Scrapping by Design

Yesterday, I showed a video demonstrating how to make this 3D pop-up ball that you can make into a photo cube.

The second challenge is obtaining suitable photographs to attach to the photo cube. One way would be to cut shaped pieces out of your prints.  In my view, this would rarely work to your satisfaction since photos tend to be much larger than this small ball.

The better way, at least in my opinion, would be to resize and reshape your photos in an image editing program. I used Adobe Photoshop CS4, but the more affordable Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 would work in much the same way. Undoubtedly you could use many photo editing programs, but my instructions are specific to Adobe Photoshop CS. For others, you will need to figure out how to do the same things.

The first thing you do is either save the two shapes below in your own computer so you can open them in your image editing software program and use them as templates, OR scan your own two pieces into your computer and use them instead.

	To save these images, right click your mouse in the image. This brings up a menu with several options. Choose Save Image As, and save the file to your own computer.

When I made my first photo cube, I didn’t realize that that the top and bottom part of the ball are reversed shapes, so foolishly I printed out 12 pieces that were all the same shape. Talk about wasting glossy photo paper and ink!

Now that you have the two shapes, open them in your software application. I will say Photoshop CS from now on for the sake of simplicity. Make a copy of the two templates. Work with the copy and save the original.

1. The first step is to check and possibly change the resolution of the templates. If you are using my pictures, the resolution is 72 pixels per inch (or ppi), which is suitable to display on the web but not suitable for printing. If you scanned your pieces, the resolution will be different depending on how you have set your scanner. You need to decide what resolution you intend to use to print your photographs. A resolution of 350 pixels per inch is the minimum number I suggest, but even higher is better. I used 350 ppi.

Change the template resolution to 350 ppi (or whatever res you are planning to use). To do this in Photoshop, refer to the Image menu at the top of the screen, and go to Image Size. A window opens. In this window, be sure to put a check mark beside Scale Style, Constrain Proportions and Resample Image. When you have the three check marks, put 350 in the Resolution box and adjust the right side of that box to read Pixels Per Inch. Click Ok. The template is resized. Save it to be sure you don’t lose your work. To see it as it will appear when printed, to go the View menu and select Print Size.

2. Open the photo that you want to use. Chances are good that you will only want to use a small part of this photo, perhaps a face. In your ToolBox, select the Rectangular Marquee Tool. Draw a selection around the part of your photo you want to use. When that part is selected, copy the selection to your clipboard (Control-C). Then , go to the File menu and open a new file. It will open at the size and resolution of the image in your clipboard. Paste (Control-V) the selection in the new file.

3. You must now change the size and resolution to fit into the template. Using the same procedure that you used earlier, open the Image Size window and change the resolution to 350 ppi, or whatever you are using. In the part that says document size, change the width and height to approximately the same size as the template. The template is 2.4 inches by 2 inches. Your photo can be a little larger than the template, but it should not be smaller. Click OK. Change the view to Print Size as you did before.

3. Copy Selection to Clipboard. With this new file active, go to the Select menu and choose Select All. Then, copy (Control-C) this to your clipboard.

4. Paste the Selection into the Pink Template. Activate the Template by clicking on it. Using the ToolBox, select the magic wand tool. Click it in the pink part of the template. This will select the pink part but not the white. With the pink selected, go to the Edit menu and choose Paste Into. Voila! Your picture appears INSIDE the pink selection. It may be off kilter, however. To rearrange it, select the tool that you use for moving things. I don’t know the name of it but it appears directly beside the Marquee tool. It has a small triangle with an X underneath it. Move the image around inside the shape until it is positioned to your satisfaction.

If you are dissatisfied with your image, you may need to repeat the steps using a different selection from your picture.

5. Save your Image for Printing. When satisfied, refer to the file menu and save your file as a JPEG or jpg.

6. Repeat this procedure another five times with five different pictures. To remove the previous photo from the pink template, I refer to the History window. I delete the history from the entry that says Paste Into. This gives me the original template with its pink middle, ready go work again.

7. Repeat the same procedure with the reverse template, creating six files for printing.

Color Tip: Should you want to print your pictures in black and white instead of in color, you simply go to Image->Mode-Grayscale. Alternatively, your printer may have a function that allows you to print color images in black and white. Use whichever is simpler for you.

Printing Tip: If you have Ms Office on your computer, you should have a software application called MS Publisher. I open a blank page in MS Publisher, then insert my 12 pictures for printing. You can move them around on the page to be sure you aren’t wasting expensive glossy photo paper. Print when you have your pictures arranged on the Publisher page.

