Digital Scrapbooking and so much more

Adoramapix.com

2010-05-27T11:11:00.000-07:00

I made our daughter's baby book using adoramapix.com because they offered a promotional free book. I absolutely love it and will definitely use them again. I just used one of the templates that the site offered and dropped in my photos. The double page spread option is fantastic. The site is easy to use, the customer service is great and the quality of the book is exceptional. I really love that the pages are so heavy and that the book lays flat when you have it open. We got the 8x10 size but then ordered the 5x7 size as well to keep in the diaper bag.

2009 Blog Book Done

2010-03-04T11:11:00.001-08:00

I finally finished our 2009 blog book. It took me 8 hours to assemble it. Last year it took me 10 hours so I'm improving. It's a chore to do and I don't really like it, but I really love the finished product. I designed the front and back covers and then just drag and dropped pictures from Picasa into different layout designs provided by BookSmart, the blurb.com book software. Last year I got the hard cover with the dust jacket. This year I got the cover picture printed on the book. My mom got the soft cover version. I don't think the matte cover printing looks as good as the other options (the soft cover and the dust jacket are more vibrant) but it is more realistic for our family because of how often we handle the books.

My sister Kristi was having some anxiety over spending any amount of time on her blog book. She is a super busy mother of five and doesn't love being on her computer like I do. Her SIL told her that she could do a quick blog to book on thecutestblogontheblock.com. I thought I'd try it out too (see above). It certainly was fast and easy. It took me 15 minutes from the time I slurped the blog into the site until I ordered it. There are some advantages and disadvantages. First of all, it made me choose my blog postings to add, by date. I chose Jan. 1 2009 to Dec. 31,2009. I had some postings in early January that told about our 2008 holidays, but I didn't realize it until it slurped those unwanted entries into my book. It wouldn't let me remove them from the book later. I should have re-slurped it and been more specific on my dates but I didn't want to take the time, so I have some 2008 items in my 2009 book. It also didn't give me any options for layout or size of book or text and titling. No options for resizing the pictures either. They are a lot smaller than I would have liked.

Here are the positives. I like the table of contents they put at the beginning. I also think the printing is exceptional and the paper is thick and nice. The book is thinner and lighter than my other blog books (111 pages, vs my 240 page book), which is a nice space saver. This company also doesn't charge tax or shipping (unless you live in New York) and I got it in about 10 days, a week earlier than they said I would get it (you could pay shipping if you wanted to get it faster). Over all it was $33 cheaper than my hard cover book from blurb.com. If you want super easy and fast and a little bit cheaper and you're not overly concerned with how it looks and flows together, then this might be the site for you!

Changing the Color

2009-11-11T09:51:00.000-08:00

Last year when our daughter Ryann was in the fourth grade and studying all about California in her 4th grade class, extra credit was offered if the students visited one or more California missions.

Ryann was disappointed when I told her it would be impossible to do any traveling to see the missions. The closest one was four hours away and I was 8 months pregnant at the time.

Instead, we took a picture of her and extracted her from the photo. We then changed the color of her shirt to about 8 different colors. Then we downloaded various pictures of missions from the internet and moved her over onto the different pictures and added a title.

She took the finished photos into her class the next day and showed her teacher. Her teacher thought they were real and was amazed that she had been to so many missions in just one weekend! Ryann told her they were photoshopped and she was amazed. She didn't give her any extra credit though, darn it!

How to change color:
Use your magnetic lasso tool and select the area you want to change. Pressing control+u will bring up the hue/saturation option. Go under the master drop down menu at the top and choose the color closest to the color you want to change. Use the Hue slider to find a color that will work for you. Wa la! Amazing!

Extracting

2009-11-11T09:35:00.001-08:00

Extracting something from a photo using Elements is so easy and super fun! I just completed this little project for my boys' "castle" room this last week. I took their pictures dressed in a knight's costume in front of our garage so there would be some contrast in coloring and it would be easier to extract. Then I changed the colors of the tunics and dragged the extracted boys over to a picture of a castle I found on the internet. I added some text and split the pictures into thirds and mod podged them on to 8"x24" canvases.

Take your photo into Elements and choose image>magic extractor. Click on the pen with the + sign on the left side. Color the area you want to keep (red). Click on the pen with the - sign and color the area you want to take away (blue). Choose 2 on the feathering option on the right. Click ok. You may have to use the eraser to clean some areas up a bit. Make sure you save your extraction as a png so the background will be transparent.

Some Cool Stuff About Picasa

2009-10-09T14:53:00.000-07:00

This is the stuff I love about Picasa for digital scrapbooking. If you don't use it already, you should!

Find any picture

A picture can be identified by Picasa five ways. (1) Its file name (2) Name of the folder it's in (3) Any words in its caption (4) Any words in its folder description (5) A keyword which has been attached to it (Ctrl+K). Type in a word you think will bring up the picture, and most of the time, it will!

Drag and drop

Minimize Picasa and place it over Photoshop. Drag the picture from Picasa to the Photoshop workspace. You can press and hold the Ctrl key to select more than one, then move all at the same time.

Look at brush JPEGS

It's easy to see what brushes you have and what folder they are in.

Enlarge paper to see exactly what it's like

Press Ctrl+Alt while hovering on pix to see the details and if you really want to use it. Great for scrapbook papers, as well as your photographs.

Identifying digital art are for a particular use

When you purchase a kit, put key words in your paragraph description. For example, if you like to do wedding books, write "wedding" in your description even if the paper wasn't meant for weddings. When you type in "wedding" it will bring up all the papers you have identified.

Make a collection for one project

Say for example that you're making a family proclamation book using pictures that are scattered all over your computer. When you see a picture you'd like to use, but it in a "virtual folder." (little blue folder at the bottom of Picasa and to the right of the photo tray) Then export that folder to your picture folder and name the folder for your project. Then you can upload all the pictures at once to the book publisher and save yourself a lot of grief uploading a picture here and a picture there.

Make an instant collage

This is great for your blogs, but could also make a quickie scrapbook page. Select several pictures and click on the collage icon near the top and to the left of the folder the pictures are in. Choose the type of collage you want from the pull down menu at the top, and choose your page format, then click "create collage." There are options for space between the pictures, as well as color of the space. If you don't like the way the pictures are laid out, click "shuffle pictures" below the collage and try again.

Designer gallery

A virtual folder of ideas. When you see a page you really like on the Internet, save it to a scrapbook folder called "Designer Gallery." Then when your mind goes blank, you can look there for ideas, and "scraplift" it for your own use.

Digital thumbnails

A virtual folder of your art kits. Each time you buy a digital kit, most likely it will have a picture arrangement that includes most of the papers and elements in the kit. Put that picture in a virtual folder called "Digital Thumbnails." Then you can browse through there to get an idea of which kit you may want to use for your scrapbook page.

Share with screensaver

Picasa must be open, then when you are anywhere else on your computer and you want to do a screen capture, just press your "Print Screen" key and it will be saved to a folder in Picasa. Then you can quickly email it, or do whatever you want. It's nice for sharing a page in progress.

Print photo book pages in wallet size for sorting

Example: say you have made enough pages for a photo book, but you want to play around with arranging them, etc. Select them all, and click on the print icon in Picasa. Choose "Wallet." Mark "shrink to fit" in print dialogue on the left of the page. Print and cut out.

Picasa Update

2009-10-06T14:09:00.001-07:00

Picasa 3.5, which is the latest version out now, scans all the photos in your collection, identifies the ones with faces, and groups photos with similar faces together. It's easy to add name tags to dozens of photos at once by clicking "Add a name" below a photo and typing the person's name.

What's New In Picasa 3?

2009-06-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

Nearly every updated feature in Picasa is totally great! One of the things I missed most in the previous version was the ability to retouch an image. Now we can. Just click on the retouch tool and airbrush away unsightly blemishes.

One of my favorite features is that we can now add text to a photo. Wow, this comes in so handy and it works like a charm! In addition, new printing features allow you to print captions either on or below a photo.

Several new video features : the ability to trim a clip, export it to YouTube, take a snapshot of a single frame, and play in full screen. You can "scrub" through the video, then use the . and , keys to look at the video frame by frame and identify an exact frame location.

Other new features are the ability to sync Picasa pictures with web album edits, create and edit movies, do a screen capture, set your desktop picture, make a screen saver, print captions, and much more.

There are also things that we knew and loved before that are even better now. The collage maker has been expanded and works much better. (A real boon to bloggers!) You can upload an album to Picasa Web Albums and email invitations to friends and family with just one click. Red eye removal is automatic. No need to draw the little boxes around the eye like we used to.

