There are many wonderful kits waiting for you at DSP both in the store and as freebies. If you are new at using kits, follow these easy steps and you will have a professional page in no time.

Before you even download, I’d advise setting up a folder – there are several helpful articles and tuts here at DSP on organisation. It is SO easy to get into a mess with all the novelty and excitement!

Download the kit (the one I am using in this tutorial is my Brown Bags and Calico Kit) into a folder which you have labeled with the kits name. Once it is safely there you will see a little zip icon as in the screenshot below.

Picture 1

Double click on this zip and it will open up. Select the top line and then shift/Click on the last line, all will then be selected, and click on the word “Extract” and select the folder in which you have you zip. I then move the zip to a separate folder which I have – called unzipped.

Picture 02

Now comes the fun part. Open a new Photoshop file the size you plan to scrap 8” x !0” or 12” x 12”, 200 dpi. If you need more help here there are tutorials at DSP on scrapping your first page.

Now in Explorer, take a look at the pieces you have in your folder, click on the views icon Views > Thumbnails – I find it easier to look there so I get an overall impression of what is in the kit.

Now in Photoshop File > Open and browse to the folder where you have your kit, double click on the background of your choice to open it in Photoshop. Now select your Move Tool (or just type in the shortcut V) and drag it from the background file to the file you have made. Label this new layer “Background” You may of course add a second piece of background overlapping as you’d like it to look.

Once I have a background I usually open the photos I’d like to use on my layout File > Open, browse to the folder where your pictures are, and drag and drop or Select > All > Edit > Copy, click on your layout Edit > Paste, remember to name each layer as you drop it on and save often………

Often with the kit comes a layout sketch or a sample layout, which are very helpful to creating your layout. Follow this if you like, or simply move your photos around to the sort of positions you’d like them to be. At this stage it is also a good idea to decide where your title will be – maybe there is a piece of WordArt you’d like to use or you will type it yourself?

Now look at the elements included – following the steps above, open any you want to uses and position them on the layout, in the places where they look good, don’t be afraid to move them round until you are happy, and save often!

Very quickly you will have your competed masterpiece! This is the page I competed using this kit:

These are other Tutorials you may find useful:

“Working with Multiple Windows”

Making Your First Page in Photoshop

Uploading to the Gallery at DSP