Scrapbooking101

Free Downloads

Here are some free digital products for you to download and enjoy. The first is a digital paper pack, six 12x12 papers at 300dpi. The second is a Photoshop Brush file containing 16 different brushes (you will need Photoshop CS2 to use these brushes). If you make a layout using them please link me up!
~Heather

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Labels: Tutorial

PS Tut as promised!

Okay, here is a simple way to fade out the edges of a picture. As with most things in Photoshop, there are at least half a dozen ways to do this but this is the easiest. Here goes:

1. Drag your photo onto a new document (12x12, 300 dpi, RGB)

2. Select your Rectangle Marquee Tool. In the options bar at the top, change the feather to around 50. Feel free to play with this to get the exact look you are looking for.

3. Click and drag a rectangle inside the boundaries of your picture. If you select outside the boundaries then the fade will not be smooth.
4. Hit Ctrl+Shift+I. This is the keyboard shortcut to inverse your selection.
5. Hit the delete key and voila! You have a photo with nicely faded edges. Hit Ctrl+D to deselect.

Hope this helps you!

Labels: Tutorial

busy much?

So, now that the Potter frenzy has subsided, I've gotten back on track with some scrapping goodness. I've done so many layouts this past month... it's felt wonderful! Hopefully I will be able to add them to my gallery soon. I recently had a friend ask me for help with extracting in Photoshop. I put together a tut for her and so I thought I would post it here. Please let me know if it was helpful for you. I will be giving away a little RAK to one person who link's me up to their layout using this technique!
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First, duplicate the layer of your picture.
Next, check the box in your history palette that is directly left of the words Duplicate Layer. (This will take a picture of the current state of your document). You will see the History Brush Tool appear in the box.

Now, go to Filter>Extract
Your Highlighter tool should already be selected. You may need to adjust the brush size in the Tool Options on the right hand side. The key here is to use a brush small enough that you will be able to get the best detail but large enough that you will be able to overlap the edges of your subject with a portion of the background. This will allow the computer to recognize where to start the extraction. I usually use a brush size of 30. After you highlight the edges, switch to the Fill Tool and click once in the center of the highlighting to indicate the areas you want to keep. Anything not highlighted will be discarded. Click OK.

Now you are back to your document. Hide the first layer of the photograph and you will be able to see what was extracted.
Here is how to clean it up:
Choose the History Brush tool and set it to a small hard edge brush. I use 21-27. Fill in any areas that need it. Then switch to your Eraser tool and use a feathered brush set at 21-27 and erase any remaining edges that appear around your subject.