They have fixed one annoying thing: that you could only put one word in a word tag. Now you can do multiple words.

More features have been added to the slideshow creator--lots more transition styles, and the ability to include video in the slideshow.

In addition Google has increased the number of photos it can keep organized to one million.

For a list and explanation of all new and updated features, click here. Be sure and check out "Picasa Community Videos" on the left side. Some of them are quite good.

The only thing I didn't like about the new features was the movie maker. Very lame. You can only use MP3 or WMC music. You can only choose one transition, and it is applied to every picture. If you include a video clip, it plays the sound from that over the music you have chosen. If you're not into video and don't care about these things, then be my guest. I'm not going to use it.

Fun New Fonts

2009-03-23T11:49:00.000-07:00

I recently bought these fonts from scrapnfonts.com. I have used them quite a bit already. Just type LD into their search engine to find them fast.

Picasa for the Mac!

2009-03-19T17:18:00.000-07:00

Picasa finally came out with a version for Mac users. Check it out here. It's an AWESOME photo organizing program with many extra goodies!

Fun New Templates

2009-01-17T20:08:00.000-08:00

My good friend and designer Jill, owner of Legacy Digital Designs, has some new psd templates for sale (and some free ones) on her web site. They are fabulous! So classy looking and easy to download and use.

And even better yet, she has created a coupon for my blog readers. If you type in HOTSPOT in the coupon section of the check out, you'll receive 10% off.

Above are a few pages that I did using her Versailles kit. I randomly grabbed some photos, turned them black and white and plunked them down onto these pre-made pages by Jill. It took me about ten minutes.

As soon as my cute little baby girl is born in a few weeks, I'm going to do a mini-book (3.5x3.5) through viovio.com. It's so CUTE and would be the perfect gift for grandparents. I've never used the site before, but Jill has and she really likes it. They have a lot of options and the prices are INCREDIBLE. Jill has posted some really good printing tips and a link to viovio on her site. If you decide to try it out, go through her link - she gets credits for passing people through.

Some more quick pages I made using Jill's Paris Kit. Too fun!

Family Proclamation Templates $1

2008-11-09T17:42:00.000-08:00

One of our most asked questions is "Where can I get templates to make a Family Proclamation book?" Finally we have an answer, thanks to our friend Jill Means who is a professional graphic artist. She has designed a beautiful set, including some extra pages in alternate styles. You can download them from her website Legacy Digital Design for $1. Here are some sample pages Ann made in minutes. On the left is the page designed by Jill. On the right is the page with pictures slipped underneath it on another layer. Easy and beautiful! If you need help, refer to the Beginners post on this blog. We made our book 12x12 and had it printed by Shutterfly. But you can make your book any size as long as it's square. Just resize before you start or after you're done. 8x8 is a nice size and can easily be printed on home computers. (Note: if you downloaded before 11-20-08, do so again. Jill has changed the color slightly for a better look.)

GREAT CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEA!

Adobe Releases New Version of Elements

2008-08-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

Exciting news! Adobe has just recently released Photoshop Elements 7 and Costco is continuing their support of scrapbookers by giving us a fantastic deal. We will get Elements 7 for $79.99, which is well below list price. In addition, they have partnered with Linda Sattgast (who we have been recommending as the best teacher of Photoshop) to bundle her CD “Learn Digital Scrapbooking with Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.” This would cost $36.95 to purchase on her web site.
Elements 7 has some new features that you can read about on Costco’s web site. One of the features we’re looking forward to is the “Adobe Smart Brush.” We will be able to improve lighting, add textures, and over 50 sophisticated effects just with the stroke of a brush.
Linda’s CD has 50 video lessons, as well as written instructions for each lesson. It will also include a digital kit of paper and embellishments called “It’s My History,” so that you will have some professionally designed elements to help you put together an album.
If there isn't a Costco near you, you can order it here. If you want to practice, go to Adobe and download a 30 day free trial.

Ann's Cameras

2008-08-19T10:02:00.000-07:00

For all you BYU presentation attendees who were interested in my cameras, this post is for you. My main camera is a Canon Digital Rebel XTi which I use with a Tamron 28-300 mm lens.

My small carry-everywhere-I-go camera is a Canon PowerShot SD950 IS.

In addition to the great pictures and video which I showed you at the conference, you can set it to wide panorama pictures for certain scenes that you may want to capture. It is a 12 mega pixel camera, but you can set it for a variety of resolutions. I usually keep mine at 5 mp to keep the size down for everyday shooting, but if I am taking pictures that I may want to enlarge for a wall hanging, etc., it can be set higher.

I took this camera, as well as my Rebel, to Hawaii last February. I ended up using it for 95 percent of my pictures because it was so fun to use and did such a good job--and so much easier to carry around.

Digital Scrapbooking

2008-08-02T10:27:00.000-07:00

“The scrapbooker is the person who breathes life into photos, capturing the essence of the memory; bringing back the warm feelings, the exciting moments, the tearful reunions and the fond thoughts of moments past. Scrapbookers are the storytellers of their lives and of those lives that have touched theirs in some special way—whether from generations past or generations to come.” –Chicken Soup for the Scrapbooker’s Soul.

A scrapbook is the truth of who our parents are; it’s filled with their love, hopes and dreams.
We celebrate our successes, and show what we’ve learned from our mistakes.
We share the stories that are most important to us, share the values that define who we are, make the pages that really matter most.
We share ourselves with pictures and words, and that’s got to be one of the most important reasons to scrapbook.

Five Important Areas to Scrapbook
1. My History Speaks to Yours: Stories about your ancestors and your own growing up days. Every family has a story. What is yours?
2. Our Precious Memories: The good and wonderful things. This is the essence of who you are, and who your children will be. Document it and love it.
3. The Extraordinary Ordinary: Home is where the moments happen. Susan B. Anthony said, “Sooner or later we all discover that the important moments in life are not advertised ones, not the birthdays, the graduations, the weddings, not the great goals achieved. The real milestones are less prepossessing. They come to the door of memory.”
4. Get Real: Life isn’t all rosebuds and sugarplums. Record the hard times as well as the good times. What lessons did you learn?
5. Scrapbook Your Faith: What we believe contributes to who we are inside—our character. Themes such as thankfulness, values, wonder, doubt and forgiveness can be recorded in our books.

For a newspaper article on scrapbooking your faith as well as sample pages and the entire Proclamation Book in scrapbook form click here.

To see either of these in full size slides, click on the Picasa Web Album icon in the lower R-hand corner, then click on Proclamation Book, then click on slideshow. These can also be downloaded to your computer.

For information on how to learn to digital scrapbook go to the beginner section on this blog.

Did you love Kim's pages in our presentation? To look at all of her pages (over 300) go to her blog and click on "Gallery." Her pages are honest, and humorous, and will give you some great scrapbooking ideas.

The 2008 Printing Press (Internet Books)

2008-08-02T10:24:00.000-07:00

The Internet is fast becoming a major tool of communication. Technology now allows us to print a single book in full color using Internet companies. Just a few short years ago this was unthinkable. There are now many sites where you can print a book. Here are several we have used.
www.shutterfly.com One of our favorites. Their books are beautiful and they are very fair if there are any issues. Upload your pictures first, and then drag them into premade layouts.
www.picaboo.com Beautiful books. One thing I like about them is that you don’t have to upload the pictures first. You can drag them in from Picasa and when the book is finished, upload it all at once. They also allow you to put any picture or digital paper as a page background—a nice touch. In addition, they have hundreds of backgrounds on the Internet that you can drag onto a page. They are organized by theme, so it’s easy to find what you want.
www.mypublisher.com This is where I published by first book eight years ago. They’re still in business and now have more options. You can make a book cover for your book as one of their choices. They have teamed with Costco for some great pricing.
www.mpix.com They do books in addition to other photo printing. Many professionals use this site. Until recently they didn’t give you an option for a picture on the cover, but now they do. They have a 9x9 size that is nice and not offered by most other companies.
www.blurb.com One of the most inexpensive of all the sites we’ve tried. They also let you drag from Picasa and upload the pictures later. They don’t offer the glossy paper that most printing places have, but their quality seems pretty good. Best of all, you can “slurp” your blog into a book. Very cool.

To access slideshows and links to view in full size some of the books we referenced in the presentation:
Tribute Book
Reaching the Summit Tribute
The Important Book

To see the proclamation Book full size, click here and choose "slideshow."

