Guiding Me.... er... you! :)

HI Everyone!  I'm had a chance to stop in on Liz's (Scrapping With Liz) blog during my guestie month of May!  After May, i got to stay on as a perm member!  So excited!  I decided to share some info about guides and why I use them in my layouts.

Guides are a easy and smart way to be able to line up items on your scrapbook layouts.  They are non-prinatble, and available in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.  In the Elements version, they are only available as presets. Whether you are working on a row of flowers, a title or keeping inside of the guides, they are a great tool to use.

For my example below, I used Liz's Blocked Templates and Jennifer Labre Designs, Color Me Happy Kit.  I am slowly working on my P52 album, and this is my week 4 double spread.

My own personal use of guides is for every layout, and help me to get my pages ready for printing - from before the page is created or the first paper placed! I know that when printing pages, approx 1/4 of the edge will be cropped on my pages.  So, since I create double layouts, I've created a template document with guides placed at a 1/2 inch interval at every edge of my page.  Here is what it looks like as I am creating:

See the blue lines on my pages... I try to keep everything inside of those lines that is important.  My journaling is just on the edge, but should be fine, since my guides are set at 1/2 inch.

By using guides, I can get my pages ready for an album upload right away!  I save a web version, and I also save an album version right after I've completed the page!  Saves me more time later on!

So, here is how you can add a guide to your layout. Click View > New Guide on the top menu bar.

Next, you can choose where you want your guide placed on your document.  Choose Horizontal or Vertical as well as the location using inches within your document. My guides are vertically set at  .5, 11.5, 12.5, and 23.5 for my double layouts. Horizontally, my guides are .5, and 11.5. 

Click on OK... and you are done!!!

Another way to add guides is also just as easy.  If you have the Move Tool selected, as well as enabling the Rulers and Snap items, you can just drag a guide from the ruler to the spot you need one at.  Just click and drag... easy.  

 One last tip... If you work with guides and you are zoomed in close to your document, but need to see the whole document in your window, just double click on the Hand Tool. Instant  view of your whole document. 

Hope you've enjoyed this!  I'd love to know what you think too!  :)

Originally created for Liz on her Blog:  Scrapping with Liz: Here!

Have a great day, and thanks for visiting!

Jenn (jk703/The Typative Scrapper)

Gradients... and a fun use!

Hi Everyone! I'm here to share a fun idea to use on photos, and even background papers.

Gradients That Fade

Start a New Document, by Right Clicking and Duplicating your photo in a New or Untitled file. Save. You will have the original if you need it by doing this step.

Within the Layers Palette, click on the "Mask" icon at the bottom of the palette.

This will add a layer mask, which you can see next to your photo. This fade is essentially a white/black fade, a transparent mask for your photo. The white in the mask will allow the picture to show through, while black will hide parts of the the picture. The middle grey areas will affect how transparent your picture will be.
Go to the Toolbars, and use the Gradient Tool.

In the top toolbar, you will also see the options that you can change for your mask. How it looks, the colors and the transparency.Next, you will click on your layer mask in the Layers Palette, so you know you are going to create your mask in the correct location.

Now, click on the bottom of your picture in the middle and hold your mouse. Slowly, drag the cursor upward, diagonal, or whichever way you want the fade to show. Stop where you want the fade to end and let the mouse button go. A faded layer mask - complete.

First, here is my original picture:

For this example, I used the faint grey gradient in the lower right corner. There is a slight darkness that comes from the lower left corner. I was adding a little more shadow to make the sunrise really pop!

In the following example, I used one of the colored ones, specifically the yellow into orange gradient. I also adjusted the opacity so it wasn't so bright.

It added a fun color to my photo and really makes the colors of the sunrise stand out.  A simple but fun addition to my photo.  


This is what my layers palette looks like:

Here are one last interesting examples of the gradients and playing with the different features! All from the same picture!  

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial and we would love to see what you do with your photos!  Happy Friday!

Thanks for visiting!

Jenn (jk703/The Typative Scrapper)