Digital Scrapbooking Intro tutorial

This is a continuation of the "Creating a Flower Bouquet Embellishment" tutorial.

You can download the accompanying .psd file here (1.2 Mb).

Once you've created duplicates of the paper scraps, select one in the layers palette to make it 'active' and Ctrl T or Edit: Free transform to rotate it.

Get used to the Transform function when scrapbooking b/c often you'll want to rotate, scale and adjust your different layers.

Here I'm selecting the larger paper scrap and rotating it with the same method. Doing this add's a nice randomness to your scrapbook backgrounds and makes them seem more natural...especially with the drop shadows. Note that the flower bouquet is here from a different tutorial.

Now I'm going to add a scrapbook-templates photoframe with image and pull it into the working document using the move tool and making sure that the proper layers are linked together.

Since I drew this image from another document and it had several layers and I don't want to make changes to it other than scaling...you can Ctrl E to merge the 3 linked layers together. Now it is one layer in the layers palette, with frame picture and all (as long as you have the layered source original, it's ok).

Now that the main element of the scrapbook is in the picture you can rotate that a little if you want or continue placing different elements.

Here I'm selecting the background layer.

Instead of having a normal white background you can create a gradient easily by choosing the gradient tool and going to the gradient menu drop down box and choosing a gradient. Whatever color is selected as your foreground and background, will show up as your first option in the upper left. You can also create your own custom gradients of any color in the rainbow which I cover in several of Discover Photoshop tutorials.

Here I'm just choosing the purple to white (foreground to background) gradient on the radial option (2nd from left) and swiping in the middle of the document to create a gradient fill on the background layer. Note that I'm using similar colors to that which is already within the document. You can see the layers palette how the gradient fill looks there.

Since purple is a little too lavish for right now I'm going to go with the more neutral background color as shown. This color is more similar to that of the larger scrap of paper and looks more 'natural'.

I've also hidden the other layers so you can see what swiping this radial gradient will look like after choosing a new foreground color. Do this yourself on your background layer to fit a common color theme you have in mind.

Now I'm bringing into visibility some other elements that I've used before such as the paper clips taught in a previous tutorial. Embellishments such as these help to complete the whole 3-d natural reality of the situation. I have come up with many of these embellishments (literally 1,000's) on scrapbook-templates so you don't have to make them all on your own.

You'll definitely want to add some journaling by creating a test layer (or several) to add your special notations onto the scrapbook page. Here I'm using an earthy tone since that is quite common among scrapbookers.

Hey look, it's a subliminal promo.

Just make sure that your text/copy/typography/journaling complements your image in what it says and the colors you use. If you actually HAVE fonts, you can go a long ways to make great scrapbooks. As of this tutorial I still have to get some good fonts.

Here's a little more advanced technique. Even if you're on a shape layer such as the paper clip, you can still use a layer mask to hide part of the image. Just make a selection of the area you want to hide

And press Alt and click layer mask to hide the selected area (otherwise select the area you want to keep first).

The Layer mask will automatically push the vector mask (the shape itself) over to the side. Click or go to the bottom of the channels palette to view the rubylith of the layer mask. You can then use the white brush to reveal or black brush to hide parts of the paper clip. The rubylith is not necessary to layer mask, it just let's you see more what you're doing.

So without erasing pixels, I've made it look like the paper clip is 'clipped' onto part of a paper scrap using this method.

That is the very basics on how to put together your own scrapbook! To find out A LOT more about digital scrapbooking with Photoshop then check out digital scrapbooking video tutorials!