Polka Dots in PSCS (& DIP too)

[andyapc]

Can someone tell me how to make polka dot paper in both PSCS & DIP9?

I'm very new to PSCS so please write s-l-o-w-l-y (LOL!)

Thanks so much for any help!

[Tina]

Andrea, in DIP- I would just go- Add a shape>circle>right click on circle>change shape or line>line thickness>none.

Fill with the colors you want and make several different sizes of circles to acheive the polka dot look you want.

HTH.

[Emma]

You need to make a seamless pattern. Don't panic...
Here's an image you can use to make your pattern; this is for a pokla dots in offset rows, so 4 dots make a diamond, rather than grid-style dots
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=18328

make a square document (any size is fine, but for this use 6in) and put a new guide every inch (View>New Guide then 1" vertical, 2" vertical, 1" horizontal, etc). Then View>Snap to>Guides.
Imagine a 4-pane window: you need a dot in the top quadrant, and another dot in the opposite bottom quadrant, exactly smack in the middle of each quadrant! That's what your set of guides is for.

Edit>Define Pattern

Then your new pattern will be in your pattern menu. To fill with it, grab the paint bucket tool and choose Pattern istead of Foreground in the options bar, and fill the background or object
To be able to adjust the size of the dots, you need to use the pattern as a Pattern Overlay in the Layer Styles dialog. Double click the layer you want dotted, in the dialog click Pattern Overlay title and choose the dot pattern at the end of the drop down pattern menu
To alter the color of a layer style, either change the color of your original pattern image (save it as a psd so you can alter it later and make more patterns from it). OR just make a new layer, merge it to the layer will the dot pattern overlay to flatten the style (just like in the PSE class to flatten styles), then just change the colors with Hue/Saturation or Color Replace (to make multi-color dots)

Have fun! Holler if you have any more questions

[Lauren]

I would just add to Emmas great instructions that I would copy and paste your first dot into the second square - that way you can move them independently until they are in just the right spot.- Then merge layers and complete the steps Emma has written above

[andyapc]

OMG - the DIP instructions I can handle (Thanks Tina!) but the PSCS - how'd did you know I would panic at the "seamless tile" phrase? :rolleyes:

OK - I'm going to try it. I'm sure I'll be back here with questions.

[andyapc]

I'm baaaaaaaack - that didn't take long, did it?

I'm stuck at "put a new guide every inch (View>New Guide then 1" vertical, 2" vertical, 1" horizontal, etc). Then View>Snap to>Guides."

1) Do I set a 1" guide (or 2" whatever) on BOTH horizontal and vertical? Is there a way to just choose a 1" vertical once and have it cover my entire page with guides spaced 1" apart? Or, do I have to go under View>New Guide for each line (both vertical and horizontal) until my page is covered with the guides?

2) I can't get my View>Snap to>Guides to work. It's active, but when I click on it, nothing happens and when I go back to check it, it's still unchecked, even though I'm sure I clicked on it.

[Lauren]

Yes do a horizontal and a vertical guide - and plonk your circle right in the middle.

In photoshop itself you have to do the guides one at a time but there is a script at the avbros site which is called guidemaster which is great for making multiple guidelines at once - it requires a bit of working out but once you have done it once its a breeze

[andyapc]

I'm sorry to be so tedious, but I'm such a visual person and working with written tutorials always takes me longer than the average person.

I went under New and made a 6x6 project with a transparent background. I have 1" vertical and horizontal lines covering it so I've got 36 squares on my canvas.

So, do I just take it by 2x2 square sections and insert a dot in the upper left square and lower right square? Also - how do I insert the dot?

[Lauren]

I'm sorry to be so tedious, but I'm such a visual person and working with written tutorials always takes me longer than the average person.

I went under New and made a 6x6 project with a transparent background. I have 1" vertical and horizontal lines covering it so I've got 36 squares on my canvas.

So, do I just take it by 2x2 square sections and insert a dot in the upper left square and lower right square? Also - how do I insert the dot?\

Here is what I would do - I would create my new image 2inches by 2 inches and just put one guideline horizontally at 1 inch and one vertically at one inch

then place one dot in the upper left and duplicate and move the second to the bottom right - merge layers when you are satisfied

select all - edit define pattern

[Emma]

Andrea, did you see the image in the gallery on this? It's a visual for you!
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=18328

The reason I used so many guides is because I wanted to use Snap to>Guides, and only having two didn't make it snap to anything. I tried to just eyeball it, but my dots weren't right smack int he center of each quadrant, and my pattern was uneven when I test-filled an image with it.

