dsa18 handouts lesson01 pse - amazon s3 · 2018-01-18 · table of contents 2 welcome to lesson 01...

Digital Scrapbook Academy January 2018: Lesson 01 Get Started for Elements Users

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LESSON 01: GET STARTEDFOR PSE USERS

COMPANION BOOK


Table of Contents

Table of Contents 2

Welcome to Lesson 01 for Photoshop Elements Users 3

1: A Quick Intro to the Photoshop Elements Interface 4

a. The PSE 2018 Tour 4

2: Navigate To & Unzip Your Files 7

a. Download the Class Kit 7

b. Unzip the Files 7

3: Layered Templates Intro 8

a. Open, Re-Save and Review the Layered Template 9

b. Add Your First Photo 9

c. Resize the Photo 10

d. Clip the Photo to the Photo Shape 10

e. Add Your Second Photo 10

f. Convert a Color Photo into Black & White 10

4: Complete Your First Page 11

a. Place the Background Paper 11

b. Add a 2nd Paper & Photo Matte 12

c. Add Dimensional Elements 12

d. Add a Title 13

e. Finish with Journaling 14

f. Save the Layout & Ready for Web Sharing 14



Welcome to Lesson 01 for Photoshop Elements Users

Welcome to the first page-building lesson of Digital Scrapbook Academy! Going

forward, we’ll use Adobe Photoshop® Elements® 2018 to build simple, digital

scrapbook layouts.

In this lesson, I’ll introduce you to the PSE 2018 interface and highlight the

foundational tools that you’ll commonly use to craft creatively. In addition, our focus

this month is to quickly build our first page using a digital scrapbook template. Next

month, we’ll dive deeper into the PSE interface, and customize our workspace.

We’ll accomplish the following objectives:

• Tour the PSE 2018 interface

• Download and unzip digital files

• Recognize different file types for digital scrapbooking

• Open, duplicate and save a layered template

• Review the individual components of layered templates

• Add photos and papers to a layout using clipping masks

• Convert a color photo to black and white

• Decorate a layout with fonts and embellishments

• Save the layout and ready for web sharing

Let’s get started!



1: A Quick Intro to the Photoshop Elements Interface

There’s always a feeling of mystery and apprehension when opening a new program

for the first time because we don’t quite know where everything is and what

everything does. We’ll begin with a quick tour of the Elements 2018 interface and

highlight the most important functions you’ll use as a digital scrapbooker. That way,

you can begin taming your apprehension.

a. The PSE 2018 Tour

i. Top Menu Bar: Located at the very top of the interface, the top menu

bar performs tasks organized by topic. For example, the File menu

contains commands related to file management: creating a new file,

opening an already existing file, closing a file, etc.



ii. Tools Panel: Located on the left side of the screen, the tools panel

provides access to the many tools we can play with as we scrapbook.

a. Icons: The tools are separated by way of icons, which easily help us

identify the tools available and in use.

b. Tool Tips: Hover the mouse over any icon and a tool tip will pop out.

The short description tool tip provides the name of the actual tool

and its keyboard shortcut that you can use to access it without

having to move your mouse.

c. Hidden Tools: Most tools have small arrow icons in the top right

corner of their boxes that pop up when you hover your mouse over a

group of related tools. The small arrow indicates that other hidden

tools are nested within this tool with different options.

iii. Context Sensitive Menu/Tool Options: A group of options that change

based solely on the active tool selected. For example, activating the

Move tool will change the context sensitive menu to functions you can

toggle on or off and adjust specific to the Move tool. Switching the

active tool to the Brush tool will again change the tool options to a new

set of functions along with those hidden tools related specifically to the

Brush tool.

iv. Active Image Area: The central, sizable area in the middle of the screen

commonly referred to as the workspace. All tools and panels will work

with the one, visible, active image.

v. Layers Panel: Located on the right of screen, the layers panel

automatically assigns a layer to your digital scrapbooking layout

whenever something is added. In addition, the layers panel allows you to



create new layers, blend layers, add adjustment and fill layers and other

customizations to your scrapbook page.

vi. Workspace Options & Additional Panels: Most other panels open on the

right side of the screen and replace the layers panel. More panels can be

accessed by visiting the top menu, clicking on Window, and choosing

any of the panels from the drop down menu. The second most

important panel is the History Panel, which allows you to back up or

Undo previous steps. The Photo Bin gives you a bird’s eye view of all

open photos, layouts and embellishments.



