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Post by cats4jan on Jan 29, 2016 15:06:04 GMT
It's time for a new Digital Scrapbooking Challenge -- hosted by BillieJean and cats4jan Scraplifting is a time-honored tradition. You find a layout you love and you try to duplicate it. Here's a layout by cats4jan It was picked because it should appeal to all you photographers out there This is a simple challenge - take a good look at the layout and duplicate it's "feel" - Don't be too concerned about "rules" - there are none Just take the idea and RUN ______________________ In this challenge, the original size of your project is not as important as other scrapbooking layouts unless you are going to use components from a digital scrapbooking kit.
However, I always start with 3600 by 3600 pixels. I expand my photo to fit those parameters. Because you are going from rectangular to square, you will lose a part of your photo, but usually that will not be an issue.
Don't worry about enlarging a photo to this size, the photos we take nowadays can easily be enlarged because there are plenty of pixels in the photo to prevent loss of clarity.
Photos from Morgue File and Pixabay |
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Post by cats4jan on Jan 29, 2016 15:30:17 GMT
Trim your photos in place
When I'm adding photos to a layout, I like to trim my photos in place
To trim a photo while it's on your layout:
Drop your photo on your layout and resize it to the approximate size and move it into place
Grab the Rectangular Marquee Tool and make a selection of your photo
Make sure you are on the photo layer in the layers panel
Control/Command J will put that selection on it's own layer
You will not see your selection until you turn off the visibility of the original photo layer - use the eyeball at the left edge of the photo layer in the layers panel to turn it off. Alternately, you can delete the photo layer, but I like to keep the original photo on my project until the end because it leaves the option of changing the size and shape of the photo selection.
Once you turn off the original photo layer, you can reposition and resize your selection of your photo using the Move Tool.
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Post by cats4jan on Jan 29, 2016 15:33:09 GMT
Making a Mat for your Photo
After you have resized and trimmed your photo, Control/Command Click on the thumbnail of the resized photo in the layers panel.
A selection in the exact shape of your photo will be created.
You need to resize the selection or it's not going to show up when you make a mat with that selection because it will be hidden by the photo.
To resize a selection, go to Select> Modify and choose Expand. Choose any number of pixels - it's kind of a hit or miss thing because the amount of resizing will be dependent upon the pixel size of your project. Usually 30 or more pixels are needed to make a substantially larger mat.
I realize you could just keep the selection it's original size, fill it, then use the move tool to resize it after it's filled, but I like to use Modify so my selection stays the exact shape of my photo.
Open a new layer under your photo and fill the selection with color.
The keyboard shortcuts to fill selections are:
Alt/Backspace fills the selection with the Foreground color
Ctrl/Backspace fills the selection with the Background color
For a Mac:
Option/Delete - Foreground
Command/Delete - Background
Alternately, you can use the Paintbucket Tool - that tool uses the Foreground color to fill your selection
I have used the Color Picker to choose colors from my photo, so my mats coordinate with the photo.
You now have a solid colored mat for your photo. Once you have this mat, it can be repositioned and resized and reshaped using the Move Tool. After you have a mat, sometimes you will want to make it longer on one size to add variety to the layout. This can easily be accomplished with the Move Tool.
And, of course, you can use this method to make random color blocks for your layout. Just grab the marquee tool, draw a selection, open a new layer, and fill the selection with color. Size isn't that important, because you can resize and reposition with the move tool after you fill your selection with color.
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Post by hmca on Jan 29, 2016 15:53:30 GMT
Janice, the images you added to your background make for a beautiful page. I hope to find some pictures to try out this technique.
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Post by cats4jan on Jan 29, 2016 15:56:03 GMT
Looking forward to seeing your project.
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Post by Sydney on Jan 29, 2016 18:01:53 GMT
Thanks for what looks to be another fun challenge. I will have a go with it over the coming week.
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Post by cats4jan on Jan 29, 2016 18:02:56 GMT
Another hint:
Don't forget to use Layer Styles to highlight your color blocks/mats and your photos. A simple drop shadow and/or glow/bevel will enhance the matting process.
Can't wait to see your projects.