You can try it with less grids on a 2" or 200px image divided into 4 quadrants; I got a pattern to work like that, evenly, but I had to try several versions before I placed it just right.

With so many guides and Snap to, the new circle being drawn snaps right into its little square perfectly. I ddin't even have to copy and paste

A tip for making guides: just click the ruler and drag onto the image, a guideline will come with it. Place one on each inch.

Also, you can do the DIP instructions in PS, you'll just get a grid-style polka dot instead of the diamon pattern. PS can't rotate or scale patterns, so you have to make it the way you want it. PSP can do both, so a single dot pattern could be rotated and scaled, making the pattern would be a lot easier.

Keep it up! You can try with less guides or do a single dot if you'd prefer. Hopefully the graphic helps you out so you can see where to put the dots for your pattern for offset rows, the more typical polka dot pattern

keep hollering, you're almost there!

[Emma]

oh, one more tip: I put my dots on their own layer with a transparent background (rather than white) so the Pattern would not have a background. That way I can fill my new image with a solid color, then put the dots in on their own layer and change the color independent from the solid background layer (I made red with white dots, and white with red dots)

[Emma]

oh, forgot to put in there that a 6" image will make really big dots! I made a giant dot pattern, then resized it to 1" and defined another pattern from it for small dots

(again, wish I could scale patterns in PS CS! That's why I often just use Pattern Overlay style, which can be scaled)

[andyapc]

OK - I've wiping the sweat off my brow following all of these instructions! But (and I'm giggling because it's such a basic question and yet everything hinges on it) ... how do I insert the dot? :rolleyes:

[Emma]

Use the Shape Tool, Ellipse, Fill Pixels option. Hold Shift while drawing to make it a circle, and hold the space bar while drawing to move it into position. You can also use the Elliptical Marquee tool and fill it.

This is covered in the Adding Shapes portion of Lesson 1, DSU 110 class if you need to review that. Check out Lesson 4, Eyelets, for using the Marquee tool

:) You can do the easy way first if you need to! Did you try making a single dot pattern yet? Just to get a feel for how making patterns works? I didn't want to burn you out right away, I'm sorry. After working with you during both classes I know you can do this! But you can do the single pattern (just one dot centered in a square image) and do this one again later on.

Keep it up!

[andyapc]

I'm working on inserting my dots right now. I've made a new layer for them.

I've tried both ways - using the Elliptical Marquee tool and using the Shape Tool, Ellipse & Fill Pixels. I've double checked to ensure that View>Snap To>Guides is on.

For both ways, I'm holding my Shift key and I'm starting in the upper left hand corner of the square and dragging my mouse to the lower right hand corner of the square. But ... sometimes my circles don't "snap to" the guide! Sometimes they are a bit smaller and don't reach to the grid lines. Sometimes they go beyond the guide lines. Is it a matter of keeping my hand steady and just trying to get the square perfectly between all four guides? I thought that was what "snap to" was for?

[Emma]

I'm not sure why it's not snapping. I have to get it pretty close to the lines, then it snaps itself. It's not a strong "magnet", just a little help

If it's not perfect, no one is going to notice! It's a buncha dots ;)

[andyapc]

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG - I did it. I actually did it. My screen is filled with a black background and little red dots all over the place. I can't believe my eyes. I don't know when I've been so happy! (isn't that pathetic?)

I created a new project, 8x8, used my paint bucket to flood the background with black and applied my new polka dot layer style. It was huge and then I saw the "scale" control and played with it.

So now, I should be able to use that pattern overlay with any size canvas with no distortion, right?

Thank you SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!

I actually have time to play with PSCS today - I'm really trying to learn this program as I keep falling back on DIP9 as a security blanket which makes me feel like I'm failing in some way.

[Emma]

YAY! So happy for you!

LOTS of people use multiple programs, so use what you know to make it easier on yourself. If there's something you want to do that DIP doesn't do, then use PS.

Don't laugh, but when I get frustrated, I fall back into PS. If I ever learn DIP I'll have to take a PS break from it, LOL!

Your other option is just to uninstall DIP temporarily, force yourself to use PS for awhile. I didn't do that, but Jennifer uninstalled PSP when trying to learn PS. I just forced myself to use the other software during Quick Crops, that really helped me learn, and no time to reach for the other one! Plus there were always a lot of people to answer my technical questions right at that moment.

Excellent job! Be sure to link the layout here when it's finished.