Dare to Share

2008-08-02T10:17:00.000-07:00

Elder Ballard has challenged us all to share our testimonies on the Internet. In a speech last April to the BYU Management Society in Washington D.C., he said, “Church leaders can’t do it all. We look to our responsible and faithful members to engage personally with blogs . . . Share your experiences—those from your own life—that show how your values and your faith intersect. It doesn’t matter if it’s face to face, or whether you do it by participating from your own blog or contributing to someone else’s blog. The most important thing is that you let people know that you are a Latter-day Saint, and that your behavior and attitude always reflect what is expected as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Allow people to see how your beliefs lift and shape your life for the better.”

To read the entire talk (which is wonderful) click here.

Elder Ballard also wrote the cover story for the July 2008 Ensign on the same topic. It can be found on the Internet here.

Elder Ballard can also be found on YouTube. This is the link to the clip recommended in the Ensign for us to watch: http://www.youtube.com/LDSPublicAffairs

Late News Flash! You can now “slurp” your blog into a book. This is how you do it: Slurp Your Blog

Here are some blogs we have obtained permission to share with you. Spend some time checking them out for beautiful examples of sharing our faith with the world in a beautiful and non-threatening way.

Chandler Blog
The Errand of Angels

My History Speaks to Yours (video)

2008-08-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

I showed just a few short clips in my presentation. I have put 17 clips on YouTube for you to watch and get ideas on how you can include video in your family history. To watch any of these videos, click here. I have written an explanation that will appear with each one.

For those who may want to do more than just basic editing, I recommend Sony’s Vegas Movie Studio+/DVD 8 Platinum Edition, $95 from amazon.com. It’s simple, stable, and can do many wonderful things. There is also a professional version available.

Slurping Your Blog

2008-08-02T09:36:00.000-07:00

This is the greatest thing ever! I am so excited to share it with you. This is the best and easiest way now to journal and preserve your family memories. I found out how to do it from my friend Valerie - thanks Valerie! You can "slurp" your blog into Blurb! Let me explain. You go to blurb.com and download their BookSmart software. Then it gives you different options on what kind of book to create. Choose the "slurp" option and give them your name and password to your Internet blog site (there's several to choose from). Then in a matter of minutes all of your blog entries and pictures are sucked into a book format for you to edit and arrange and upload and print. I wanted to do mine at the end of the year but I just couldn't stand it and just had to try it out.

I ran into a couple of glitches though but they were easily solved. It wouldn't take my Picasa web album slideshow pictures that I had put into some of my entries but would only show the first one that was in the slide show. It didn't bother me though because I could drag and drop straight from Picasa into BookSmart. I also had a problem with some of my pictures being too low in quality to print. Sometimes I had uploaded smaller sized photos to my blog to save me some upload time. I just deleted those and dropped new ones in from Picasa.

There were a few things I wasn't super happy about but could definitely overlook because of the ease of this program. For instance, the cover was matte and already I have a few smudges on it. I don't like dust jackets either so I wish they had covers like Shutterfly does. Also, I was a little frustrated with their layout options and ability to do more sophiticated things. I'll have to create some pages in Photoshop if I want it to look super stellar. Finally, they didn't offer books in 12"x12" size and I wish they did.

I spent about two hours getting this 62 page book perfect and ready to send to print. I had a $10 coupon the company had sent me in an email and I chose to get my cover printed directly onto the book instead of a dust jacket, and that cost me $5 extra dollars. I ended up paying around $35 for the book. What a bargain! The pictures look beautiful and the paper quality seems high. This is my new way to scrapbook! I love it!!

Bonus: Don't be Sorry

2008-08-02T09:33:00.002-07:00

We all know to back up our files, and none of us do it often enough, but it’s becoming more and more important as we use our digital cameras often, and buy art for digital scrapbooking. Backing up on CD’s or even DVD’s just doesn’t cut it anymore, as we have way too much stuff.

We have a cool recommendation: the Passport hard drive by Western Digital. It comes in eleven colors and sizes from 120-320GB. In addition to backing up, they are great for use with laptops, and for transporting files from one computer to another. They are small, have their own case (although you may have to buy it separately, except at Costco), and are just totally GREAT. Most stores carry them (Best Buy, Staples, Costco, etc.) or you can order directly from Western Digital. They frequently come on sale.

Hot Tips for Better Pictures

2008-08-02T09:33:00.001-07:00

Move really close to your subject and your photography will be much better. When you think you’re close enough, move two steps closer before taking the picture. Pros know this and do it, but the average photographer still tries to get “the big picture.”

When on vacation, shoot the famous landmarks first and get it over with. (Example: the Eiffel Tower in Paris) Then get on to shooting the people, the local flavor, the customs, shots that speak to the photographer in you.

Posing group portraits: Instead of lining everyone up, get them to rally around an object and they’ll arrange themselves naturally around it.

Crop off the top of their head. It’s a very popular pro technique and you’ll see it everywhere as the mainstay of top fashion, beauty, and portrait shooters. Don’t however crop off a chin. That leads to a very uncomfortable composition.

For children, get on their level. They don’t always have to smile. If you follow them around with a camera long enough, they will forget you’re taking pictures and you can catch them with their normal expressions.

Give the camera to someone else so you can be in the picture. Look at the picture and if it’s not how you want it, thank them profusely and ask them to take one more from a little different angle, closer, etc.

Go back home. Visit your childhood neighborhood and take pictures.

Remember the rule of thirds. Having the key elements of your photo off-center makes for a much more visually appealing picture.

Light, Light, Light

2008-08-02T09:32:00.002-07:00

You’ve always been taught to use a flash indoors, and don’t use it outdoors. Think just the opposite. Flash indoors is harsh and not as beautiful as natural lighting. In addition, it can ruin the color of certain scenes.

Use a flash outdoors to light a person who is standing in an overly backlight environment. Otherwise they will be a silhouette. You may want a silhouette, but if you don’t, use a flash.

Use a flash to fill in your subjects’ faces when in harsh sunlight. Use your camera’s “fill flash" setting if it has one.

Don’t pack up your gear when the weather gets cloudy. Outdoor photography is great on cloudy days. Things can be beautiful even after a rain. If the day is too cloudy, go ahead and shoot anyway—it’s easy to add “pop” to your photos in Picasa or Photoshop.

People’s reaction to weather can add interest to a photo. Snow never stopped me from taking a picture.

Knowing Your Digital Camera

2008-08-02T09:32:00.001-07:00

Read the manual. You’ll never know all the things your camera can do if you don’t read it. Go through all the menu items so you’ll know where things are and can easily access them.

Buy an extra battery and keep it charged. Carry your batteries and extra cards with you at all times.

Use the preset modes. Most cameras come with all the basics such as action landscape, macro, night, and portrait. They generally work wonders. Some cameras have many more modes. For descriptions of digital camera icons, click here.

Macro lenses have a “sweet spot” where you get razor sharp images. To get the most out of your lens, shoot perfectly straight at the subject, not upward or downward.
For great flower shots, get down low and shoot the flowers so they’re backlit, with the sun shining through the translucent petals. It works every time.

Turn off the date stamp. It’s unsightly on the picture and you don’t need it. If you want to know when a picture was taken, click on the picture in Picasa, and the date will appear below it.

Turn the digital zoom off. Optical zoom uses the lens of the camera to bring your subject closer, which is what you want. On the other hand, digital zoom causes the camera to crop your image inside the camera, which decreases image quality and is not what you want. Use digital zoom only when you absolutely have to have a picture and cannot move any closer to the subject.

Locking focus and light: Sunsets can be difficult because you’re shooting into the sun, and it can throw your camera’s built-in light meter way off. There’s a simple trick to getting perfect sunset shots. Aim just above the setting sun itself making sure you can’t see the sun thrown the viewfinder. Then hold your shutter button halfway down, and move the camera to recompose the shots as you’d like it to look. Press the shutter button down the rest of the way and take the shot. Use the same method to hold the focus. Place the focus icon over your subject, press the shutter button half way, then recompose the picture before clicking it all the way.

Learn how to use the self timer. It’s a great way to get everyone in the picture. Have a small tripod ready to go.

Use the highest image size on your camera even though it takes more room on your card. (With some exceptions) Cards are inexpensive and you should have several.

The Amazing Picasa

2008-08-02T09:31:00.000-07:00

Download free from www.picasa.com
When asked which pictures to load, DO NOT choose “entire computer.” Choose picture and video files only or you will have a lot of stuff on Picasa that you probably don’t want there.
By default Picasa does not pick up .png files, yet all embellishments in digital scrapping are .png so that they will have transparent backgrounds. In order to set Picasa to pick these up go to the tools menu>options>file types and make sure the .png box is checked.