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Post by hmca on Jan 29, 2016 23:33:49 GMT
Thanks Janice and Billie Jean.......I was certainly nudged out of my comfort zone and have a new appreciation for the pages that scrappers create. Here is my attempt. i.imgur.com/UmB1jZk.jpg |
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Post by cats4jan on Jan 30, 2016 1:08:38 GMT
I think it's lovely. What a wonderful photo you started with.
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Post by jackscrap on Jan 30, 2016 3:37:54 GMT
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Post by cats4jan on Jan 30, 2016 10:42:22 GMT
Excellent - I like how your small photos tell the story of your day. Thanks for joining our challenge.
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Post by Lillias on Jan 30, 2016 11:07:37 GMT
hmca - Great photo and interpretation of the Challenge Helen. Thanks for taking part.
jackscrap – Thank you too for taking part. That looks like an interesting and fun day out.
Now I'm off to see what I can come up with to contribute to the Challenge!
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Post by Lillias on Jan 30, 2016 20:00:06 GMT
The photos here come from Pixabay and morguefile.  |
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Post by michelb on Jan 30, 2016 20:14:01 GMT
Trim your photos in placeWhen I'm adding photos to a layout, I like to trim my photos in place To trim a photo while it's on your layout:Drop your photo on your layout and resize it to the approximate size and move it into place Grab the Rectangular Marquee Tool and make a selection of your photo Make sure you are on the photo layer in the layers panel Control/Command J will put that selection on it's own layer You will not see your selection until you turn off the visibility of the original photo layer - use the eyeball at the left edge of the photo layer in the layers panel to turn it off. Alternately, you can delete the photo layer, but I like to keep the original photo on my project until the end because it leaves the option of changing the size and shape of the photo selection. Once you turn off the original photo layer, you can reposition and resize your selection of your photo using the Move Tool. Janice, Congrats for this excellent explanation! This Ctrl J trick is one I have been using extensively last week. My wife forced me (blackmail and worse) to finish a family album for 2015 (as a compensation for the excessive time I spend on Elements forums in a language she does not understand! ) She did cooperate for the selection of some 600 shots among 3 000 in 2015 from my organizer (keywords, albums, ratings...) as candidates for the book. It took me nearly a week. I chose a 30 x 30 cm format The result is a 114 pages book using about 400 photos using nearly the same layout techniques you are describing. I ordered from Mypix CEWE on January 27, with a confirmation of 5-12 working days. So you can imagine our surprise when we were delivered this afternoon! Excellent printing, highly recommended for European users. In recent years I also ordered my books from Viovio, now Prestophoto. The Dollar/euro rate was better then... even with more delay to get the books. I really think everyone should consider this effort to create books. Creating your own layout for book pages is very rewarding. Books for weddings, events and travel, that's good, but creating year books may be the only way in this image era to transfer your memories to your children. Good paper will last long. I don't see a big difference with digital scrapbooking, except that the material is mostly photography with less external ornaments. |
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Post by cats4jan on Jan 30, 2016 22:14:11 GMT
Michel - please share some of your pages so we can see what you have accomplished. I love the fact that you had the scrapbook printed. It's much more fun to share in printed form. For me, Digital Scrapbooking is all about getting the memory "saved" - be it digitally or printed. You say - "I don't see a big difference with digital scrapbooking, except that the material is mostly photography with less external ornaments."Exactly. What we are trying to show here is that digital scrapbooking can be as simple or ornate as you like. There is no need to use scrapbook kits and add embellishments. Personally, I think the pages look better when we use a contrasting/complementary background and some framing. It elevates the memory to something a little more interesting. But, it's all about the memory. And, note, the memory is enhanced with text - as much or as little as you wish to include. Just as long as you tell the story. Here's where journaling and the photos tell the story: - with very little embellishment scenery photos by cats4jan - eagle photos from Alaska tourism site Here's another example of focusing on the photos - not much extra "stuff" on the page - but it still tells the story of our visit. The title is from the sign as you enter El Yunque. Notice I included "San Juan, Puerto Rico" and the date - so anyone looking at this layout will immediately know where it is and when we were there. photos by cats4jan
My only must about creating scrapbook pages to preserve memories is text. When we make scrapbook layouts about occasions and include a title and journaling (the story) - it's a better memory keeper for the future. Of course, many people create scrapbook layouts as art pieces - but that's an entirely different thing. |
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