Saturday School: Photo Blends

Hi Everyone!!!  Its Jenn (jk703) here to stop in for a Saturday tutorial!  Can't wait to get started!

First... Have you seen BLOOMFEST?!  O Mi Gosh... I went over and didn't know where to look first!  Here is Jen's awesome Just For Fun Grab Bag... which by the way, is such a steal!  Check it out!

I was asking the girlies on the CT what they themselves wanted to learn, and a suggestion was a photo blend.  This type of blend is the one where you will see a photo blended into the background paper!  So here we go.... but remember - there are so many ways to do this little technique!  This is my own take on it, and a pretty simple one too!

First, open a blank document, a plainish background paper to practice on and a copy of a photo.  When I am working on something, I save it with the title Working Copy, this way I know what I am working on, and can title it will all my used products at a final save.  

I've used Jen's Grab Bag - Just For Fun Tinted Krafties for my example. The picture is my son crusing around on a small quad, and not crashing!  :)

Place your background paper, and then the photo on top.  When placing your photo, place it where you would like the main part of the image to remain.  Here is how I placed mine: 

Now... on the Layers Palette, with the photo selected, you can scroll through the different Blend Modes that are available to you in PS or PSE. 

TIP:  To "see" what all the blend modes look like with your picture is to do this:  Choose the layer that will be blended in the Layers palette.  Now, press the Shift key, and use your + and - keys to "scroll" through the different blend modes. How easy and cool is that?!  

I really liked the Luminosity blend mode and I also liked the Linear Burn, and Multiply.  Look at them all though - each picture will have a different effect determined by the background paper you choose as well as the picture itself.  Here is the Luminosity blend mode:

And here is what my Layers Palette looks like - yours should look similar. I also changed the Opacity of my photo so it was a view that I liked. It is at 55%. 

After the photo blend mode is complete, you will now "erase" part of your picture.  Choose the eraser tool, and make sure it is in Brush Mode. You want to have a soft brush, and you can play with the opacity for your erasing.  For my picture, I used an Eraser opacity of  about 65% and my brush was about 500 pixels. 

Next, you will begin to erase your photo.  Go slowly, and first stick to the edges. Gradually go over the harsh square/rectangular edges of your photo.  Move closer into the subject and get as close as you like.  Make it visually appealing to you!  Here is mine:

Guess what!?  That is it!  You thought it was a lot harder, right!?  So did I until I learned how!  But wait... you can do more.... Say you want to mix up the look.  Duplicate your finished blended photo, and then try additional blending modes and opacities!  Here is one that I just plain duplicated the image and put the blend mode on Multiply.

And here is one where I duplicated the blended image, the first layer uses the Luminosity Blend Mode and for the second image, I chose the Color Blend Mode. 

There you have it... and easy way to do a quick blend of a photo into a background paper!  Hope that you liked it!  If you would like to learn a specific technique, just comment here and I be happy to make a tutorial up!  I would get to learn something too!

Happy Saturday and Go check out Bloomfest!  

Jenn

(jk703/The Typative Scrapper)

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Alpha Outline: How To

Hi Everyone!  Hope you are having a great Saturday!  It's Jenn (jk703) here to share a little tutorial to add a little something to all those fonts you use on your layouts!  I'm sure many of you are fontaholics just like me!

Many times on a layout, I will use an alpha for a main word in my title, and then use a font the other words that are in the title.  BUT, there are also times when I just use fonts for my whole title.  Outlining the font gives it a little oomph and makes it stand out a little.  It can look like a sticker, or just give the font an different look.

For my example, I am using He's My Brother kit, and the font is called Smiley Monster, a free scrapbooking font by Kevin and Amanda.  An awesome color palette, and lots of fun embellishments!

Ok... let's get started!  You should have a layout open in PS or PSE.

Using the Type Tool, choose your font, and type in your title or the words that you will be outlining.

Double check the font, spelling, and placement to make sure it is how you want it to look.

