This is the first in a series of monthly articles/tutorials I will be writing to help both new and seasoned scrapbookers create beautiful layouts from a sketch. During the instructions I will be telling you the kit(s) I used. For your layout you will select the kit of your own choosing.

To begin I will show you both the Sketch and the Finished layout

THE SKETCH

STEP 1:

new document

File>new

name: PLEASE NAME LAYOUT HERE

Preset: CUSTOM

Width: 12 INCHES

Height: 12 INCHES

Resolution: 200 PIXELS/INCH

Color Mode: RGB COLOR 8 BIT

Background Contents: WHITE

PRESS OK

the next step I like to take when I am creating a layout from a sketch is to recreate the sketch in Photoshop.

This makes it easier to just drag in the photos. Because I save my sketch files in the psd file format, this allows me to have this sketch to use again to very quickly make a layout. Or a layout for a client.

STEP 2:

reset colors

Press D to reset the Foreground/Background colors in toolbox to default colors (Black and white)

STEP 3:

new layer

Press the CREATE NEW LAYER icon at bottom of the Layers Palette

STEP 4:

select tool

Select the RECTANGLE TOOL located in the tool box (this is NOT the marquee tool..may be hidden underneath another shape tool)

STEP 5:

adjust options bar settings

Set your options bar to FILL PIXELS

STEP 6:

geometry settings

Press the down arrow beside the Custom Shape tool in the OPTIONS BAR to open the Geometry Settings window.

Select UNCONSTRAINED

Make sure there is no check mark in the FROM CENTER option.

STEP 7:

rulers

If your rulers are NOT VISIBLE...

VIEW>RULERS (CTRL+R)...

STEP 8:

draw rectangle

Place your cursor at the 10” mark just outside of your canvas and drag out your box across the entire width of the BOTTOM part of your canvas.

This is what you should have at this point

STEP 9:

geometry settings

Press the down arrow beside the Custom Shape tool in the OPTIONS BAR to open the Geometry Settings window.

Select

FIXED SIZE W: 8 H: 11

Make sure there is no check mark in the FROM CENTER option.

STEP 10:

new layer

We want our photo matte to be underneath our strip at the bottom so HOLD DOWN the CTRL key and press the CREATE NEW LAYER icon at bottom of layers palette This should give you a new layer beneath “Layer 1”

STEP 11:

draw rectangle

Verify that you are on “Layer 2” and then place this new rectangle shape approximately 3.75 inches from left side of canvas and .25 inch down. Hold down your LEFT MOUSE button to move into position you want.

This is what you should have at this point

STEP 12:

switch foreground and background colors

Press X to switch the foreground color to WHITE and background color to BLACK

STEP 13:

geometry settings

Press the down arrow beside the Custom Shape tool in the OPTIONS BAR to open the Geometry Settings window.

Select

FIXED SIZE W: 7.5 H: 10.5

Make sure there is no check mark in the FROM CENTER option.

STEP 14:

new layer

We want our photo matte to be above our matte so verify that you are on “Layer 2” and press the CREATE NEW LAYER icon at bottom of layers palette This should give you a new layer above “Layer 2”

STEP 15:

draw rectangle

Verify that you are on “Layer 3” and then place this new rectangle shape approximately 4 inches from left side of canvas and .5 inch down. Hold down your LEFT MOUSE button to move into position you want.

Now to get these two perfectly aligned we are going to use our alignment tools.

**IMPORTANT NOTE**

Please follow directions pertaining to your version of Photoshop if multiple instructions are given.

STEP 16:

selecting layers

CS2:

Hold down the SHIFT key and select “Layer 2” and “Layer 3”

Press the LINK icon at bottom of the Layer Palette.

This just linked the two layers together.

PS7 & CS:

Select “Layer 3”

Click the empty box directly to the left of “Layer 2” to link these two layers together

STEP 17:

select tool

Select your MOVE TOOL from toolbox (V)

STEP 18:

options bar

You will need to press the ALIGN VERTICAL CENTERS and ALIGN HORIZONTAL CENTERS icons in the options bar. Please see figure below. The two highlighted icons are the ones you will need to click.

