Photoshop Friday! {Issue #9!}

For this creation, we’re going to start with a 4-square configuration with patterned paper. To do this, we’ll need some really specific measurements, so we’ll be taking advantage of the Grid and Snap to Grid features in Photoshop. And then we’ll throw a circle element into the mix. So here we go! :)

1. Open a new document, 12x12, 300 dpi, white background.
2. Drag 4 cool patterned papers onto your canvas. (Here’s a great chance to mix and match kits for a fun look.)
3. For this, we’ll need some accurate measurements, so turn on rulers (View > Rulers). If yours aren’t showing measurements in inches, you can change this in the Preferences (Edit > Preferences).

Setting up the Grid

If you are using a full version of Photoshop, you can drag guide lines out from the rulers to help you. I love these for lining things up. Simply start dragging with your cursor over the ruler and drop the blue guide wherever you like. BUT, since Elements doesn’t have guides, we’ll be using the grid instead.

First we need to make sure that the grid is showing in inches.
1. Go to Edit > Preferences, and choose Grid from the flyout menu (in CS and CS2 it’s called “Guides, Grid & Slices”.
2. Set the measurement to 1 inch, and set the number of dividers to 4.
3. Hit OK.
4. In the View menu, make sure that Grid and Snap to Grid are both selected (in CS and CS2 the command is View > Show > Grid and View > Snap). Snap to Grid ensures that all our selections and elements line up nicely in quarter-inch increments. Very handy.

Alright! Now we are ready to do some selection.

Selecting using the Rectangle Marquee tool

1. Using the Rectangle marquee tool, select the top left quadrant on the first patterned paper. (a 6-inch square)
HINT: When you are dragging a selection with the marquee tools, hold down Shift to keep the proportions a perfect square or a perfect circle.
2. Now we need to delete all the paper EXCEPT the square we’ve selected. So we’ll go to Select>Inverse.
You should see your selection change to a reverse L-shape.
3. Hit Delete.

Now you can repeat these steps by selecting the next patterned paper, using the marquee tool to select a 6-inch square, inverting the selection and deleting.

When you are finished with all 4 layers, you should have a 12x12 canvas that looks like this:

Now you’ll turn that 4-square into a single sheet of paper to keep working with it.

Merging Layers

1. With the Move tool selected, hold down the shift key and click on each of your four layers one by one. You should see them all select in your layers palette, either by highlighting or by the appearance of a little chain-link icon next to the thumbnail.
2. Go to Layer > Merge Linked (In PSCS and above, Layer > Merge Layers). In your layers palette you should see a single layer with the four squares, and the background layer.

Cutting spaces between the papers

1. Using the rectangle marquee, draw a 1/4 inch selection horizontally across your 4-square paper (this is where the grid comes in handy). Position the selection exactly over the line where the patterns meet:

2. Hit delete.
3. If you are using PSCS or above, you can use the Select>Transform Selection to rotate your selection 90 degrees. If you are using PSE, simply redraw the selection vertically.
4. Position the selection exactly over the line where the papers meet.
5. Hit delete.

Cutting with the Elliptical Marquee
In this next section, we will be cutting a large circle out of the middle of the 4-square paper, to use as a design element. We’ll work on other options with the selection tool, including constraining a selection to exact dimensions, drawing a circle from the center point, and saving and loading a selection.

1. Select your Elliptical Marquee tool.
2. In the Options bar at the top of the screen, choose Fixed Size from the Mode drop-down box.
3. Type in 6in and 6in in the boxes. This will automatically draw you a perfect 6-inch circle.

Now for a cool trick:
4. Position your crosshair cursor in the exact center of your document (again, the grid comes in handy).
5. While holding the Alt key, click once. You should see a 6-inch circle with its centerpoint at the place you clicked.

Another note: the Alt key works for Normal selections, too, if you like drawing out from the center rather than dragging diagonally.

Now let’s Save this selection (even though we can re-draw it in an instant with our constrained marquee tool, saving and loading is a good thing to know for more complex selections).


6. Choose Select > Save Selection. Type an identifiable name in the box, such as CircleMarquee.
7. Hit OK.

Cut and Rotate a Selection

1. With your 4-square paper active, hit Ctrl-X and Ctrl-V to cut the circle selection and paste it into a new layer. (You may have to nudge your circle back into place with the Move tool selected using the arrow keys).
FOR PSE:

2. With the circle layer active, choose Image> Transform> Free transform.
3. In the options bar at the top of your screen, the third box from the left has a little angle next to it. This is the rotation. Type 90.