Picasa works just like Google and uses the following to find your pictures:
1. The name of the folder they are in
2. The name or number of a particular picture
3. Anything you have written in a caption
4. A key word or words you have given it (Ctrl+k)
5. Notes made in a folder (Double click on a folder and write a description. Does not have to be complete sentences.)

To see a picture full screen, hover over it with the mouse and press Ctrl+Alt.

Double click on a picture to access the caption and controls for zooming in on it, and getting the camera information. Get additional camera info by right clicking and choosing properties. There are many more things in the R-Click menu. Check them out.

Keep tract of your best pictures by marking them with a star. You’ll find it in the bottom tray. It toggles on and off. If you have marked stars in a folder, a sign appears under the folder’s title saying “select stared.” This will bring up all the pictures your have starred.

While a picture is double clicked you can also access the “fixing, tuning, and effects” areas as demonstrated in the presentation. I always go through a newly added set of pictures with the slideshow bar at the top of the picture and make simple adjustments. There are very few pictures that don’t need a little bit of help, even if it’s just a little extra light or some sharpening.

Make a virtual folder (not really on your hard drive, but only in Picasa) by selecting pictures and clicking the “Add to” button at the bottom of the page. Make a new folder or add to an existing one. I use this for my collection of scrapbook kit icons, for choosing paper for a new project, or collecting pictures from various places for a presentation such as this one.

Key Buttons I Use Most
(Slideshow) Great for on-the-go slide shows. Import your pictures, drag them around to rearrange, click slideshow. You can let it go automatically, or manually if you want to talk about each picture while showing. If you have taken the time to caption your pictures, you can choose to have the captions show, or not show. (Great for family reunions.) You can set the slideshow to repeat, and can even add music to it.)

(Email) You can set the size you want your pictures to be in the tools>options>email menu. Select the pictures you want to email. Click the email button and Outlook Express or Gmail will open (options are given the first time) and you just add names and send as usual.

(Web Album) The greatest thing ever for storing pictures on the web and sending them to others in a large size. You have to register the first time, and then a whole new world opens up to you. Try it.

(Order Prints) Choose your pictures, and then click on this button for a choice of places to print them. For example, upload them to Wall-Mart and go pick them up in an hour at your local store. Unfortunately, they do not do Costco.

I have only touched on the abilities of the amazing Picasa. The good news is that just by playing around with it you can figure it out and learn. I have been working with it for 4 or 5 years and still keep finding out new things. (Here’s a worthless, but fun, new thing I just learned. Press Ctrl+Shift+Y and a cute teddy bear will appear. Do it again and again for lots of bears in different sizes. Unfortunately you have to close Picasa to get rid of them. Those Google guys are just having too much fun!)

If you want to read about Picasa there is a book called “Organizing and Editing Your Photos with Picasa” available on amazon.com for $10.39.

Satisfy your Scrappetite

2008-08-02T09:27:00.000-07:00

There are many places to buy digital art on the Internet. Just download it, store in a folder, and you’re good to go. Some of our favorite shopping sites are listed on the right side of this blog. There are also lots of places to get free digital papers and kits. Just make sure you have an organization plan in place before you start downloading or you will just end up with a big mess and a headache!

Pictures from the Past (Scanning)

2008-08-02T09:25:00.001-07:00

Scanner Brand: We like Epson Perfection (various models), but there are many good scanners on the market.

Keep glass clean (Use Windex Wipes) Smudges and lint are your enemies, but you don’t want to spray your scanner with a liquid that may drip down under the glass.

Twain: Comes from the phrase “never the twain shall meet” because it is a go-between for the software and the scanner.

Resolution: Scan most images at 300 DPI. Don’t over or under scan
Images that are scanned at unnecessarily high resolutions will take more disk space, longer times to print, and will not yield higher quality printing.

For important pictures, scan twice—one without any changes, and one for editing.

Saving Formats:
Tiff for valuable pictures that you want to save in high quality and/or enlarge
JPEG: for anything used exclusively in the Internet or computer, or that you won’t be enlarging or working with
PNG: A good cross between the two except not accepted for most Internet uses

Large Pictures: Stitch together in Elements 3. After scanning sections, choose File>new>photomerge, then select all scans and follow instructions.

Moiré
Pictures that have previously been printed may have a strange honeycomb or wavy lined pattern. This happens because the printed image has been converted to a halftone, which means that it was broken up into fine rows of dots. When the image is scanned, the scanner hits and misses the existing dots, resulting in what is called a moiré.
You can remove the moiré with your scanner's descreening feature. If your scanner doesn’t have “Descreen” or “remove moiré,” you can do it manually by blurring the photo in your photo-editing program enough to hide the moiré.

Certificate or document: Scan on color photo setting, even though it may be B&W.

Slides: Must have light source from above. Put in the scanner shiny side down. Increase the size of the scan at least 400 times, or use the auto slide setting on your scanner. Clean as much as possible before scanning. Fix remaining dust spots on a slide scan by choosing filter>noise>dust and scratches in Photoshop Elements. They will magically disappear! Short of time? Go to Costco, Wall-Mart, or Sam’s Club and have your slides scanned in a few hours, or one day at the longest, for a reasonable fee. Also many places on the Internet scan slides.

Negatives: Shiny side down. Must have light source from above. Some scanners ask you to “invert” before or after scanning to make the picture “positive.”

Three-dimensional objects: Must have scanner with adjustable lid. Black velvet makes a nice background.

Text: Find special setting on scanner to be able to do it. Scanned image goes into the word processor of your choice.

Scanning directly from your scanner software into a file.
Faster
No option for naming
Set up a file plan before beginning on complicated projects

Scanning Help: www.scantips.com

The Truth About Printing

2008-08-02T09:23:00.000-07:00

Here is an article Ann wrote that will explain the ins-and-outs of printing.

Words of the Heart (Word Art)

2008-08-02T09:13:00.000-07:00

Words can have power when it comes to memory keeping.

A combination of words and unique design, it's what's known in the
digital scrapbooking community as "word art".

By turning words into art you can dress up your pages with a digital
twist on creative writing.

In scrapbooking, the fonts you choose help determine the style and
feel of the words on your page. For example, in the wedding page below, the grunge font doesn't fit with the overall beauty and feel of the page. The second one, where I used a script font, fits perfectly.

You can easily make your own word art from titles quotes or
journaling. It's so popular that, there's many sites you can buy
pre-made word art or find it for free. This is an area where I like
to "scraplift" ideas from others when wanting to add cool word art to
my pages. When I see a layout where someone has does something unique with their word art, I scan or save from online the page and keep them in a "gallery" for me to refer to in the future if I need an idea.

Learning to Digital Scrapbook

2008-08-02T09:08:00.000-07:00

Lots of people are jumping on the digital bandwagon. Don’t spend money on anything but the industry standard and that’s Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. Click here to get more information on how to learn this amazing program.

Extracting Tip

2008-06-08T17:11:00.000-07:00

My mom made the above darling page for my niece Sophie. I couldn't resist making similar pages for our kids. I couldn't find a good picture of Luke to use, so his page is going to have to wait until I take another picture of him.
Here's a little tip to use when you're extracting a photo using the Magic Extractor option in Photoshop Elements. When you're extracting your picture, make sure you put in a "4" in the feathering box before you press ok to extract. It helps feather out your edges a little so it doesn't have such a harsh edge. My mom didn't do it on her Sophie page and you can see that there's a hard edge. She told me to make sure I did it on mine. It helped a lot.

Digital Light Brushes

2008-05-18T18:09:00.001-07:00

My mom discovered some new brushes that she likes to call "digital light" brushes. They are very beautiful and can really add some pizzaz to your page. You can find some free ones at Design Fruit. Click on the blue "brusheezy" box. She used one of them on a page she made to go along with a story she wrote about her recent snowmobiling weekend with my dad. You can also buy some beautiful ones at Designer Digitals. They are called "magic sparkle" there.

This is how you use the brushes:

1. Make a layer with a black background.

2. Make a new layer that is blank. On this blank layer use the brushes in white.

3. Make a new layer and set the blending mode to Overlay, which is found in the flyout menu at the top of the layer pallet.

4. Using soft round brushes of different sizes and colors, paint into this layer and the color will show up over the brushes beneath. Try different shades of the same color.