Next, you will right click on the Type Layer in the Layers Palette.  Choose Rasterize layer or Simplify Layer, depending on your program.

In the File Menu, click on Edit > Stroke, and the Stroke menu will pop up.

I usually use anywhere between 2 and 8 pixels.  If you want a larger stroke outline, you can always adjust the distance between letters to allow for more space. 

Another way to change it up is to play with the stroke color, with different colors used to match my layout. In the Stroke menu, the Color box is clickable, and the Select Color Menu will pop up so you can choose any color you want.

Remember, you can play with all the settings here, to see what pops up.  If you don't like what you did, click to undo!  I first tried a brown outline as seen here.

Next, I tried teal, and last I tried White.  White on white is nice, just add a shadow to really show off the edges as if it was a sticker.

There you have it... a nice outline to my title with a font!  It looks like a sticker with the edge, and then the added shadow gives it some depth!  Hope you enjoyed the tutorial!  Thanks for visiting!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Jenn (aka jk703 or The Typative Scrapper)

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Saturday School - Adding a Border to Photos

Adding a Border to Photos or Elements in PSE

Hey Everyone!!  Michelle (aka mdel) here with a tutorial for y'all.
Have you ever wanted to add a border to a photo or element to help
give it a little pop?  From time to time I find myself adding an
alpha to one of my layouts only to notice that it is getting
a bit lost on the page.  Today I thought I'd share an easy tutorial for adding a border
around a photo, element or alpha.
Let's get started...

To begin, open Photoshop Elements and a photo.  I currently use PSE 7.0 but I have used
this technique in PSE 5.0 as well.  Make sure your layers palette is visible.  If the
palette is not visible go to Window>Layers which will open the layers palette.

Next click on Layer>New>Layer from Background.



You can now give your photo layer a name (doesn't really matter what you choose)
and then click "ok" to close the dialogue box.



Hold down the Control (Ctrl) key and left click your mouse on the photo
layer icon in your layers palette.  This will bring up what are referred to
as "marching ants" around the edge of your photo.



Click on Edit>Stroke (Outline) Selection



Once you do this your Stroke dialogue box will pop open. The width box controls
how wide your border will appear on your photo or element.  (When adding a border to
a photo I usually use about a 25 px setting. If I am adding a border to an alpha or
element I may make it smaller.)  If you click on the color box a window opens
that will allow you to select the color of border you want to use. For photos, I like white or
off white however for elements or alphas you may want to use a color matched to the kit.
I leave my Location checked as "Inside", keep the Blending Mode at Normal and leave the
Opacity at 100. Once this step is complete click "ok" to close the stroke dialogue box.



Upon clicking "ok" you should now see a border around your photo.



You may notice you still have the "marching ants" around your photo.  To remove those
click Ctrl+D.



Hope you found this tutorial easy and informative.  Happy Scrapping!!

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Saturday School - Flipping Elements

Happy Saturday, everyone! Terra here with a Saturday School tutorial for you on how to flip a page element. It is so easy to manipulate elements to make them work on your layout. It is an easy adjustment, but if you haven't done it before, you may not know where to begin. I have been digital scrapbooking for several months now but only took the time to learn this technique this week and thought I would share it with you. In this example, I am using Photoshop CS5 to flip an arrow in Jennifer's new kit, My Best Friend, available at Ninth and Bloom.

1. Place the element on your page.
   
2. Select the element.
3. Go to Edit > Transform. There are several options listed, including options to rotate or flip the selected layer. In this case, I selected Flip Horizontal to flip the arrow the opposite direction.
   
4. Move the element to place it in any position on the page and you are done.
   

This is a quick and easy transformation to make to any element in a kit. Now that you know how to flip an element, take some time to play with some of the other ways you can manipulate elements on a layout, such as rotating 90 or 180 degrees.

Have a great weekend!

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Saturday School: Brush Tool Info

Hi Everyone!  Hope your Saturday is going great!  I'm here today to share more information about the Brush Tool in Photoshop.... but before I do...