This is what you should have at this point

STEP 19:

select tool

Select the RECTANGLE TOOL located in the tool box

STEP 20:

geometry settings

Press the down arrow beside the Custom Shape tool in the OPTIONS BAR to open the Geometry Settings window.

Select

FIXED SIZE W: 8 H: 0.75

Make sure there is no check mark in the FROM CENTER option.

STEP 21:

new layer

STEP 22:

draw rectangle

Verify that you are on “Layer 4” and then place this new rectangle shape just a smidgen below the top of your white box in “Layer 3” and on the LEFT edge of the Black box in “Layer 2”

STEP 23:

fill

In the Layers Palette

Reduce the FILL to 50%

This is what you should have at this point

STEP 24:

switch foreground and background colors

Press X to switch the foreground color to BLACK and background color to WHITE

STEP 25:

geometry settings

Press the down arrow beside the Custom Shape tool in the OPTIONS BAR to open the Geometry Settings window.

Select

FIXED SIZE W: 3 H: 6.25

Make sure there is no check mark in the FROM CENTER option.

STEP 26:

new layer

We want our photo matte to be above our matte so verify that you are on “Layer 4” and press the CREATE NEW LAYER icon at bottom of layers palette This should give you a new layer above “Layer 4”

STEP 27:

draw rectangle

Verify that you are on “Layer 5” and then place this new rectangle shape about 0.375 down and 0.25 inside the canvas. You can just EYE it to where it looks good. You do not have to be perfect.

STEP 28:

fill

Lower fill to 50% in the layers palette. (same as in step 23)

This is what you should have at this point

We are now ready to add drop shadows to these layers. You may be thinking WHY add drop shadows to these layers, they are just the sketch. All I can say is TRUST ME. You will see when we begin the Layout portion of this tutorial.

STEP 29:

select layer

Select “Layer 5”

STEP 30:

layer styles

Press the LAYER STYLES icon at the bottom of the Layers Palette

Select DROP SHADOW...

STEP 31:

drop shadow settings

Blend Mode: MULTIPLY color BLACK

Opacity: 75%

Angle: UNCHECK USE GLOBAL LIGHT

set at 0° angle

Distance: 1 px

Spread: 0%

Size: 15 px

Make sure to set Quality box settings to match figure to the right.

CHECK Layer Knocks Out Drop Shadow

STEP 32:

duplicate layer styles

You will need to copy this layer style to “Layer 4”

Place cursor over the layer style icon that is ON “Layer 5” and RIGHT CLICK

When the pop-up menu appears go down and click COPY LAYER STYLE

Select “Layer 4”

Right click layer and select PASTE LAYER STYLE

We will need to repeat these steps for Layers 1-3. The reason we do them separately is because of the 50% FILL we did on layers 2 & 3. If we copy this same layer styles to those layers it will also copy the FILL.

There are other ways to do this but I am only going to teach you this method today because it is universal to versions 7-CS2.

STEP 33:

select layer

Select “Layer 1”

STEP 34:

layer styles

Press the LAYER STYLES icon at the bottom of the Layers Palette

Select DROP SHADOW...

STEP 35:

drop shadow settings

Blend Mode: MULTIPLY color BLACK

Opacity: 75%

Angle: UNCHECK USE GLOBAL LIGHT

set at 0° angle

Distance: 1 px

Spread: 0%

Size: 15 px

Make sure to set Quality box settings to match figure to the right.

CHECK Layer Knocks Out Drop Shadow

STEP 36:

duplicate layer styles

You will need to copy this layer style to “Layer 2”, & “Layer 3”

Place cursor over the layer style icon that is ON “Layer 5” and RIGHT CLICK

When the pop-up menu appears go down and click COPY LAYER STYLE

Select “Layer 2”

Right click layer and select PASTE LAYER STYLE

Select “Layer3”

Right click layer and select PASTE LAYER STYLE

SAVE THIS SKETCH IN .psd FORMAT I named mine 121605_LisaCarter. This name will let you know my sketch number and who the designer and copyright holder of the sketch is when you go to give credit.

You may add text as shown in my Sketch on Page 1 if you would like.