Notes: Remember, that if you want to be able to move brushes individually, put them on separate layers as well as their overlays. After they are colored, select both the overlay layer and the brush layer to move. It is a good idea to label your brush layers, as you can't see the white on white, and if you use very many on the same page, it's easy to get mixed up. Below is a sample page that my mom put together with some brushes from different sets.

Watermarks

2008-04-06T11:14:00.001-07:00

My friend Jenny inspired this blog entry about watermarks. Making a watermark is very simple and it looks great. Many people use watermarks on their photos and pages and art work, especially when they're selling them--for copyright reasons. This technique can be used in other ways too--if you just want a really cool looking word or embellishment or logo.

1. Set your foreground color to gray--H:0 S:0 B:50
2. Type your word or stamp your embellishment or logo (make it into a brush first)
3. Click on the move tool to select your type. Put a bevel or an emboss layer style on it.
4. Click on the drop down menu at the top of your layers pallet. Choose "hard light".

That's it! Watermarks made easy.

Another way to put pictures in text

2008-04-06T10:12:00.000-07:00

There are lots of ways to put pictures in text and I already have posted on this subject. But last week I discovered another way, purely by accident! I was messing around with making brushes look embossed. I decided to do it with text instead. When I did it, the photo behind my word went into the text. Then I moved the text down to the bottom of the page and it took the photo with it without cutting anything out on the page. It was so easy! Follow these steps:

1. Choose the text tool and write a word--big and bold works better.
2. Click Ctrl+thumbnail of the text layer--the word will become selected.
3. Click on the eye of the text layer--you will no longer see the word.
4. Click on your background layer and press Ctrl+c and then Ctrl+v--you will see a new layer appear above your background.
5. Choose a layer style, like an emboss or a bevel.
6. Move your text--ta da!!

Printing Digital Pages

2008-03-26T20:48:00.000-07:00

I get this question a lot. Do we print our digital scrapbooks? Of course. There are several ways to do it. One is on your own printer, but most of us don't have a printer that prints 12x12 which is the optimal scrapbook size. Once you have a square page made, you can print it any size you want. Some people print 8x8 or other formats that aren't square.

Studies have shown, however, that it costs twice as much to print at home as it does to have it printed at one of the many services available to us. We have found that the best place to get prints is Costco. When you finish a page, upload it to them and specify which store, and it will be ready for you in 1 hour for $3. Sometimes when my mom gets the urge to make a page for some of her grandchildren, she uploads the page to their store, one as far away as Kansas City, then we, the moms can go pick it up ourselves. (we love this, as you can guess.) Several of my friends like to have their pages printed and mailed to them. I haven’t yet tried this site but I will soon. It is Scrapbooks to Share. They are a company based out of Florida and they are very reasonably priced. Another thing you have to be aware of is shipping charges. This one charges $6 an order. If you ordered 50 pages at once, that is a good deal, but if you order one page for $1 and paid $6 shipping, then your page costs $7.

But the best way is to put your pages together in a book and have it printed by an Internet company, as we did the Family Proclamation. This is even less expensive than Costco, the turn-round time is usually only one day, and the books are beautifully printed, and guaranteed to be as long-lasting as it's possible to be. My sister Heidi just did a book for the kids' great grandmother in Germany. Shutterfly sent it directly there for her, which saved a lot of trouble.

The above picture shows my boys looking at the Family Proclamation book. They love to look at the books when they are the stars!

One of the problems of archiving traditional scrapbooking is that there's only one copy of it. With digital you can order as many copies as you want. We have four married kids in our family and my mom ordered a book for each family with the instructions to open the package Christmas Eve and read it to their children as part of that evening's spiritual home evening. In making the book, I made sure that each family had pictures in the book and that the grandchildren were equally represented.

There are so many advantages to digital scrapbooking. It's far less expensive. You buy (or get free) digital paper and embellishments on the Internet, download them any time night or day, use them over and over in different ways, change their color at the click of your mouse if you need to. If you're cramped for space, all you need is your computer--no more paper, glue, scissors, etc. scattered all over the place.

It's faster. Young mothers tell me all the time that this is the only way they keep up on their kid's baby books. Some soccer moms take their laptop to practices, lessons, etc. and work on scrapbooking while waiting for their kids. Grandmothers are also interested in it because as they get older and can’t move around much, it’s a worthwhile hobby that’s fun and valuable at the same time.

Another advantage that I love is sharing our pages with friends and family by email as soon as they are finished. I send pages to a friend on the other side of the country and she gets them in minutes if not seconds. If I have a large group of pages, I put them on the web in Picasa Web albums and my friends can look at them and download them if they want to.

Embossing Brushes

2008-03-22T11:34:00.001-07:00

You can make your brushes look like they're embossed. Follow these easy steps.

1. After you have chosen a paper, make a new layer and stamp the desired brush on it. When stamping, the brush can be any color.

2. To select the brush, hold the ctrl key while clicking on the thumbnail image of the brush in the layers palette.

3. Click on the eye next to the brush layer to make it disappear.

4. Select your paper background layer in the layer palette and copy and paste. You will now see a new layer appear with the copied background in the brush shape.

5. For Elements users: Under your effects pull down menu, choose an embossed layer style under the Bevels drop down menu and click on it. The new layer will become embossed. You can play around with the different settings by double clicking on the fx sign on your layer in the layers palette (or by going under layer>layer style>layer settings). Click ok when finished. For CS users: double click on the new layer to bring up Layer Styles. Click on Bevel and Emboss and the new layer will become embossed.

6. Try this on word art and embellishments!

Red Eye Fix

2008-03-19T06:54:00.001-07:00

One thing I really love about Photoshop is the ability to fix red eye so quickly. I touched on this in the blog entry I did earlier called "Enhancing Your Photos". I love this feature so much that I'm going to give it its own blog section. I received several Christmas cards this year with red eye in them. There's no excuse for that! It's such an easy thing to fix and will really enhance your photos.

You don't need to draw a box around the eye like you have to do in some other programs. Just make sure you are on the red eye removal tool in your tools pallet (for Photoshop CS users, shift+j will help you find that tool and toggle through the options) and click on the eye. You don't even have to click exactly on the red part of the eye. Anywhere in the general vicinity will work. Photoshop will find the red area and turn it black. You can also take the picture into the quick fix area and press the auto red eye tool and it will automatically fix all red eyes for you. Or, an even faster way is to just press Ctrl+R to take care of it all! It's genius!

Layer Effects

2008-03-07T11:12:00.000-08:00

Put a Layer Effect on your photo

I love using the marquee tool! You can do so much with it. It's really great to use it to zero in and emphasize a certain part of your photo.

Select the part of your photo you want to emphasize with the marquee tool. Set your feathering to zero.
Press Ctrl + J to duplicate your layer selection
Choose an effect, like “bevel” under “artwork and effects > special effects > layer styles > bevel”.
Double click on the sunshine button on your layer box.

Choose what effect you want you picture to have.

"Popping" a Picture with the Marquee Tool

2008-03-06T22:27:00.000-08:00

1. Choose a picture and put it on your canvas.

2. Press M for the marquee tool and draw a selection around the part you want to “pop.”

3. From the “select” menu choose “transform selection.” Put a tilt on the picture and move it around if desired. (Photoshop CS program only for this step)

4. Click Ctrl+J to put the selected picture on its own layer.

5. Put a 10 px white stroke around it

6. Add a drop shadow. You may have to adjust the shadow so it falls right side and bottom.

Now the fun begins: Click on the layer of your original picture. (Bottom layer) Try these different options, but this is only the beginning: (Use Ctrl+Z to erase your last move and try something else.) Under image>adjustments>desaturate to turn black
and white. Under filters>blur>radial, choose zoom with a value of 20
(or whatever you want).

Zoom Tip

2008-03-06T15:34:00.000-08:00

I love shortcuts. Anything to make my work go faster. Here's a really great one for you. When you need to enlarge your page to work on a specific area, click the Z key, then draw a box around the area you need enlarged. It can be just a tiny spot. It will immediately become HUGE, and you can easily deal with whatever issue you need to. I use this method a lot, on things such as cleaning up lines here and there, checking typing and doing a little retouching.

To get back to your original size, press Ctrl+0.

Using Brushes

2008-02-28T13:07:00.001-08:00

If you haven’t yet experienced the joy of brushes, then get to it! It is so much fun! The above page was created by my friend Brynn. She did a beautiful job of using brushes on it. The brushes she used are called Sun Print Brushes by Katie Pertiet at designerdigitals.com.