Can you believe the news?  Jennifer Fox Designs is now at 9th and Bloom!!  Woot!  How cool is that!?  I hope you've stopped over there, checked out her goodies in the store!  You might also want to stop here and see how you can win a chance to join the Creative Team for 3 months!  Good Luck!

About the Brush Tool and the Options

First, you need to start a new document, layout or an existing project. You will select the Tool Brush from the tools toolbar.  This is what the Brush Tool is, and what other tools are available.

The Options Palette on the top looks like the picture below... and is pretty easy to use. You can change the size of the brush, as well as play with the hardness of the brush that you will use. When you change the number of pixels of a brush, you are changing the Hardness.  A higher number on the Hardness slider will make the edges on your brush more defined.  A lower number on the Hardness slider will make the edges on your brush less defined.

On the Options palette you can choose the Mode that you want the brush to have, the actual stroke.  The Opacity percentage will change the opacity of the brush stroke. Lowering the percentage will make the brush stroke more transparent, while raising the percentage will make it less transparent.

There is also a button for Flow.  This allows you to select how much paint will come out of the brush when applied to your document. The higher the flow, the more paint, as well as the lower the flow, the less paint used when you click your mouse.

There is also an Airbrush feature available. This allows paint to come out of the brush the whole time you are moving your mouse.

If that isn't enough to learn... there is a whole nother menu under the brush presets. This is what that menu looks like:  

There are a lot of setting here, but many are pretty self explanatory -- as long as you play with them, try them out, and experiment. Here are some of the options in this menu:

• Brush Tip Shape -- determines the main shape of the brush. 
• Shape Dynamics -- allows you to modify the shape of the brush.
• Scattering -- this option determines how closely the brush marks are to the stroke. This can add a nice randomness to your stroke. 
• Texture -- Adding a texture to your brush can really show some depth. Photoshop allows you to apply any of your Texture presets to your brush. 
• Dual Brush  -- Combining two different brushes using the Dual Brush option can really create some fantastic effects - unavailable if you were only using one brush. 
• Color Dynamics  -- this option allows for modification of the color of the stroke.  Playing with this will allow you to create some interesting color variations.  
• Noise -- Creates random noise within your brush shape.
• Wet Edges -- If you keep the edges of your brush at the highest opacity, and lowering the inside of your brush's opacity will create a similar look to watercolor, hence the Wet Edges.
• Airbrush -- works with Flow, that is on the Menu bar above. 
• Smoothing -- Smoothes the curves of the stroke.
• Protect Texture -- This can allow you to make sure the same texture is used for every brush with a texture.

Brush Tool Shortcuts:

• B -- Brush Tool
• Shift + B -- Rotate through Brush tools (i.e. Brush, Pencil, etc)
• F5 -- Show or hide Brushes palette
• [ -- Decrease brush diameter
• ] -- Increase brush diameter
• Shift + [ -- Decrease brush hardness by 25%
• Shift + ] -- Increase brush hardness by 25%
• , --  Previous brush
• . --  Next brush
• Option (hold) --  Temporarily switch to Eyedropper tool
• Shift + Option (hold) -- Temporarily switch to Color Sampler tool
• Command (hold) -- Temporarily switch to Move tool
• Command + Option (hold) -- Duplicate and Drag layer
• Space (hold) -- Temporarily switch to Hand tool

Now for something quick to teach you a fun way to use the tool!  We are going to add some really basic watercoloring to a paper.  I've used a piece of paper from Jennifer's Tomorrow's Another Day Kit to show off my example. 

First, you will open the paper in a separate document and apply the shadow style you would like. Next... Command and Click on the Notebook Paper, so you see the marching ants. 

Click on Layer > New > Group. Then click on Add a Layer Mask, which is this little button

on the layers Palette. Create a new layer above the notepaper. 