And this is how I modified and printed my digital photos for the photo cube.

This round mini album has a St. Patrick’s Day theme. It’s a gift for a friend of Irish heritage, and it’s all about her dog, which she spells “dawg.” The title of the little scrapbook is “Dawggone Irish.”

The back cover (shown in the middle photograph)  has a three dimensional shamrock shape which contains a picture of the dog, and the text “Dawggone right I’m Irish.”

I used Photoshop CS to edit the photo, bu you could do the same with Adobe Photoshop Elements 7

To make the shamrock shape, I started with a shamrock shape from Microsoft Office clip art. I copied and pasted the shamrock into a new file in Photoshop, then resized it to the size I wanted my printed picture to be. I think this was about three inches wide. I also converted the clip art to a resolution of 300 dpi, which is the resolution I planned to use for printing. Then, I resized my photograph to the same size as the shamrock.

I used the magic wand tool to select the inside of the shamrock. Then I selected the photograph and copied it to my clipboard. Returning to the shamrock image, I used the “Paste Into” command to paste the picture of the dog into the shamrock. I used the Move tool to move the dog picture around to get the best display.

So back to the mini album. The third picture shows the mini album standing upright and fanning open like a flower.  Despite having only four pages, this little mini album has plenty of places to put pictures, journaling or other artwork.

And, because no ready-made album or kit is used, its an economical project. it uses only four squares of card stock, some chipboard from a cereal box and whatever papers and embellishments you choose to add.

I embossed the card stock and paper with the Allegro Embossing Folder from Cuttlebug. It shows a musical score.

Here is a video tutorial showing how I made the round mini album:

I did a Google search to find the various Irish blessings, sayings and proverbs that I included in the project.

Anyone wanting some beautiful images for St. Patrick’s Day art work, you’ll do well to check out The Original Printables Holiday Countdown, published by artist Lisa Vollrath.

Lisa has some terms and conditions, but those terms are more than reasonable. She asks only that you post a link in your blog or on a forum or email group in exchange for downloading the graphics. Also, the graphics are for personal use only, and cannot be used on a project you intend to sell.

I intend to edit these images using Photoshop CS or Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 and use them in one or two St. Patrick’s Day projects. No doubt I’ll post pictures and possibly a video of what I make.

This is the title page of the Flower Power Scrapbook Album that I wrote about yesterday.

I attempted to make the layout resemble a window box with flowers.

The flower photos were edited in Adobe Photoshop . I used pictures of miscellaneous flower beds and shaped them into flower shapes using the software.

The background wall is scrapbook paper, with a window opening cut from it. The “curtains” are made from the soft  paper (forget the name) that tears into lovely shapes or bunches out to resemble fabric.

The window box is shaped from paper with a cork texture and held into place with large eyelets.  The layer of “foliage” along the top of the window box is made from green scrapbook paper that I crumpled and then ironed.

The title, Flower Power is simply gold stickers.

Like I say, this layout was made close to ten years ago and represents my earlier attempts at scrapbooking.  I rather like it, nevertheless.

Here’s a cool tip for digital scrapbooking or hybrid scrapbooking. You can create unusual and unique titles by filling type with an image. The title then does double duty by delivering textual information while also displaying your pictures. In the picture shown to the right, I have put a woman’s face in the letter F. I made several letters, printed them (I’m a hybrid scrapper) and arranged them to spell a word.

I used Adobe Photoshop CS3 to do this, but I believe that you could get similar results using the more affordable Adobe Photoshop Elements 6. The method would be similar.

Here is what I did.

First, open a picture in your image editing software.  In the example to the left, I started with this picture of a Grinch Tree, which were all the rage in Vancouver last Christmas. My friend won this one in a draw, the lucky sod.  (They cost a fortune to buy!)

2. Decide whether you want to use the entire picture or a clipping from your image. If you want only a clipping, select that part you want, copy it to the clipboard and then paste it into a new file with a white background.

3. If you are working with the entire image rather than a clipping,  you will need to make a duplicate layer. Open the Layer Window. Activate the bottom layer by clicking on it in the layers palette and create a duplicate.  Fill the first, bottom layer with white and activate the second layer which now contains the picture.

4. Resize your image to the size you want your completed letter to be.

5. Using the Text Tool, select a “fat” letter that will give you space to show the picture.  In the grinch tree picture, I used Tempo font.  Activate the image layer if you have not already done so. Type a letter, which will appear in a layer on top of your picture.  Adjust the size of the font to make it as big as will fit in the picture.