You can buy beautiful brushes on all of the popular digital scrapbook web sites. You can get thousands of free brushes on the Internet. Just type "photoshop brushes" into the Google search engine.

The first site I tried was myphotoshopbrushes.com and just on this one site there were many I liked.

In fact, you could narrow your search if you wanted something in particular. I typed in "photoshop brushes hearts" and got many, including ones you can buy. So I added "free" to the search and then came up with all the free ones. However, let's not be averse to actually paying a small amount to get what we want. Also, some free brushes may not be the quality we need for printing. They may be pixilated, or may be small and you can't increase them to the size you want.

But it would be good entertainment to check them out . . . like we need any more time wasters!

Make sure you organize your brushes. I have so many that I would never know what I had if I didn’t have a very organized system. I have a folder called Photoshop Brushes in my scrapbooking folder. Under that, I have 7 folders where I put my brushes depending on the type I think they are. The categories I chose were: decorative, doodles, frames, edges and borders, grunge, shapes/clip art and brushes that I create. Also, each time I get a new brush set, I stamp them on an 8”x11” canvas and save it as a jpeg to view in Picasa as well as print it out and keep it in a binder. That way, when I want to use a brush, I just open my binder or look in Picasa and find the one I want, and then I can locate it easily in my folders. It takes a little bit of extra effort to organize your brushes but in the long run it will save you time and frustration.

Here are a few basic instructions for getting started with brushes. Next week I will do a more advanced post.

· Create a new layer
· Choose the brush tool
· Choose a color for your brush
· Click on the drop down brush tool preset menu at the top. Click on the little arrow on the right and choose “load brushes.” Find your folder of brushes and select one. Then choose the brush you want to use. You can use the bracket keys to make the brush bigger or smaller.
· Stamp on your page.
· You must choose a new layer for each stamp if you want to be able to manipulate them individually.

Changing the direction of your brush
· Click on the brush tool in the tool pallet and choose a brush.
· Click on the “more options” tool above-right (pencil or brush next to it).
· Put in the number in the “angle” box to change directions of your brush or simply move the arrows.

Using the eraser as a brush
· Put two pieces of paper on your canvas
· Choose the eraser tool
· Choose a brush shape
· Stamp on the top layer of the paper and the one below will show through

Creating your own brush
· Open an embellishment, which will be a png file. Ctrl-A to select your embellishment before you put it on your page. Make sure you are on the “move” tool when doing this step.
· Got to Edit-Define Brush and click OK. Find your new brush in the brush drop- down preset menu above.
· Choose a color you want the stamp to be.
· Stamp on your page or a new layer.
· To make a text stamp, write with black on a white page then select it with the marquee too.
· Go to edit-define brush and click OK. They will ask you to simplify it first. Find your text brush under your brush drop-down preset menu at the bottom.
· If you want to save the brush you made, select it in the drop down brush selection menu and then click on the arrow on the right that brings up another drop down menu. At the very bottom, choose “save brushes”. Then find the folder where you want it to be saved, rename it and save it there.
· I especially like to have my purchased word art made into brushes (stamps) because it’s easier to see what I have, and I can use them any way that I use a brush.

Scrapbooking Your Faith

2008-02-22T10:10:00.000-08:00

Scrapbooking your faith is the latest trend in scrapbooking. Ann wrote an article for her local newspaper about it. Here is the complete article. Check out the slideshows for pages we've made which illustrate the concepts that can express our beliefs, our character, our personality, and let others know the real us.

Scrapbooking Your Faith
By Ann Kerr
February 2008

Scrapbooking has become a popular and exciting hobby, and is a creative outlet with which we can record the special happenings in our families. The past few years it has taken on a new dimension--scrapbookers don’t just photograph and write about events such as birthdays and vacations, but document their feelings, their beliefs, their hopes and dreams, the desires of their hearts.
When I discovered this trend in scrapbooking I immediately felt at home with it, and was determined to add that element to my own scrapbooks. The result has been so fulfilling. I’ve made better pages than ever and feel that I am also leaving a legacy of faith and hope for my children, grandchildren and generations to come.
Over the ensuing months I’ve collected some ideas that could be used in “Scrapbooking Your Faith,” as it has come to be known among those who scrapbook. The first is obvious: recount the importance and meaning of special religious events. Last month we had two special events in our family. An eight-year old grandson was baptized and our latest baby granddaughter was blessed. Their mothers made scrapbook pages about these events that didn’t just tell who, where, and when, but also “why.”
Another idea is to pair a picture with a scripture verse, value or creed. Maybe the picture comes first, or in some cases you may want to take a picture to go with a verse. When I was scanning some old family camping pictures I found a photo of my then six-year-old son Doug carefully crossing a large stream on a narrow log. His best friend was following behind. I made a page about faith, with a picture of Christ embedded into my picture indicating that Doug’s faith in Christ and his ability to cross the stream would get him safely there.
One time my daughter Alison did have to actually stage a picture to go with a spiritual theme was when she was illustrating “The Family Proclamation,” and was doing a page on the importance of prayer in our lives. No one in the family had any pictures of children praying, so she called her two sisters for help, and within hours (thanks to email and cooperative sisters) had pictures taken in Kansas and Southern California of beautiful young girls in prayer.
Capturing miracle moments and trying times are definitely things to scrapbook. There will be times in our lives that are hard, and others that can only be explained as divine intervention. What got us through those hard times? How did we see the hand of God work in our lives?
Scrapbooking lends itself to lots of different elements. Include meaningful prayers, songs, or quotes. Certain themes such as values, wonder, thankfulness, and forgiveness go beyond the boundaries of organized religion. A beautiful photograph taken in the mountains can form a background for journaling that relates the feeling of closeness to God when you are alone in a quiet mountain retreat. I once saw a page with a picture of tiny red berries and it said “Remember the little things. God does.”
I want to make a page like that with all my beautiful pictures of little things. I want to make a page with a picture of “beautiful” weeds that adorn the countryside some times of the year. I want to make a page of the astounding beautiful high Sierras when they are covered with snow. I want to thank God for all of His creations. Actually, an expression of gratitude for anything can become a spiritual scrapbook page.
People who have inspired you is another scrapbooking angle to take. Gordon B. Hinckley, the prophet of our church for the last 13 years, recently died. My husband and I were in Hawaii on the day of his funeral and watched the satellite broadcast. We felt so humbled and thankful for his life and teachings. The first scrapbooking I did when I got home was a page that will let my grandchildren, most of whom are too young to know President Hinckley, what a special influence he has been in our lives.
Most of the inspiration in our lives comes from a parent, or a teacher, or a good friend. Record what these special people mean to you.
Consider scrapping the places that you commonly associate with faith. It could be a church you’ve attended all your life, or a special place of worship. I made a meaningful page for the LDS Sacramento Temple when it was finished last year and my husband and I served as hosts at its open house.
Think about your blessings. Meditation on what’s good in our lives can be powerful. Documenting it through scrapbook pages is even more powerful. Make a list of your blessings, and then take a moment to truly appreciate and record them.
Scrapbooking our beliefs is probably the most obvious genre of all. No one label can describe everything that we are. We are made up of what we believe. Our character and our personality are defined by it. Scrapbooking these beliefs lets others know the real us. It can truly be a valuable heritage for our posterity.

Out of the Picture Frame

2008-02-20T14:05:00.000-08:00

Making part of your photo look like it’s coming out of the picture frame is a fun and easy technique that will make your page come alive! Thanks to my mom and friends, Londa and Alicia, for making some pages to help illustrate this. It really helps to have the right kind of picture, but once you do it will be amazing at how simple it is. Here are some steps to follow to do it right.

1. Place your photo on your canvas. It helps if you have a paper behind it or a colored background.

2. Select the area that you want to stick out of the frame. You can use the laso tool, magnetic laso tool works well with a photo of one color (like the wedding dress) or the quick selection tool. Set the feather to 1. Use your magnifying class to help you get a more precise selection. Here's a tip when following this procedure: When selecting the part to go outside the picture frame, choose a little more than you think you'll need. Then you'll be sure that there won't be any gaps between the outside element and your selection of the main picture.

Note: It is very helpful if you’ve got a handle on the selections tools first. Linda Sattgast has some excellent tutorials on her web site (www.scrappersguide.com), which are free if you’re premier member or $1 each if you’re not.

3. Press control+j to put the selection on its own layer.

4. Make sure you’re on your full picture layer again. Choose the marquee tool and draw a box around the part of the picture that is going to be in the frame. Get close to or right at the part you have already selected. Remember – use your space bar to help you reposition the square or oval when you’re doing it.