THE LAYOUT

When I am doing a layout I have two choices. Either find a photo to go with a kit that I just LOVE, or I find a kit to go with the photo. Either way is fine. This layout I found the photo, out of the thousands I have. Yes I am a snap happy mom and proud of it.

The Kits I used are:

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

©DSP Designers

KEEP EM’ IN STITCHES

©Lisa Carter

STEP 1:

open sketch

Open the sketch you made in the last section (if it is not already open)

STEP 2:

duplicate document

IMAGE>DUPLICATE...

STEP 3:

close document

Close the ORIGINAL sketch document (make sure you have SAVED it first. You may want to use it again later on another layout. Having a folder of sketches really help when you are doing the Quick Crops)

You should now be working with the COPY you just made.

Now, because I am basing this layout on the KIT I will start with that first.

STEP 3:

windows browser

I like to use my WINDOWS browser and DRAG the documents I need into Photoshop. It is much easier than opening each file one by one. (you can use the BRIDGE to do this but I rarely use the bridge, it is a big memory hog)

So....Browse your computer and open the file of the KIT you would like to use.

Make sure this window is NOT MAXIMIZED. This way you will be able to drag into Photoshop.

Window should look similar to this

STEP 4:

select documents

Hold down the CTRL key and select the papers and elements you would like to use in your layout.

STEP 5:

drag documents

DRAG these documents into the Photoshop window. This will open them up in Photoshop.

STEP 6:

close windows explorer

At this time either CLOSE or MINIMIZE windows explorer window

STEP 7:

active document

Make the Sketch COPY your ACTIVE DOCUMENT. You can do this by just clicking on the window of that document. If you cannot reach it you may need to minimize some of the other windows.

STEP 8:

script

I am going teach you a GREAT script Amanda (one of the wonderful founders of DSP) showed me. This is a great script for when you are creating a layout. Open the kit and photos you are going to use for the layout, then run this script. It places all the open files into the Active Document. SO MUCH EASIER THAN DRAGGING EACH ONE INDIVIDUALLY. What script is this? The COLLECTOR SCRIPT from AV BROS.

Photoshop 7 does not come out of the box with scripting HOWEVER, you can download a plug-in from Adobe to allow Scripting in PS7.

For WINDOWS operating systems: http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=1536

For Mac operating systems: http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=1535

Read the instructions provided by adobe for installation.

To download this script go to http://www.avbros.com/english/downloads.html

Scroll down the page and find AV Bros. Collector 1.0. Click the Download Link and SAVE this file

Next...browse your computer to find where you saved the file. You will have a zipped file

Un-zip this file.

Once you have un-zipped the file Copy the AV Bros. Collector 1.0.js file to the Scripts folder located your Photoshop Presets folder.

Should be: (CS)

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS\Presets\Scripts

Should be: (CS2)

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS2\Presets\Scripts

USING COLLECTOR SCRIPT:

Once you have the photos and/or elements files you wish to use open, select the document you want to place these items into your Active Document.

Again...make sure you have the Sketch COPY as your Active document and SELECT "Layer 1"

FILE>SCRIPTS>AV BROS. COLLECTOR 1.0

Adjust settings to match figure below:

CLICK RUN

Close the files you just placed into the Document. Neat isn’t it!! Make sure you don’t accidentally close your Sketch COPY document.

Your Layers Palette should now look like this:

Notice how the layers have retained the file name. This makes it very nice. I will be referring to these names during the rest of this tutorial. You will need to adjust according to the file names of the Kit you selected.

STEP 9:

move layer

Select the BG_12x12_Tan.jpg layer and move it to just ABOVE the layer titled “Background”

This will be the paper that you want as your MAIN BACKGROUND paper

STEP 10:

move layer

Select the BG_12x12_Blue.jpg layer and move it to just ABOVE the layer titled “Layer 1”

This will be the paper that you want as your BOTTOM STRIP of paper

STEP 11:

clipping mask

We are now going to “cut” our strip out by using a clipping mask. (PS 7 called this grouping)

PS7 & CS users:

While on the BG_12x12_Blue.jpg layer Press CTRL+G

CS2 users:

While on the BG_12x12_Blue.jpg layer Press CTRL+ALT+G

My layout looks like this now

STEP 12:

photo matte color

Since I want my photo matte to be a solid color I am just going to “select” that layer a special way.