6. Using the Layers Palette, pull the picture layer with your mouse, moving it so it is on top of the text layer.

7. Referring again to the Layers Palette or the Layers Menu, select Layers- Create Clipping Layer.  Bingo!  your image appears inside of the alphabet font.  See the middle picture to the left.

8. Using the Move Tool, move the picture around until it displays the way you want.

You can now add special effects to the layer if you wish. In the third picture to the left, I have placed a woman holding an umbrella in the letter B.  I then “stroked” the layer with a few pixels of dark blue that I picked up from the blue showing in the picture. If you are using Photoshop CS, you will have to “flatten” the image, which you can do in the Layers Palette.  To stroke the letter after flattening the image, you use the Magic Wand tool and select the white parts of the image. Next, refer to the Select menu and choose Select Inverse. This selects the letter instead of the white. With your preferred color active in the Color Picker, go to the Edit Menu and choose Stroke. The blue (or whatever color you have chosen) forms a slim border around the entire image.

You can add multiple other special effects, such as giving the letter a drop shadow, or placing additional type directly in the image.  For example, in the third picture, if the woman’s name is Betty, the B picture itself is the first letter of her name. Next, spell out “ETTY” in the dark curve of the B.

Playing with type and images is fun and a very cool way to spruce up the journaling and titles in your scrapbook layouts.  If you prefer more expert instructions, refer to your software’s help menu. The phrase to look for is “fill type with image” if you are using Photoshop.

Looking for a special embellishment? Sometimes using clipart in your scrapbook layouts is the ideal solution.

If you have a licensed copy of MS Office, you can usually find all the clipart you need from their online collection. (Run a search for “Microsoft ClipArt). Otherwise, there are tons of clipart resources on the Web.

The thing to keep in mind is that you can alter or modify the clip art to suit your purposes.

In the picture to the right, I wanted a mermaid embellishment for one of my Antarctica expedition layouts. I found this gal at Microsoft’s clipart collection.  I pasted the image into a Photohop file and resized it to the shape i wanted. Then I printed it on card stock.

I went around the outline with a black gel pen, then I pasted shocking pink sequins onto her body. The picture doesn’t really do this justice, but it is quite a nice looking item in real life. I have received many compliments, often from people who cannot quite figure out how I did it. Most are surprised to know it is plain old clip art with a little extra added.

With a little thought, you can find many ways to add clipart to your scrapbook layouts.

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If you have photo editing software, such as Adobe Photoshop CS3 or the more affordable Adobe Elements 6 , you can do any number of cool things with your photographs.

I wish I knew the name for the effect, but I do not. Do you remember those old photographs where the subject was centered clearly, but faded out to a soft blur towards the edge of the photograph, usually in a circular or oval shape?

It’s easy to get that effect digitally. You’ll be delighted with the way this will spruce up even relatively boring photographs.

Take this picture of my cat, Baloney to the left. Yes, his name is Baloney. Don’t ask.

It’s not a bad photo, as far as cat photos go. But as you can see by the middle picture and the picture to the far right, it can be made more interesting with a little Photoshop magic.

I did this with Photoshop CS, but you can do it with other versions of Photoshop, and with Adobe Photoshop Elements.

These are the steps:

1. Open your picture in Photoshop

2. Using either the rectangular, circular, or freeform Marquis tool, select the portion of the image that you want to use. In the pictures here, I used the circular Marquis tool set to a fixed aspect ratio. This selects a perfect circle.

2. While the image area is selected, go to the Select Menu item and choose Feather. A window appears asking you to provide the number of pixels that you want to feather. I used 15 in this project, but you will want to experiment. Add your number and click Okay.

3. Copy your selection into the clipboard. I use the keyboard command of Control-C (Windows) to do the copying.

4. Open a new file with the preset set to Clipboard. Have the bottom layer white.

5. Create a new layer on the new file.

6. Paste your clipboard onto the new layer. I use the keyboard command of Control-V (Windows) Your feathered image will appear, with a soft blur that fades to white, since your bottom layer is white.

7. At this point, you can leave the bottom color white, or you can change it to any color you want. In the middle picture above, I used the eyedropper tool to pick up the creamy color from the cat’s mane. In the picture to the far right, I picked up the bluish gray color from the chesterfield stripe. When you have chosen the color you want, make the bottom layer active (refer to the Layer Window to do this). With the bottom layer active, use the keyboard command of Control V to fill the bottom layer with the color you have selected with the eyedropper tool.

8. Save your file.

This is a simple photo editing trick but very effective in your scrapbooking projects.