2: Navigate To & Unzip Your Files

One of the perks of digital scrapbooking is having endless, 24-hour access to digital

kits and goodies from all over the world. Nothing beats having that kind of stash

growing potential at your fingertips. You’ll need to know how to download, unzip and

extract digital files to use the on your digital scrapbook pages.

a. Download the Class Kit

i. Navigate to the DSA classroom and click on the image marked Kits &

Supplies.

ii. Click on the images named “Template 01” & “Felicity Kit”. Each kit

should automatically download to your download’s folder.

b. Unzip the Files

i. Navigate to each folder on your hard drive (the location will be different

based on your hardware and operating system).

ii. Move the zipped files to another location on your hard drive. For

example, you may want to create a new folder for DSA Class Kits and

place the zipped files within.

iii. If the files are not already unzipped and extracted, right click on the file

and select Extract All from the pop up menu.



3: Layered Templates Intro

The heart of digital scrapbooking is building scrapbook pages. In our first page-

building exercise, we’ll create a simple layout using a digital scrapbooking template

as our guide. Digital scrapbooking templates are a digital tool that combines quick

and easy design with creative flexibility. In this section, we’ll review the anatomy of a

digital template and customize are template with photos.

Supplies you’ll need:

• Felicity kit from the Lesson 01 supplies

• Template 01 from the Lesson 01 supplies

• 2 color photos



a. Open, Re-Save and Review the Layered Template

i. Open the template file in the photo editor. Go to File > Open and

navigate to DSA_template_01.psd. Click Open.

ii. Duplicate and save the layered template. Go to File > Duplicate …

iii. In the “As” box type myfirstpage and click OK.

iv. Close the original template file. Click on the original template file tab

located at the top of the workspace. Go to File > Close.

v. Expand the view of the active workspace. Go to View > Fit on Screen.

vi. Customize the Layers Panel Options. Click on the Layers Panel menu

(the four bars on the top right of the Layers Panel). Click on Panel

Options … Under Thumbnail Size, select the largest thumbnail and under

Thumbnail Contents, select Layer Bounds. Click OK.

vii. Review the layered template’s components in the Layers Panel layer by

layer.

b. Add Your First Photo

i. Select the first photo container layer. Click on the bottom photo layer

in the Layer’s Panel.

ii. Toggle the Photo Bin. Click on the Photo Bin icon in the bottom left

corner.

iii. Open your photo. Go to File > Open and navigate to the digital photo

on your hard drive Click OK.

iv. Add your photo to the page. Click on the thumbnail of the photo in the

Photo Bin and drag it into the workspace. Move the photo until it’s

positioned directly over the photo shape in the workspace.



c. Resize the Photo

i. Make targeting layers easier. With the Move tool still targeted, in the

context sensitive menu, check Auto-Select: Layer.

ii. Reduce or enlarge your photo. Click and drag the corner anchor points

of the photo until it’s slightly larger than the template’s photo shape.

iii. Confirm the resizing change. Click the green checkmark underneath the

photo or hit the Enter key.

d. Clip the Photo to the Photo Shape

i. Assign the photo to the template’s photo container layer. Go to Layer

> Create Clipping Mask (or Create Clipping Group).

ii. Fine-tune the clipping. Use the Move tool to reposition the photo if

necessary.

iii. Link the photos and the shape layer together in the Layers Panel. Hold

down the Shift key and select both the photo container layer and the

photo. Click on the Link Layers icon to the right of one layer.

e. Add Your Second Photo

i. Continue to add photos to your layout. Target the second photo

container layer in the Layers Panel. Follow steps b.iiI through d.iii to add

your second photo.

f. Convert a Color Photo into Black & White

i. Target one of the photo layers in the Layers Panel.

ii. Choose the correct enhancement. Go to Enhance > Convert to Black

and White. Choose a style that compliments your photo and click OK.



