I created a new layout for a challenge I have entered at Scrap That Idea! The post about the challenge is here. For this challenge we were given an inspiration and had to come up with a layout.
Here is the inspiration:
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My translation of that is more literal than others. Mine is posted below, but you can visit the gallery and view everyone's layouts here.
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Credits:
Papers for background and butterflies - "Simplicity" by A Work in Progress & "2 Little Bots" by Stacey's Scraps
Papers for background and butterflies - "Simplicity" by A Work in Progress & "2 Little Bots" by Stacey's Scraps
I can offer you three Photoshop Elements (PSE) tutorials based off of this layout. The first I will discuss in this post called "cut outs" or what I did to create the butterfly shapes from the paper. The other two are how to create your own mask, like I did here using butterflies as you see in the pictures of my dog above; and how to create your own shadows. I will post the latter two tutorials later.
Tutorial
How to Create Cut Outs and Make Papers/Pictures into Shapes:
Okay, are you ready? Let's go. (Note: I try to show you every single step so this is really basic.)
To do this tutorial, you will need a paper or picture that you want to cut in a shape, and the shape you are going for. I am using butterflies like in my layout.
Part 1: Create a Cut Out/Shape
1.) Start by opening PSE and creating a new blank file. Make it big enough to hold your shape.
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2.) Open the file that has the shape you want to use. My page is a bunch of butterflies.
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3.) Select the "Rectangular Marquee Tool".
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4.) Draw a rectangle around the shape you want to use.
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5.) Select Edit > Copy (or Ctrl+C) to copy the shape.
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6.) Click on your "new" blank file, and then go to Edit > Paste (or Ctrl+V).
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7.) Now you have the shape pasted into your new page.
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9.) Double-click on Background in the Layer Palette.
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10.) Set the opacity of the background to 0%. This turns the background into a transparent layer.
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11.) Select the shape layer.
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12.) Select the Magic Wand Tool.
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13.) Adjust the tolerance so that the Magic Wand Tool selects the entire background and none of the pixels of the shape you are trying to extract. Here I set the Tolerance to 30. Click on the the background (in this case the white area) to extract it.
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14.) Click delete to get rid of the background.
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15.) Right-click and choose deselect (or Ctrl+D) to get rid of the marching ants.
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16.) Next, select the Eraser Tool.
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17.) Use the eraser tool to erase any areas that did not delete when you used the magic wand.
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Now you have created what is called a "mask" in Photoshop. This mask is the shape that we use to cut our paper or photo.
Part 2: Make a Paper/Picture into a Shape
18.) Open the paper or picture that you are going to mask using the shape you just cut out.
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19.) Select the Move Tool.
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20.) Click on the shape. While still holding the mouse button down, drag the shape onto the paper or picture.
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21.) In this scenario, the paper is the background. We want it to be a layer, so we will change that. To do that right-click on the background layer in the layer palette.
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22.) In the menu that pops up, select "Layer From Background."
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23.) In the box that opens, you can give this new "layer" (the paper layer) a name and click "Ok;" or bypass the naming and just click "Ok."
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24.) Now you can see that the paper is its own layer.
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25.) Drag the shape layer below the paper layer.
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26.) Now, select the paper layer (the top layer). Then, go to Layer > Group With Previous (or Ctrl+G).
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Below I have zoomed in on the results.
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27.) Next, right click on the paper layer and choose "Merge Down."
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28.) You are finished. The paper or picture is now in the shape of your cut out (AKA mask).
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Credit: Brown paper from "Simplicity" by A Work in Progress
I used the same technique from Part 2 to create the mat behind the pictures in my last layout, "Home Coming."
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Tutorial
How to Create Cut Outs and Make Papers/Pictures into Shapes:
Okay, are you ready? Let's go. (Note: I try to show you every single step so this is really basic.)
To do this tutorial, you will need a paper or picture that you want to cut in a shape, and the shape you are going for. I am using butterflies like in my layout.
Part 1: Create a Cut Out/Shape
1.) Start by opening PSE and creating a new blank file. Make it big enough to hold your shape.
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5.) Select Edit > Copy (or Ctrl+C) to copy the shape.
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6.) Click on your "new" blank file, and then go to Edit > Paste (or Ctrl+V).
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7.) Now you have the shape pasted into your new page.
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8.) Now you can close the shape page and simply view your "new" blank file that now has your shape on it.
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9.) Double-click on Background in the Layer Palette.
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10.) Set the opacity of the background to 0%. This turns the background into a transparent layer.
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11.) Select the shape layer.
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12.) Select the Magic Wand Tool.
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13.) Adjust the tolerance so that the Magic Wand Tool selects the entire background and none of the pixels of the shape you are trying to extract. Here I set the Tolerance to 30. Click on the the background (in this case the white area) to extract it.
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14.) Click delete to get rid of the background.
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15.) Right-click and choose deselect (or Ctrl+D) to get rid of the marching ants.
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16.) Next, select the Eraser Tool.
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17.) Use the eraser tool to erase any areas that did not delete when you used the magic wand.
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Part 2: Make a Paper/Picture into a Shape
18.) Open the paper or picture that you are going to mask using the shape you just cut out.
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19.) Select the Move Tool.
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20.) Click on the shape. While still holding the mouse button down, drag the shape onto the paper or picture.
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21.) In this scenario, the paper is the background. We want it to be a layer, so we will change that. To do that right-click on the background layer in the layer palette.
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22.) In the menu that pops up, select "Layer From Background."
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23.) In the box that opens, you can give this new "layer" (the paper layer) a name and click "Ok;" or bypass the naming and just click "Ok."
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24.) Now you can see that the paper is its own layer.
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25.) Drag the shape layer below the paper layer.
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26.) Now, select the paper layer (the top layer). Then, go to Layer > Group With Previous (or Ctrl+G).
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Below I have zoomed in on the results.
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27.) Next, right click on the paper layer and choose "Merge Down."
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28.) You are finished. The paper or picture is now in the shape of your cut out (AKA mask).
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I used the same technique from Part 2 to create the mat behind the pictures in my last layout, "Home Coming."
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Credits:
- Mat from "My Secret Garden" by creations by Rachael at http://www.funkyplaygrounddesigns.com
- Floral Papers from "Spontaneous Delight" by Carrie Stephens (see post of layout above for credits)
- Mat from "My Secret Garden" by creations by Rachael at http://www.funkyplaygrounddesigns.com
- Floral Papers from "Spontaneous Delight" by Carrie Stephens (see post of layout above for credits)
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