CTRL+CLICK the THUMBNAIL of “Layer 2”.

This will give you the “marching ants” around the black matte.

Press D to reset your foreground/background colors.

Press CTRL+BACKSPACE. This will fill your selected area with the BACKGROUND color.

Press CTRL+D to Deselect

I am trying to teach you some keyboard shortcuts as we go along so that you can learn them and speed up your scrapbooking.

STEP 13:

selecting color

Select your EYEDROPPER TOOL and grab a color from your Strip of Paper at bottom for your Journaling block. I selected the blue (# 96a4af)

STEP 14:

journaling block color

Since I want my Journaling block to be a solid color I am just going to “select” that layer the same way I selected the Photo Matte layer

CTRL+CLICK the THUMBNAIL of “Layer 5”.

This will give you the “marching ants” around the Journaling block

Press ALT+BACKSPACE. This will fill your selected area with the FOREGROUND color.

Press CTRL+D to Deselect.

STEP 15:

select tool

Select your MOVE TOOL from tool box. (V)

Make sure you DO NOT have Auto Select Layer Checked in the Options Bar

STEP 16:

moving element and wordart

Select Element_Flowers.png (the element you want in lower left corner) and move it into the lower left corner of your layout

STEP 17:

moving element and wordart

Select Element_Title_Believe.png (your wordart) and drag this down to the bottom of your layout inside of your strip.

STEP 18:

re-sizing wordart

Depending on the wordart you selected, you may need to re-size it to fit in your area. To do this press CTRL+T to access the Free Transform. Grab a corner handle and HOLD DOWN THE SHIFT key as you drag the wordart to size desired. You may need to adjust the placement again.

STEP 19:

new layer

Make sure you are still on the Element_Title_Believe.png layer and Press the CREATE NEW LAYER icon at bottom of the Layers Palette

STEP 20:

fill layer

Press D to reset your foreground/background colors.

Press CTRL+BACKSPACE. This will fill your selected area with the BACKGROUND color.

STEP 21:

clipping mask

We are now going to change the color of our wordart out by using a clipping mask. (PS 7 called this grouping)

PS7 & CS users:

While on “Layer 6” Press CTRL+G

CS2 users:

While on “Layer 6” Press CTRL+ALT+G

Your wordart should now be WHITE

STEP 22:

merge down

Press CTRL+E to merge the layer down with the layer below.

STEP 23:

blending mode

At the TOP of your layers palette you will see a box with a drop-down menu arrow. In this box should be the word NORMAL.

Press the arrow and select SOFT LIGHT

Time to move our Brads

STEP 24:

select layer

Select the layer Element_Brad.png

STEP 24:

move layer

Now you could just drag this layer up to the very top of the layer palette but I am going to teach you the keyboard shortcut for this.

Press CTRL+] (right bracket)

Repeat this until the layer is the TOP layer in the layers palette

STEP 25:

move brad

With your Move Tool still selected move the brad to the bottom left corner.

STEP 25:

duplicate brad

Hold down the ALT key and drag this brad to the right side.

You will notice that instead of just moving the brad it DUPLICATED and MOVED the brad

You will need to do this 2 more times but this time move them to “hold” your vellum strip in place. The one at the top of your photo.

See next page for a view of my layout at this point for a little help in placement

I am now ready to add my photo and journaling

STEP 26:

photo

Open the photo you would like to use and drag it into your layout.

Place this photo DIRECTLY above “Layer 3”

MAKE SURE YOUR PHOTO IS LARGER THAN 7.5x10.5 because this is the size of the photo area in the layout

STEP 27:

clipping mask

We are now going to “cut” our Photo out by using a clipping mask. (PS 7 called this grouping)

PS7 & CS users:

While on “Layer 6” Press CTRL+G

CS2 users:

While on “Layer 6” Press CTRL+ALT+G

You may adjust the size of your photo by using the free transform (CTRL+T)