First, I am going to select the Pencil Tool within the Brush tool, change the opacity to 30% on the menu bar options, and make my brush size about 125 pixels.  Drag your cursor over the paper to areas you want to add watercolor to. This is brown added:

Next, I did the same technique, changed up the opacity and brush sizes, and added faint Pink and Green layers.  I also played with the blending modes of each color layer.  My favorites are Multiply, Linear Dodge, Linear Burn... you have to play with them all!  Here is what I ended up with. 

Now, think of what you could add... doodles, coffee stains, textures, splatters... so much more! I've only barely touched what the Brush Tool is all about or what it can do!  I hope that you might have learned something today!  

Thanks for visiting!

Jenn (aka jk703/The Typative Scrapper)

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MCP Photo Actions

Hi everyone, Terra here to share one of my favorite places for Photography Actions with you. I have a little bit of an obsession with Actions at the moment and one of my favorite sites is MCP Actions. I am not a Photoshop expert but I just love how easy it is to transform a photo with a good action, and MCP Actions are some of the best. The site also offers additional training and tutorials and is a great reference for anyone interested in improving their photos. There are several free actions on the site if you are just starting out. The latest freebie is the Mini Fusion Photoshop action, available for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. With just one click, you can change the colors in your photo from dull to vibrant. It is highly customizable and a lot of fun to play with. So if you love actions or are just hearing about them for the first time, make sure you visit the MCP Actions website. I hope you'll like it as much as I do.

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Saturday School: Watermarking

Hi Everyone! It's Jenn (jk703) here to bring you this edition of Saturday School!  Woot!  How is your weekend going! I hope well! Since I've started digital scrapbooking, I've noticed that I'm really getting into my cameras, photo actions and the actual editing of my pictures! I like to take different shots, fun angles, and try out the different settings on my camera!

Since we have so many photographs we are posting to show-off online, like the popular P365 challenge or a even a single picture challenge in the digital scrapping forums, there may be times that you want to protect your photographic work!  What I mean about protections is trying to disable people who might want to use them without your permission. Today, many photo sites that you are uploading your photos too also provide options for protecting your work. They offer an option to disable the "Right Click Feature" is really a helpful tool! One that is available to us, and easy to do ourselves is Watermarking!

Watermarking has it's good and bad points, but it is your decision. Here is a quick list of pros and cons.

No Watermark:

• Watermarks sometimes are considered annoying and distracting to the image.
• If someone wants to “steal” the image, they can likely remove the watermark anyway.
• The image may not hold specific value and you just want to share it.

Add Watermarks:

• A watermark is a notification that the image is protected under a copyright.
• Watermarking is part of showing your brand.
• If someone does take the image and forward it to someone else, they will see it and may go to your site based on your watermark.
• There is also a notion that adding a watermark makes you appear professional. (That is more of an opinion). 

How to Add a Text Watermark in Photoshop:
Open the photo you wish to protect. 

Decide on what you want to type on your image. 

Select the Type tool and enter the copyright symbol or other piece of text you decided on for your watermark. See below for HOW!  For my example, I used the font named Trubble. 

Create a New Layer above your text.

With the New Layer Selected, use the Square Marquee Tool and make an outline of your watermark-to-be.  Click Select > Inverse.

Click the Add a Layer Mask Button.

Then you will click and select the Text Layer and your Mask Layer. Both should be highlighted. Merge these two layers. 

 Change the Opacity as you like. 

Optional 

Create a New Layer UNDER your Watermark Layer. 

Use the Rectangular Marquee Tool to make another rectangle around your watermark.

Select the rectangle by clicking on the icon in the Layers Palette.

Use the Fill Tool and fill the shape with the color of your choosing.  

Lower the opacity to what you like.  

Tips:  

• The Windows keyboard shortcut for the copyright (©) symbol is Alt+0169 (use the numeric keypad to type the numbers). The Mac shortcut is Option-G.
• Remember to click on the Color Swatch and set the color to 50% gray or another color of your choosing. 
• Take the time to resize and place the text where you desire. 
• Save the watermark as it's own file or png to use it over and over again!  