4: Complete Your First Page

In this section, we’ll complete our page by adding paper and tag decorations and

finishing our page with title and journaling. We’ll wrap up by saving our first page and

preparing it for sharing on the internet.

a. Place the Background Paper

i. Select the right layer. Click on the layer named background in the

Layers Panel.

ii. Open a background paper. Go to File > Open and choose a paper from

the class kit. Click Open.

iii. Add the paper to your layout. Toggle the Photo Bin. Click and drag the

paper into the layout’s workspace. Reposition the paper if necessary

using the Move tool.



b. Add a 2nd Paper & Photo Matte

i. Select the right layer. Click on the layer named paper in the Layers

Panel.

ii. Open a second paper. Go to File > Open and choose a paper from the

class kit. Click Open.

iii. Add the paper to your layout. Toggle the Photo Bin. Click and drag the



iv. Assign the paper to the template’s paper container. Go to Layer >

Create Clipping Mask.

v. Select the right layer. Click on the layer named photo matte in the

Layers Panel.

vi. Open a third paper. Go to File > Open and choose a paper from the

class kit. Click Open.

vii. Add the paper to your layout. Toggle the Photo Bin. Click and drag the



viii.Assign the paper to the template’s photo matte container. Go to Layer

> Create Clipping Mask.

c. Add Dimensional Elements

i. Open 4 tags from the class kit. Go to File > Open and choose four

different embellishment tags. Click Open.

ii. Add the tags to your layout. Toggle the Photo Bin. Click and drag one

tag at a time onto the workspace.

iii. Close each tag file. Go to File > Close.



iv. Reposition the tags over the tag shapes in the workspace. Select the

Move tool and click and drag each tag over a tag shape.

v. Clean up the Layers Panel. Reposition the tags over the layers named

tag in the Layers Panel.

vi. Add the template tag’s stylings to the new tags. Right click the layer

named tag 1 and select Copy Layer Style. Right click one of the newly

added tags and select Paste Layer Style.

vii. Remove the template tags from the layout. Select the layer named tag

1 and press the Delete key.

viii.Add stylings to all new tags. Right click another of the newly added

tags and select Paste Layer Style. Continue to Paste Layer Style to all

newly added tags.

ix. Remove the remaining template tags from the layout. Select each

template tag layer and press the Delete key.

d. Add a Title

i. Select the right layer. Select the layer named title in the Layers Panel.

ii. Select the right tool. Select the Horizontal Type Tool in the Tools Panel

and click on the word “Title” in the workspace.

iii. Replace the text and fine-tune the look. Type a new word and delete

the old letters. Click the Color block within the context-sensitive menu

and then click on the color globe on the bottom right of the dialogue

box. Sample a color from the layout that matches a paper in the layout.

Note: You can sample colors in the layout by moving your mouse over

the active space once the Color Picker opens. Click OK.

iv. Finalize the change. Click on the checkmark at the bottom of the text.



v. Select the right tool. Select the Horizontal Type Tool in the Tools Panel

and click on the word “Here” in the workspace.

vi. Replace the text and fine-tune the look. Type a new word and delete

the old letters. Click the Color block within the context-sensitive menu

and then click on the color globe on the bottom right of the dialogue

box. Sample a color from the layout that matches a paper in the layout.

vii. Finalize the change. Click on the checkmark at the bottom of the text.

viii.Optional: Change the font of the title layers using the context-sensitive

menu of the Horizontal Type Tool.

e. Finish with Journaling

i. Select the right layer. Click the on the layer named journaling in the

Layers Panel.

ii. Replace the text in the block. Click and drag the mouse along the text

in the journaling block. Press the Delete key. With the journaling block

still selected, type your new journaling. Click on the checkmark at the

bottom of the journaling.

f. Save the Layout & Ready for Web Sharing

i. Re-save your file. Go to File > Save. Click Save.

ii. Prepare your file for saving for the web. Flatten all of the layers. Go to

Layer > Flatten Image.

iii. Resize the image for web. Go to Image > Image Size. Change the width

and height to 600 and the resolution to 72 ppi. Click OK.

iv. Save the changes. Go to File > Save As. Add _WEB to the filename and

change the format to JPEG. Click OK.


dsa18 handouts lesson01 pse - amazon s3 · 2018-01-18 · table of contents 2 welcome to lesson 01...

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