New at Photoshop?

Digital Scrapbooking For The Beginner.   What are we talking about?   Using your computer to tell your stories. Creating scrapbook pages on your PC is so EASY with the help of some basic software.   We'll show you how to tell your stories with Adobe's PHOTOSHOP or PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS (PSE).

PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS doesn't include all the capabilities of the full blown program 'PHOTOSHOP' software, but is a very powerful program and has the unique feature of a 'bin'.   Both program versions include a photo editor and an organizer (but we don't recommend using the organizer for your digital stash, as it tends to slow down the program when you are creating scrapbook pages unless you have a really, really, fast computer).   We'll talk more about that later ... (see Organization Tips for organizing your digital scrapping supplies like digital kits, papers, alphas, stamps, ribbons, and a variety of other digital scrapbooking embellishments.)

Unlike paper scrapbooking, digital scrapbooking gives you the freedom to resize, recolor, and reuse any product in your digital supply library.   Best of all, there's no mess to put away when you're finished with your page!   This is a great way to get started, capturing your memories with your first layout!   Here in our Digital Designer Shop we offer a variety of digital products featuring Cilenia Curtis' designs.

When you create a digital scrapbooking layout or image, you do it much the same way that you would with traditional scrapbooking, in that you layer papers, photos and elements on top of one another.   Each paper, photo, or embellishment exists on its own layer in your document, and you can reposition and resize them at your discretion.

Before you start, you'll need just a few things.

1. Open your PhotoshopElements software and click on Edit.
2. Go to File > New> and set your document size to 12"x12", 300 dpi, transparent background.   You can name it 'page1' and save it ... just Click OK.   This will be your layout document background upon which you will place your paper, photos, & embellishments.    Notice it has saved your file as a 'psd' which will hold all the layers in this format should you wish be keep it and play around with it.
   
   

3. Go to File > Open the file where you saved the paper ... Click OK.   The paper layer will show up in your main window - full screen ... but notice it shows up in your bin at the bottom of your screen with your background first, you saved as 'page1' and your paper (shows in the layers palette & also in the bin).  
   
   
   
   
   

     4. Select the Move Tool (click on the arrow at the top of the tools palette on left).
   
   
     5. To move your paper onto your layout, simply click & drag. Click the paper in the main window, and drag it down on top of your background layer, in the bin on the bottom left-corner of your screen.   Release the mouse once your cursor is positioned over the background layer.   The paper should now be centered on its own layer in your 'layers' palette to the right of your main window.

6. In PSE you have some free artwork ... let me show you the 'Frames' for example ... take a few minutes for this little detour.
   Remember when you opened PSE, you selected Edit.
   Notice the tabs in the upper right hand corner   Edit   Create  and   Share. 
   Click: Create, and from the drop-down menu select: Artwork,
   from the Content choices menu select: By Type,
   and from the menu next to Type, select: Frames.
   
   You can scroll thru the frames and choose one for your layout, many of them are free to use (even if you didn't sign up for the Adobe Artwork at an additional cost) ... click on the frame you want, and then click on the apply button. The frame will appear on top of your paper layer in the main window and on its own layer in your layers palette.   The magic of this little frame blew me away the first time I used it!
   
   To get back to your layers palette view ... click on the Edit tab at the top-right, and it will return you to the layers palette view.   You can resize the frame to the proportion you want to see it on your 12" x 12" layout.   When you are ready to place your photo onto your page, it will resize the photo and clip it to the frame!   You just couldn't do that with paper, as you were limited by the size photo and the size frames you had in your stash!  
   
   
7. Repeat steps 3, 4 & 5 to get your photo and the 'word-art'. Your photo can be draged from the bin onto the frame, (which then automatically 'clips' (resizes & positions it to the frame but you can also change the position and adjust the size of the photo within that frame).  

You can resize & reposition the word-art if necessary.

To reposition a digital element on your scrapbooking page, simply click on its layer, with the Move Tool selected, move your cursor over that element in the main window, then click & drag the element in your layout to a new position.

To add depth to your digital scrapbooking elements, you can find drop shadows in the Styles and Effects Palette under Layer Styles.

To move elements in front of or behind one another in your digital page, simply click and drag the layer up or down to a new position in the Layers palette. The higher it is in the palette, the closer it is to the "top" of your digital scrapbooking page.

Don't forget to Click on File, then from the drop-down menu select Save (saves your layers as a 'PSD' file).
Next save your page for printing as a JPG: Click on File, Save As, a JPG in a file folder for your Album pages.
You can print your page or upload to a photo printing site, or upload to a publishing site later.

After the page has been saved... you can 'close' each file individually, right click and select 'close'... (but don't save changes you may have made to your photo).

Tip: I keep all my 'psd' files in a folder by themselves so I can change them later, or use them again, and the 'jpgs' in the Album Name File.