5. Press control+j again to put that selection on its own layer.

6. Click on the eyeball of the layer with the original picture to make it disappear. You may need to align it a little if it’s not right or redo #4. It takes a little guessing to make the selection areas match up when you’re doing step #4.

7. Click on the layer you made by using the marquee tool and go under edit>stroke outline selection and stroke the layer. Choose a color and set your pixels. Anywhere between 25-50 would be good. You could also use your own frame from a kit around it.

8. You’ll want to link (select all layers of the photo and click on the link symbol on top of the layers pallet}. You can also merge the layers under layers>merge layers. This will enable you to move it and resize it all together.

9. Try some shadows to see how they look!

Here are some other done by some of my friends:

Designer Lines

2008-02-17T18:28:00.001-08:00

I love designer lines . . . they add so much to a page. I used to do them the hard way, by choosing a hard tipped brush and selecting four points on my canvas while holding the shift key down to create straight lines. Using the grid was essential in making sure everything was lined up. It could also be done by making a text rectangle the same color as your background and stroking it with a different color. That way is more limiting though because you have to have the rectangle layer on the bottom so it won't cover your photos. Today my mom called me and told me a different and even easier way to make designer lines. I am so excited! Here's how you do it. Make a new layer and click on the marquee tool. Make a box with the marquee tool then choose edit>stroke outline selection, and choose a size (try 5 first) and a color. A designer line will be created! Press ctrl+d to deselect. You can do what you want with the lines . . . take the opacity down, move them, cut out a section of it, whatever. You can also use the elliptical marquee tool to make round or oval designer lines. So easy! Thanks mom!

Calendars

2008-02-15T07:06:00.000-08:00

Calendar templates are fun and easy to create. My friend Alicia, makes one every month (see above left) and hangs it on her fridge with magnets. She writes her family activities on it with a fine tipped permanent marker. She likes it as an 11x14 size. The birthday calendars (above right, also created by Alicia) can be layed out, three to an 11x14 canvas then cut out and held together with ribbons or a metal ring. It's the perfect gift for someone who has lots of birthdays to keep track of! These templates were purchased from Sweet Shoppe Designs and Scrap Girls.

Drop Shadows

2008-02-12T18:19:00.000-08:00

It's almost always better to use a drop shadow on photos and embellishments and titles, even if it's just a subtle one. It adds dimension to your page by making the elements "pop" off the page. You'll find your drop shadow option to the right of your Photoshop Elements screen, under artwork and effects>special effects>layer styles>drop shadows. Most often, I use the low or soft edge shadow. To get rid of the shadow after you've added it, double click on the little star icon on the layer box of the layer you added the shadow to and unclick the box titled "drop shadow".

Templates: Precise Cuts on Frame

2008-02-06T20:32:00.000-08:00

1. Drag a picture onto the frame.
2. Take the opacity down to 50%. (Can skip if precise control is not needed).
3. Resize and place over box in frame. Take opacity to approx. 25% - whatever allows you to see beneath it.
4. Using rectangular marquee (M), select exact size of the box.
5. Choose select>inverse (Ctrl+Shift+I) to select everything on the layer except the rectangle. Click delete, then Ctrl+D to deselect. Return opacity to 100%.

Templates: Blend onto Frame

2008-02-06T20:27:00.000-08:00

For each picture:
1. Choose with any selection or shape tool.
2. Set feathering to 25+.
3. Copy (Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C) and paste (Ctrl+V) into frame.
4. Move into place and resize as needed.
5. Click green arrow.

Templates: Turning JPEG page into a quick page

2008-02-06T20:24:00.001-08:00

1. Click in any square or shape with magic wand (W). Make sure "contiguous" is checked.
2. Put tolerance to "0" if plain color. Can move higher to pick up similar hues.
3. Click "delete." Transparent hole is created.
4. Move picture onto canvas, placing it in a layer beneath the paper.
5. Resize picture if necessary.

Fun Feature

2008-02-02T12:03:00.001-08:00

There's a feature in Elements 6.0 that I just love! If you go under edit>preferences>font type, there is a drop down menu that lets you choose your font preview size. It goes from small to HUGE. I like being able to see the fonts well when choosing one to use on the pages I'm creating. Check it out!

Keystroke Shortcuts

2008-02-02T09:41:00.000-08:00

Scrapbook even faster by using keystroke shortcuts in Photoshop Elements.

Rounded Corners

2008-02-01T14:19:00.000-08:00

If you want to put rounded corners on your photo, you can easily use the rounded square cookie cutter. But if you want to have more control on the radius of your curves, follow this tutorial:

Put your picture on your canvas

Choose your rounded rectangle tool (it’s with the shapes tool and rectangle tool). You can also toggle through them by pressing U

Set the radius to 60 px

Draw a colored box with the rounded rectangle tool on top of the photo. You can take the opacity down on the rectangle if you want to see exactly where you'll be rounding.

Press control + the rounded rectangle layer thumbnail to select it or use the magic wand to select it

Press shift+control+I for inverse select

Click on the photo layer and press delete

Press control+D to deselect and throw the rounded rectangle box in the trash.

If you want the corners more rounded, set the radius to a higher pixel level and vice versa for less rounded corners
Put a rounded corner matt behind your photo

Dots, Dots and More Dots

2008-01-28T09:36:00.001-08:00

Choose a round brush from the brush pallet
Choose a color for your dots
On the menu above your page, to the far right, click on the button that has the brush icon (more brush options).
If you want your dots to fade, drag the fade slider to the right. If you want the dots to be farther apart, move the spacing slider to the right. If you want them to scatter, move the scatter slider to the right.

Go back to your page and click once where you want the dots to go. Press the shift key and put another dot somewhere else. You may want to use the grid to make sure you get a perfect line.

Pictures in Text

2008-01-28T09:17:00.000-08:00

Choose a bold strong font, like Haettenschweiler, Team MT or Windsor
Choose a picture to put in the text. Ctrl+a to select and ctrl+c to copy
Go to your text layer and using the magic wand, click in the first letter (make sure “contiguous” above is selected
Create a new layer above your text layer
Make sure you have the new layer highlighted and press ctrl+shift+v to insert the picture into your selection.
Resize and move the picture around to where you want it to be
You can put more than one picture in a letter if you want.
Do the same thing with papers

To select all the letters at once with the wand so you can put just one picture or one paper in all the letters, make sure you unclick “contiguous” above.

Ten Tips on Type

2008-01-28T08:48:00.000-08:00

Ten Tips on Type:
1. Limit the number of fonts you put on a page. Four is the maximum you should ever use, but I usually stick to two.
2. Center your text less often. Centering text is often overused and is hard to read, especially when used on a long quote or paragraph.
3. Align your text with something – or “ground” your text. If your text is under a picture, try lining up the text with the left-hand or right-hand edge of the picture.
4. Centering is often used for more formal designs like on wedding announcements, birth announcements or graduations. For this reason, centering can be a great way of laying out a quote to give the words emphasis. Centering can sometimes isolate text. You don’t want your text to look like it’s floating on the page. Trying moving it to different places on your page and grounding it so it works spatially with other elements on your page.
5. Be aware of spacing between your lines and letters. Spacing between the letters is called letterspacing. Sometimes it’s a cool effect to emphasize one word by increasing the space between the letters. Consider doing this with a title.
6. Leading is the space between your lines. Big spaces between lines can make it hard to read. The eyes like a consistent flow from one line to the next. A good rule of thumb is to set your leading 1 to 2 points bigger than your font size. So if I am typing with a 12 pt. font, then my leading would be a 13 or a 14.
7. Choose the right font. Different fonts work for different purposes. A grunge font would not be good for a wedding invitation. A flowery script font may not be the best for a layout about the favorite man in your life. Highly decorative or themed fonts are not generally good for journaling because they are hard to read in large quantities and can be distracting. Some fonts look ok in all caps and some don’t. Script fonts are hard to read in all caps because of the big swirly lines.
8. Choose fonts that compliment each other. The contrast in fonts provide a nice balance in design. Use a serif font with a sans-serif font. Or a script font with a non-script font, or a thick font with a thin font. One should be more pronounced than the other. One makes a statement and the other one backs it up.
9. When adding type to your layout, it’s important to think about the layout as a whole. If you want the focus to be your picture, you’ll want to make sure your fonts, font sizes, font colors, etc. aren’t competing for the attention.
10. Sometimes we want certain phrases or words to stand out. Try italicizing any text you want to stand out. Or try making the text a different color. Another way may be to put the certain text in all caps. Try to avoid underlining or bolding and come up with a unique way to emphasize.