Don’t feel like putting in the extra time to place your watermark on many different images? There are so many free sites and software that will allow you to “cheat", saving you a lot of time and energy. This is also a nice alternative for those who do not have Photoshop on their computer. 

Hope this was helpful to you!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Thanks for visiting!

Jenn (jk703)

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Saturday School: Basically Brushes

Hi everyone out in digiland! Happy Saturday! It's Jenn (jk703) here to share a little information with you. Are you too cool for school? (a Pink song, Raise Your Glass!) *giggles*

Now... I am into digital scrapping for just under a year; when I learn about tools or tips in Photoshop, I share them with you! So.... I am going to do a tut about brushes, but I need to learn more and practice!! This is such a fantastic part of Photoshop, that I wanted to share a few tips first... then when I've got the next Saturday, I will post more that I've learned about the Tool itself!

Brushes can make some really cool effects on your pages!  It is an intricate tool, but one that you will love once you learn the basics!  I know I'm starting to LOVE it!  

• It is a basic painting tool.
• It uses a traditional painting manner by applying color with strokes. 
• The Keyboard shortcut is B.
• The brush tip is the basic way to modify and change your strokes.

Loading a Brush:

1. Select the Brush tool and click on the brush picker dropdown from the Options bar.
2. In the brush picker window, look on the right side for a small arrow or double-arrow, click that and the flyout menu will appear.
3. Select Load Brushes.
4. In the window that pops up, navigate to the folder where you unzipped the brush files.  I keep mine in a file called:  Brushes.  So original, right?!
5. Find the brush (you are looking for an .abr file) you put there, click on it, then click the Load button.
6. That should load the new brush into your brush picker. If you can't find the brushes - look to the bottom.  

Let's Actually USE the brush:

1. Create a new layer.  Always do this, so what you do can be undone!
2. Select the brush tool. C
3. Choose the brush shape you wish to use.
4. Set your foreground color. Important to do this NOW!  :)
5. Position the cursor (now the shape of the brush) and click to "stamp" the shape once  or click + drag to make a "stroke" with the brush.

Tips:

• You can make your brush larger or smaller with the [  and  ] keys.  Yes, brackets.
• To paint in a straight line, click on your start point, hold the shift key, then click on your end point.  Funny tip..... click, hold the shift and just keep clicking and your straight lines will be connected.  I made the "house" doing this!  LOL!  
• Try adjusting the opacity or blending modes of your brush layer to create unique backgrounds or watermarks for your layout.
• Always create your brushwork on a new transparent layer. This will also allow you to play with the blending mode or color of the brushwork easily.

Most Awesome Tip!

• Scroll through all of the loaded brushes using the arrow keys on your keyboard. Select the Brush Tool and hover your cursor over your layout, you should see the outline of the brush.  Use the right arrow to scroll, and left to scroll back.  When you find the perfect brush, click once on your layout to apply the brush to the layer. 

Brush Display Options (and my thoughts):

• Text: This will only display the name of the brushes.  I need some visuals personally!
• Small Thumbnail: This displays shows small thumbnails of the brushes and then brush size just below it. (This is what mine is on for the tut -- you see a little more).
• Large Thumbnail: This displays shows a larger thumbnail of the brushes as well as the brush size.
• Small List: This displays the size of the brush followed by the brush name. There is a teeny-small preview.  I can hardly make out much of what I see!
• Large List: This displays a larger preview, followed by the size of the brush and the brush name.  Easier on the eyes!
• Stroke Thumbnail: This view displays the thumbnail, with the size of the brush beneath it. To the right, it shows you what the brush will look like when you paint with it (fantastic!)

I hope you enjoyed some information to get you started on Brushes... there is soooo much to learn about them, and this is just the beginning!  Have a great Saturday and don't forget to stop by the Free Photobook posting that Jen has going on!  A FREE photobook = awesome!  

Have a great one, and thanks for stopping in!

Jenn (jk703)

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