Virtual Classroom

Welcome to the 7th Ward Scrappers
Virtual Classroom!

I decided to give this a try since it is so difficult the round up enough computers so that everyone has one to work on. Also scheduling is always difficult - this way you can do this whenever you have a free moment. (My moments are usually at midnight!) If you need help with anything there are several ways that we can get together without actually getting together! You can email me at sarey@hotmail.com. I am on the computer A LOT during the day and evening so there is a pretty good chance I will get your email pretty quick. Another option is to use Windows Live Messenger to send me and instant message. This is great because it is real time (almost) and I can send you files via Messenger. If you don't already have Messenger on your computer - you can download it for free here.

Our first tutorial will use the template and kit on the CD that you should have received from me. You should also have Adobe Photoshop Elements or Adobe Photoshop CS (any version) installed and running on your computer. If you would like to download a free trial version of Elements click here. Free registration is required to download the trial version from Adobe.com. Elements is available for a relatively inexpensive price at Costco. If you are with me so far you are halfway there!!!

We will be using a free template created by Patti Knox. This and other templates, papers and embellishments can be downloaded for free from one of my favorite digital scrapbooking websites - Designer Digitals. Check out the Challenges With Freebies section of the website. Patti has provided some great instructions for both Elements and Photoshop CS and I have included the PDF files of these instructions on your CD. If you don't have the Adobe PDF Reader click here.
This is what the template looks like.
And this is the page I created using it.
As you can see just because you are using a template doesn't mean you are locked into exactly how it looks. The template is just a starting point. Of course you can follow the template with strictness and come out with a really nice page too.

The kit I have included is downloadable from Shabby Princess. I thought it would be fun to do a Valentine or love themed layout.

If you decide that you don't want the flowers to show that are on the template you simply select the layer you want to change. Choose your selection marquee tool and click and drag the marquee so that the selection is level with the edge you want to cut. Drag so that the flower is completely within the square and then hit delete. This should trim the rectangle so that only it remains and the flower is clipped off. The centers of the flowers are on their own layer so all you have to do is delete that layer.

If you want to resize a photo or element or paper- select the layer you want to work with. On your keyboard type CTRL T- this will put your layer in Transform mode. You now have little squares at the corners and sides of your layer. If you want to keep your object from being stretched and distorted hold your shift key down while you click on one of the corners and drag to enlarge or shrink. You can also rotate your object in Transform mode simply move your mouse to the corner you want to turn until your cursor becomes a double sided arrow, click and drag to turn your object.

If you want to Duplicate an object - select the layer you want to duplicate, right click on the layer name in the layers floating menu and select Duplicate Layer. You can change the name of the layer or just go with the default and click OK. The new layer will be right on top of the old layer. Click on the layer you want to move in the Layers menu and then with your Move tool active click on the object and move it to where you want it.

Adding shadows can make your page look more 3D. They are not required but if you like this effect you can achieve it by selecting the layer you want to shadow in the floating layer menu. Next right click and click on Blending Options. Click the Drop Shadow box. You can change the properties of your shadow or you can leave them at the default.

Other information that might be useful:
Generally, except in rare occasions - we want our pages to feature 1 or more photos. Let's talk about resolution. In order for our page to look it's best when it is printed we need our photos to be 300 dpi (dots per inch). When we print our photos out the printer creates the photo by laying down lots of tiny dots that create our photo on the paper. The more dots per inch the sharper our image will be. Resolution is extremely important - you don't want to spend hours creating a scrapbook page only to have it print out and look blurry and undefined. In the case of digital cameras the higher the megapixel number is on your camera the higher the quality photo you are going to get. If you have a digital camera you already have the ability to change how large the photo files will be when you take the photo. You want to make sure that your camera is set to take the highest quality photos it is capable of (unless of course you are trying to conserve space on your digital memory card). If you have a camera with a pretty low megapixel number (like 3) you can still work with your photos, you just have to remember not to make them much bigger than a 4 x 6 on your scrapbook page. The more you enlarge the photo the more the pixels are spread out and the more fuzzy the photo becomes.

If you are working with a 35 mm film camera - consider having your photos put on cd when you develop them. You might ask what should you do if you have already printed your photos and need to scan them in order to use them on a digital layout. Personally I think that this is way to much work and if you don't already have your photos in a digital form it is best to scrapbook them the old fashioned way! If, however, you do not feel the same and would like help learning how to scan your photos just email me and I will help you out.

If you are new to Photoshop the most important tool you need to understand is LAYERS. Think of layers just as you would in traditional scrapbooking - layer upon layer of papers and elements. When you move one layer up on the list it may cover up another layer - no need to panic- the layer is still there it is just hidden by the top layer. Once you get the hang of this you can really take off using Photoshop. Also what you do to a top layer may affect every other layer below it.

Remember to save your work often. Save first as a Photoshop file (.psd file) and when you are all finished and have your page just the way you want it choose Save As and save your file as a JPEG file (.jpg file). Once it is in JPEG format it is ready to be uploaded to one of the many places that either print scrapbook pages or bind them into books for you.

CTRL Z will be your best friend as you are getting to know Photoshop. This undoes the last action you made. If you need to go back and undo a change that happened several actions ago you can open the History floating menu - scroll to the bottom of the list and step back to where ever you want to. The History menu is great but it only holds a limited amount of actions and once it isn't on the History tab anymore you can't go back to it.

If you want to better understand the tools available in Photoshop check out this website: http://www.photoshoplab.com/photoshop-tool-basics.html.

When you are done with your page you might wonder what to do with it. Well, we are starting out with a 12 x 12 page so you can upload your JPEG file to a photo finisher website and get it printed. I use Costco for all my 12 x 12 individual pages but an online photo finisher called Shutterfly also prints 12 x 12. They are much more expensive than Costco and you have to pay for shipping on top of that so if you are printing individual pages I do not recommend going that route. I believe that there are other websites who offer 12 x 12 printing but I personally have not tried them therefore cannot recommend any of them. If you have had a good or bad experience with any other printing services please let me know so that I can get the word out. Some of you may not have made the transition to 12 x 12 scrapbooking. If that is the case and you are wanting to print the size of a regular sheet of paper be aware that most places don't do that size. Costco does 8 x 10 but that is smaller than a regular sheet of paper. If you like something a little smaller than 12 x 12 - try 8 x 8 or 6 x 6. You can always cut down an 8 x 10 to either size if your photo finisher doesn't offer those sizes. Some of you have used Shutterfly to create hard bound photo books. These are great but if you use Shutterfly's premade pages you are a little limited with what you can do. I like to create my pages in Photoshop and then upload them to Shutterfly to be bound into a book. I have had great results doing this. If any of you are interested in seeing one of the books I made this way just let me know!

Along the side of this blog I have made a list of some of my favorite resources for the digital scrapbooker - from quotes to photo finishers to freebie sites - checking out these sites will help you to see some of the fun stuff that is now available.

If this works for everyone I will do the next tutorial on some of the basics of editing a photo to make it look more pleasing. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like to learn something specific. I would love to have you all share your layouts on this blog but I haven't quite figured out the best way to accomplish that so look for that in the future!