Digital Scrapbooking Help Line--funny but true!

2008-01-28T08:39:00.000-08:00

(found in a scrapbooking magazine)

Dear Digital Scrapbooking Help Line,

Since I discovered digital scrapbooking, I have not stopped oogling and scrapping with all the wonderful products. My husband has gone supperless, my children without shoes or bread and I have not combed my hair in days. Help! Is there a 12 step program in my area?

Desperately,
Craving More

Dear Craving More,
We have been made aware of the addictive potential of digital scrapbooking and in an effort to avoid government sanctions, have developed the following twelve step program. We hope it helps with your situation.

Step 1: Admit you have a problem

Step 2: Continue scrapbooking with your current supply of digital page kits, embellishments and brushes. If you don’t, you’ll feel guilty for having spent the money on them.

Step 3: Put the pizza man on speed dial.

Step 4: Get your children flip flops.

Step 5: Have your husband watch the movie, “Mr. Mom.”

Step 6: Join a support group for women like yourself so that you can share your problems with each other. Your LSS probably offers a Friday night meeting.

Step 7: Apologize to the people your addiction has hurt by making them a really cute card.

Step 8: Have hair cut short into a hassle-free, 5 minute style.

Step 9: Don’t stop scrapping to go to sleep and you won’t mess up your 5 minute style.

Step 10: Turn on ESPN. Your husband will forget about dinner.

Step 11: Focus on the positive. You are creating something wonderful for people you love and neglect.

Step 12: Feed the addiction. Go on the Internet whenever you can to look at digital kits and galleries. Otherwise withdrawal symptoms will set in.

Fonts

2008-01-28T06:46:00.000-08:00

To install a font, first download it from the internet and make sure it is unzipped. Then go to your start menu and choose your control folder. Open up the folder inside that says fonts. Drag your font icon into that folder and it will install it for you.

I love fonts! I search for free fonts and I buy fonts. The right font will make or break your page. If you were making a wedding announcement, you wouldn't choose varsity font. That would be too bold and square. You'd choose a beautiful script, like edwardian or scriptina. If you were making a baby announcement, you'd choose something sweet and fun, like susie's hand or olive oil or ck birthright.

The fonts above are some of my "go to" fonts.

Advantages of Digital Scrapbooking

2008-01-28T06:13:00.000-08:00

Digital Scrapbooking: Where do I start?

2008-01-26T11:12:00.000-08:00

Software needed: Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.0. There are a lot of other products on the market. Don't waste money on any of them. If you do, you will eventually end up with Elements anyway. You can buy it anywhere software is sold, including Costco, which has an amazing deal right now. It includes Linda Sattgast's tutorial cds, which we recommend. Amazon.com usually has a good price for it. You can also download it from Adobe for a free 30-day trial. When you buy and register the program, they will send you the link to a website with 10 video instructional movies that are quite good. There’s one, “Magic Extractor” that will blow your socks off.

How to Learn: http://www.scrappersguide.com Linda Sattgast teaches you Photoshop as she teaches you to digital scrapbook. For $30, you get the equivalent of a college course. In addition, the disk contains a pack of scrapbook instant pages and coordinating papers and embellishments for making a family history. Lots of stuff to get started with. A new training program for Elements 6 will soon be out. It includes art for a whole album of travel pages.

She also has another CD called Fabulous Pages and Photos, for enhancing and fixing photos in Photoshop Elements. It is also $30. Linda has a club you can join for $36 a year and you get $10 off each of these, plus a newsletter once a month with free kits to download, and videos of how to do lots of cool things. I have found it to be a very worthwhile investment.

Also, download Picasa from http://www.picasa.com/ and learn to use it. It's easy and will help you speed up the scrapbooking process. It's free.

There is a new digital scrapbooking magazine called Digital Scrapboooking. I have found it to be excellent. You can order it from http://www.digitalscrapbooking.com/ If you subscribe, you can access current and back issues of the magazine online too, which is very nice.

Selective Coloring

2008-01-26T09:55:00.001-08:00

Open the image in Elements.
In the layers palette, right-click on the image and select Duplicate Layer (or Ctrl+J). An identical layer will appear on top of your original image.
Click on the duplicate layer. Then go to Enhance and click on Convert to Black and White (or Ctrl/Cmd+Alt+B). You may want to adjust the channel settings, which determine the tones of your image using the buttons that appear in the dialog box. You may also want to change the style settings.
Once you’ve created your black-and-white layer on top of your color layer, you can begin to reveal the colors you want to show through by using the eraser tool.
Click on the eraser tool. I chose a medium soft brush and set the pixel size to about 40.
Remember you can change the size of the eraser as you work with the bracket keys...they are located right next to the letter "P" on your keyboard.

You may have to refer to your color image to remember where certain details are, so just click on the eyeball icon next to the black-and-white image if you need to.

Put a type outline over your photo

2008-01-26T08:59:00.000-08:00

Select the type tool and choose the font you want to use.
Click once on your document and type a word in a size you want your outline to be. Click on the check mark in the options bar to accept it.
Create a new layer above the type layer.
Press the control key and click once on the thumbnail of the type layer (the left part of the layer than has T on it) to get a selection outline the size of your type.
Click on your new layer.
Choose “edit > stroke (outline) selection.”
Choose a new color for your outline.
Select the width of your stroke. You may need to experiment to find the right size. For higher resolution photos, choose a pixel of 8-10.
Decide where you want the position of the stroke outline to be. Inside works well if you have letters that are rectangle.
Turn the eyeball off on your text layer.
Click ok and deselect – ctrl. D
Use the move tool to move the text into place.
To flip the type on its side, choose “image > rotate > layer 90 degrees right or left”.

Blurring one part of a photo

2008-01-26T08:58:00.001-08:00

Choose the marquee tool and make a selection on your photo that you want to stay in focus. Choose a high feather, between 100-200. For more exact selecting, try using the lasso tool.
Press Shift+Ctrl+I for inverse
Go under filters to blur to gaussian blur. Move the slider to make the rest of the picture blur more or less.
Ctrl + D to deselect.

Extra: do this same technique, but instead of the blur, try a filter.

Change your photo to black/white or sepia

2008-01-26T08:56:00.000-08:00

To change your photo to black and white, you can go to the pull down menu and choose “enhance > adjust color > remove color”, but if you want more detail by adding or subtracting colors to make your photo really pop, then choose “enhance > convert to black and white.” Click on the different options and see if that helps your photo look better.To change your photo to sepia, first make it black and white, then ctrl+U to bring up the saturation box. Click on the “colorize” box and type in 40 in the “hue” box. Play with the saturation bar to make it more to your liking. You can also go to “enhance > adjust color > color variations”, click on “midtones” and choose different less/more color variations to get the exact coloring you want.

Enhancing Your Photos

2008-01-26T08:54:00.000-08:00

Bring your photo into Photoshop Elements.
Click on the “quick fix” tab above the photo.
If your photo has red eye, click on the red eye tool on the left, then click on each eye to correct it. For a fast way, ctrl.+ R to fix it all automatically.
For a dingy, faded photo, try using the “smart fix” button under “general fixes” on the right. If you don’t like it, choose reset and manually change the lighting and coloring by using the tools to the right.
To just lighten your photos, it’s good to use ctrl + L and use the slider to get the correct lighting.
You can lighten just part of a photo by using the lasso tool and selecting only the part you want to lighten.

If your photos have specks on them, try using the filter “noise > dust and scratches” or “noise>median” to eliminate them.

Happy Valentine's Day 2008

2008-01-25T16:09:00.000-08:00

I decided to "make" our kids' valentines this year. It was so much fun doing it digitally. First, I had Ryann and Jed write their names on my WACOM tablet. Then I created the valentines on a 4x6 canvas. When I saved them to a jpeg, I made them smaller and put two on a 4x6 canvas and uploaded them to Costco to print. The smaller ones will be given out in their classes and the bigger ones will be mailed to grandparents and pen pals. I spent two hours doing the Star Wars valentine (see below) for Dave. Printed 20, one for each of the staff at Dave's office and will have the kids deliver them along with some goodies before Valentine's Day. It took a lot of time extracting, cropping, erasing and cloning to get the heads to look somewhat realistic on the star wars lego figures. I was laughing the whole time I was making them so I figure it was two hours well spent!