place to start. Experimenting with blend modes can bring an extra dimension to your digital scrapbook layouts.
For the monthly Graphically Challenged I usually post an inspiration piece or tutorial to get you started on the challenge. For November the challenge is to incorporate hearts into your layout.
How gorgeous is this inspiration??? I love it’s grungy goodness!
This is my take on this months inspiration and topic. Not quite the bokeh effect shown on the inspiration piece but I loved the idea of blended hearts of the layout.
I used a background paper from my Citrus Funk Page Kit and hearts from my Mocha Dreams Page kit, but used lots of blend modes so they don’t quite look like they do in the kits!
Like the idea of blendy style or graphic layouts? Check out the November Graphically Challenged at DSP!
To download the pdf version of this tutorial click here. In this tutorial we will learn how to load brushes into Photoshop as well as some of the basics in regards to using them and making them work for your layouts. This tutorial is suitable for Photoshop CS+ . First we need to load our set of brushes. Photoshop comes with several sets or you may have purchased a set. For the purpose of this tutorial I will be using grungy Photoshop brushes. First copy your .abr file into your C:/Program Files/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop CS/Presets/Brushes folder before loading your brushes.
Brushes saved to this folder will load each time you start Photoshop. (If you do not wish to have them load every time you start Photoshop, you can save them to a different folder and load them as you need them.) Please note that your drive letter may vary from this and your Photoshop folder may have a slightly different name depending on the version of Photoshop you use.
We now need to ensure our brushes tool is selected by clicking on the brush/pencil tool and holding your mouse button down to get the pop out menu. Click on the first item, Brush tool to select brushes.
Now click on the brushes tab at the top right of your screen.
If you are unable to view this tab, you can show it by going to the Windows menu and clicking on brushes. You should then be able to drag it to the box containing the other tabs so that it appears each time you open Photoshop. We then need to load your brushes. To do so click on the small arrow next to the word brushes on the brushes tab and a menu will appear.
Select Load Brushes from the list of options.
Brushes for Photoshop come in .abr files. So in your download, look for the .abr file you copied to your presets folder. Browse for your brushes file in your Adobe/Photoshop CS/Presets/Brushes folder. Once you have found the file click on it to select it and click on the Load button. This will load your brushes into the Photoshop brushes collection. You should now be able to view your loaded brushes in the brush selection menu.
Tip:- In the above preview I have my brushes set to show as large thumbnails. There are several viewing options. To choose your favourite, click on the arrow on your brushes tab again and select your viewing option from the menu that appears. You may prefer small thumbnails or one of the other options, try them and see!
The next step is to choose a brush to use. For the purposes of this tutorial I am going to put white inked edges around the edges of a photo. Brushes are very versatile and have a HUGE number of uses, from painting, grunging or decorating papers, to inking edges on photos and papers or even editing photos. You can use brushes with your eraser tool and dodging and burning tools to name a few. Then you have the option of experimenting with blend modes to enhance the effect of your brushwork. Once you start to experiment with brushes, they become very addictive! I have several inked edge brushes to choose from, and in the sample below I have used a few of them, but you can just use one and change the rotation of the brush to suit each side of the image. I have also used some other grunge brushes to achieve the effect I am after. Now to choose the brush!
To choose a brush, find the brush you wish to use and click on it. This selects your brush choice. You can then change the size of the brush to suit your purpose using the Master Diameter. Alternatively you may wish to use the menu that appears when you click on the dropdown arrow next to your chosen brush at the top left of your options toolbar.
Tip:- Create a new layer before beginning your brushwork so that it can be easily erased if need be by deleting everything on the layer or the layer itself.
I am editing a 400x575 pixel photo in this tutorial, and will need to adjust my brush sizes accordingly. You can reduce or increase the size of your brushes to suit your needs using the Master Diameter setting. As you can see below, I have selected white from my colour palette and have begun my brushwork on a new layer by clicking on the areas of my canvas that I wish the brushwork to appear, much like ‘stamping’ the image on the screen. In the sample below you can see the outline of the brush as an indicator of how it will appear on the canvas.
Your brush will not always be angled in the position you wish to use it, to rotate your brush to suit the angle you require, click on the Brush Tip Shape option to the left of the Brushes palette. Here you will find further options for editing your brush. To change the rotation of the brush, you can click on and drag the arrow to an angle that suits, or enter the angle into the Angle box. You can also edit the diameter of your box in this area.
You may notice the other options down the left side of your palette. There is great scope for experimentation here, however these will not be covered in this basic tutorial. Below is the finished product, with several different brushes applied. (some inked edges & a crayon line brush).
If you want to take it one step further, you can experiment with blend modes and additional brush work to create different effects. Below are the blend modes I have used for my Ink Edges layer and also a second layer of grunge brushwork I have done on the image following.
Below is the end result of the above blend modes (Exclusion – Layer 1 & Soft Light – Layer 2) and an extra layer of additional brushwork.
Or for a more defined border, I have changed the blend mode on the inked edges layer to Difference.
The techniques you have learned in this tutorial can be applied to your favourite background papers or photos and even when designing blinkies. The possibilities are endless! You can add layer layer styles, vary the opacity and apply further effects as well to add further enhancements to your work.
The March Graphically Challenged at DSP is to ‘cross process’ a photo and create a layout with that photo. Cross processing is a traditional still film photography technique that can produce some really striking results, however you can achieve similar effects in Photoshop without messing with those stinky chemicals! I have done a tutorial to demonstrate how to achieve the effect in Photoshop The challenge is to create a layout using the cross processed photo and have it take up the entire page. I decided to scraplift a layout done by Klamb1111 because I loved the affect she created on her layout with the tutorial and had the perfect photo to use after Jasmine learnt how to ride her bike without training wheels over the weekend! Anyway, here is my layout using the technique, using the cross processed photo, blend modes and a background paper from my Altered Heart Page Kit.
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