Why is the ALT button my new best friend?

For 2 years, I have been digiscrapping and loving it. I have figured out most of the components of PSE on my own, sometimes finding tutorials that have been a huge help. In all of that, I had heard of a clipping mask, but never really seen how to use one easily. I did some digging one night, and learned that I have been going about things the long way for a while! Here's a way to get your papers and photos into a template in just a couple easy peasy steps!

1. Open your template in Photoshop.

2. Open whatever medium you are inserting into your temp. (Photos, Papers, ETC. I will use a photo as an example here)

3. With your template selected and large on your screen, click on a photo in the Photo Bin and drag it into your template.

4. Locate the photo's layer in your Layers Palate, and relocate it to just ABOVE the layer containing the photo square you would like to use.

5. With your move tool, move the photo above the photo square in the actual template.

6. Hold down your ALT button, and hold your mouse over the line between the photo's layer, and the photo block. You should see a little symbol with two circles instead of your mouse arrow appear. Click your mouse button.

7. The photo layer will jump to the right and have an arrow pointing to the lower layer. If you look at your template, you will see the photo is now in the photo block.

8. With the Photo's layer highlighted, use your move tool to adjust the seen portion of your photo. When you are satisfied merge the layers.

Pretty easy, right! This method can be used anytime you want to insert one object into the space of another.

If you have any questions regarding this post, please leave them in the comments!

How do I Save a Double Page Layout as Single Pages?

Want to save your double page layouts as single pages for printing? This is super easy, and only takes a couple of steps!

1. When you first open a template, you should save it under a new name to preserve the template. When you have completed your layout, save it again as a PSD.

2. Open a new blank file:
File > New > Blank File
[when the Blank File box comes up - Set to 12 inches by 12 inches(or 8 inches by 8 inches), 300 DPI, RGB Color, and Transparent background.]

3. Go down to your photo bin, click on your layout, and drag it into the Blank File.

4. Your layout should appear in the blank file as a single flattened layer. It will probably be centered to the new file, so move and adjust the layer until you are satisfied.

5. Save as a jpeg.

6. If you want to save both sides of a layout, simply use your move tool to drag the layer over. Click File > Save As to save the second side as a jpeg under a new name.

7. Viola! You are finished and ready to print!

If you have any questions regarding this tutorial, please leave them in the comments!

Turning a 2 Page Template into a Single Page

How do you go about turning a two page template into 1? It's pretty easy!
(This tutorial is written based on a TPI template. It will work for other templates, but the layer names will be different)

1. Open the double page template in Photoshop.

2. Open a new blank file:
File > New > Blank File
[when the Blank File box comes up - Set to 12 inches by 12 inches(or 8 inches by 8 inches), 300 DPI, RGB Color, and Transparent background.]

3. Click back on your double page template.

4. Click on the Background layer in your Layers Palate.

5. While holding shift, Click on the "Delete This Layer" Layer in your Layer's Palate. (You should see all of the layers in your palate highlighted.

6. Select your Move Tool.

7. Make sure you can see your Blank File in your Photo Bin.

8. With all the layers selected, click and hold your left mouse button on the double page template. Drag down and let go over the Blank File in your Photo Bin.
Your template should appear in layers in the blank file. It will probably be centered in the new file, so with all the layers still selected, move the template to the desired position. If you are making an 8x8 LO, you will also have to grab the move boxes and resize the template.

9. Scrap to your heart's content!

If you have any questions regarding this post, please leave them in the comments!

Using Photoshop Templates

Here's my first tutorial! This is a click by click guide to using a Photoshop template for digital scrapbooking. I have made this an ebook for you to download, so you can have in your files anytime you need to refer back to it. Click HERE to download.