FOR PSCS and above:
With the circle layer active, choose Edit > Transform > Rotate 90 degrees.

You should now see an image like this:


Load Selection
One more step and we’ve prepped our image for a layout :) The circle would look better if it had some space cut around it. Let’s do that next. We are going to use the same circle selection, but expand it just a bit.

First, we need to load up the selection we saved earlier.

1. Go to Select > Load Selection and choose CircleMarquee from the dropdown list. You’ll see your saved selection activate.
2. Go to Select > Modify > Expand. Type 50 into the box to expand the selection by 50 pixels in every direction.
3. In the layers palette, make sure the 4-square paper layer (NOT the circle layer) is active. Hit Delete.

Now we are all set for making a layout with this great foundation. Here’s what I came up with:


Product credits:
All of the papers except the diamond are from Summer Simmon’s Citrus Grove Kit.
The diamond paper is from Jackie Eckles’ Greeley Kit.
The alphabet strips are from Katie Pertiet.
The font I used for the journaling is TXT Stonewashed. (The date one is Impact)
And of course few layouts would be complete without Katie Pertiet’s Sanded Overlay. (All that grunge for a buck fifty! Amazing!)

Have a wonderful and safe weekend. Link me up when you get finished with your 4-square layout design! :D

Comments

[leslie]

Insane. Incredible. I can't believe I can do things like this!!!!

Yes, You can track where I am on your blog based upon the comments I'm leaving tonight! :)

I'm having a blast! Thanks!

[leslie]

Just thought you might like to see my layout -- I posted it on my blog -- www.snaphappyinkymomma.blogspot.com. :) Thanks again!

[Sarah Garner]

Hi there!

I just started digiscrapping two weeks ago, so I'm new to this, and I absolutely am so thankful for your Photoshop Friday tutorials. They are concise, clear, easy to follow, and give me great ideas.

I scraplifted this Photoshop Friday tutorial. It's at http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=169832&cat=500&ppuser=83732

Thanks again!

[Angie (mighty-nice)]

Fun, FUN, F*U*N! Here's my take on it:

[URL=http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=86424&cat=all&ppuser=1402]Brotherly Love[/URL]

Thanks for the awesome tutorial!

[Kay]

Another great tutorial! I was in a rush to try it out, so I just picked a random picture and quote, but I will be keeping this one in mind for a special project. Thanks.

http://www.scrappersguide.com/forums/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=8733&size=big&cat=500

[shhbaby]

Well, I am just discovering all of what can be done in pse & thanks to your PSfridays I am having a blast!
http://www.designerdigitals.com/ddgallery/showphoto.php?photo=29403&limit=recent

[Kim Yasuda]

Hi Jessica,

I'm doing your Photoshop Friday Issue #9 and it's looking so good. But I bought the letters you used and they come in 3 different levels together so how do i select the one i want. I did it wrong because i only see 1 b now :(. Can you help me?

Thanks,
Kim

[MommaC]

This was so much fun I had to do it twice! Thanks for all your tutorials!

http://www.theshakerbox.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/25321/password/0/sort/2/cat/500/page/1

http://www.theshakerbox.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/25329/password/0/sort/2/size/medium/cat/500/page/1

[post graduate, masters in business administration]

<a href="http://www.globaleducationcounsel.org/coaching/graduate-management-admission-test.htm">Globaleducationcounsel.org - Gre, gmat, ielts, toefl, cet, sat, snap, study</a>, <a href="http://www.globaleducationcounsel.org/why-study-abroad.htm">abroad, education abroad, usa, uk, aus, united states of america, united kingdom, Australia, mba, ms, phd, masters degree, post graduate degree, graduate degree, engineering degree, doctorate degree, under graduate, graduate, post graduate, masters in business administration, management studies, higher education</a>,<a href="http://www.globaleducationcounsel.org/coaching.htm">courses, coaching, classes, tutors, tuitions, advisors, counseling, counselors, university, universities, colleges, high schools, graduation, under graduation, post graduation, exams, scores</a>, <a href="http://www.globaleducationcounsel.org/coaching/international-english-language-testing-system.htm"> preparations, Mumbai, Pune, India, international English language testing system, test of English as a foreign language, scholastic aptitude test, graduate management admission test, graduate record examination, common entrance test, symbiosis national aptitude test</a>

[Beverly Tank]

I gave it a try, and it was simple and fun!

[Beverly Tank]

Forgot to link back to my post here...

http://dazzlingdigitalscrapbooks.blogspot.com/