Build-Your-Own-TEMPLATE!

A few weeks back I asked for some tutorial topic suggestions and there were some really good ones! Steph brought up the idea of building templates from your favourite (unique!) layouts, and it was something I’d given some thought to already so it was a slam-dunk that I’d take it to the next step. The layout I created and based the save-a-cluster tutorial on last week was purposefully 100% designed in my own head with both the cluster tut and this template-creation tut too. Working Smart, Not Hard, I am.

This is the layout I’m talking about. The kit I used is Aimee Harrison‘s Winter Blush. When I create a layout I always Save As a PSD file in case I need to make some adjustments. That’s also a necessary step for turning a layout into a template.

I build layouts from the bottom up, just as I would if I was using paper and glue rather than digital supplies. That’s how I’m going to build the template too. I turned the layers’ Visibility off for clarity but if you choose not to do that, no problem!

This background layer reads to Elements like it’s completely flat, so using the Paint Bucket to fill it with a solid gray worked out.

To make it easier on the eye to distinguish between paper layers, I chose a lighter gray for the second paper layer.

Wait. What?? Oh, the grungy paper doesn’t Fill completely and cleanly with the Paint Bucket. That could be a big issue later when I go to use the template. Clipping a paper to this could look really awful!

I’m going to take you on a little detour for a second. When I was experimenting with Filling layers and Merging them to simplify things, I discovered that once the layers are Merged, the Shadow Style on the base layer becomes embedded in the image but isn’t adjustable. Adding a Shadow Style to that makes for VERY dark and odd-looking shadows. So I experimented some more and came up with this. Before I Fill the layer to create a place-holder, I Right-click on the layer and choose Copy Layer Style. Then I Right-click on the layer again and choose Clear Layer Style. That removes the Style from the layer, but puts it in safe-keeping for later.

To achieve a solid Fill on this paper, I’m going to use the Layer>New Fill Layer>Solid Color command. Each of the place-holder layers will be created the same way. (You’ll get lots of practice, and it’ll be almost automatic by the time you’re done!)

This command prompt opens up; make sure Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask is ticked. That tells Elements to Fill ONLY what’s on the layer under it. You can Name the layer with the type of object you’re creating a place-holder for right here. Just delete that Color Fill 1 and type in your object. (Pardon the typo on the screenshot. Sleep is in short supply here at the moment.)

Here’s what happens when you’ve clicked OK. The Color Picker opens and the image on the workspace shows a preview of the end result. See how it’s now a Clipped layer above the patterned paper?

The utility of your template will be greatly enhanced by Selecting both the base layer and the Fill layer then Merging them. Click>SHIFT>Click on the layers then Right-click and choose Merge Layers. The keyboard shortcut is CTRL/CMD>E.

Time to add back the Shadow Style. Right-click on the layer and choose Paste Layer Style.

Now let’s do some BRADS. The process for each layer will be the same: Copy Layer Style, Clear Layer Style, Layer>New Fill Layer>Solid Color, Merge Layers, Paste Layer Style.

Merge the layers and now you’ve got a BRAD place-holder. CTRL/CMD>E

Don’t forget to Paste the Layer Style back onto the place-holder.

Here’s where we get into the real Work Smart Not Hard groove. When you have multiple identical elements on your layout, don’t make extra work for yourself. You’ve already done the work, now just make Copies! Either Right-click on the layer and choose Duplicate Layer or CTRL/CMD>J. When the Command prompt opens, remove the “copy” part of the name and click OK.

For each of the identical elements, make a Copy and move it into place. Once you’ve got them into position you can Delete the original layers. Your place-holders are on the job.

But wait! Don’t make more work for the second grouping of brads. Select all three BRAD layers and Duplicate them!!

Then move the place-holder versions into position.

You can also Delete multiple layers in a single step. Select them all, then Right-click>Delete Layers or simply click the Delete key.

Here’s my finished template, with a recap of all the steps to create the place-holder layers.

Now to Save it! You can Save As either a PSD or a TIFF, whichever is your preference. Your Layers and Layer Styles will be preserved with either format for use again whenever you want.

Figure out where you’re going to keep it, give it a unique name and choose your format. All done!

This is only one way of creating a template. To me it seems the easiest. Another way would be to use the Custom Shapes tool and replace each element on the layout with one that represents it. I may try that method and see if there are efficiencies. If I do, I’ll let you know!

Next week I’ll be doing a Challenge Spotlight. Did you see the new ones? How accommodating that we’ve been given so many more options!!

PDF Version: https://bit.ly/3txC2Bx

How Do I Build a Reusable Cluster?

Happy New Year, GingerScrappers! The holidays were quiet at our house, but exhausting anyway. In a few days it’ll be time to put all the decorations away and turn to figuring out what life will look like this year. Sort of depressing, isn’t it? Thankfully we have our digi-scrapping hobby to distract from all that!

This week’s tutorial was inspired by a question from Rachel M. She wanted to know how to create a cluster that she could save and reuse on other layouts – for themed albums, I’m guessing – with the separate layers preserved. She’d experimented but just couldn’t make it work. So I took over the experimenting and came up with a way to do it. Why keep the layers separated though? So the clusters can be modified a little, of course! To keep them from looking too contrived, to maybe substitute some of the elements, to rotate and manipulate easily while keeping the overall look consistent. Now, I’m going to climb up on the soapbox for a second before we go on… I strongly suggest you create your own unique clusters if you plan to do this. If you’re using a template created by someone else, there’s really no need to save a cluster, right? Because the original creator has already saved it… O-o-okay. Onward and upward.

This image is of the cluster I created for Magical Scraps Galore‘s January Surprise Challenge. I used Aimee Harrison‘s Winter Freeze kit (no longer available) and a photo from Pixabay for my layout. The cluster is simple, but has several layers so I figured it would be a good one for demonstrating this technique. The layers are all together in the Layers Panel to make the next step easier. As you might have noticed, I’ve used Shadow Layer Styles rather than custom shadows. I know, how unlike me! But for the cluster to be really reusable, custom shadows would need to be added to individual layers once the layout is completed. The reason for this will become a bit more clear as we work through the tutorial.

I Selected all the element layers by clicking on the top layer of the cluster, holding down the SHIFT key and clicking on the bottom layer. It works the other way too, clicking on the bottom layer, SHIFT>clicking on the top. You do what works for you!

Next, I right-clicked on a random layer. (With them all Selected, what happens to one happens to all.) Then I chose Duplicate Layers from the drop-down menu.

PSE will need you to tell it where you want those Duplicated Layers to go. If you just want to add them to the canvas you’re already working on (named Untitled-1 here), all you need to do is click OK. But for this exercise, I chose New.

PSE will create a whole new canvas and to help keep track of it, I recommend giving it a name. I went the lazy route and just called it Cluster, but if this was a cluster I planned to use over and over again, I’d give it a more descriptive name, maybe with the layout name, the kit name, the theme or a combo of all of them.

The new canvas is the same dimensions as the original one, 12×12. All the individual layers are there, all the Shadow Styles are there. To make it a little less cumbersome, I Cropped it down to a more manageable size, with a little border of white space around it for future tweaking.

Now, the reusing part isn’t quite as straight-forward. If I just drag-and-drop the layered cluster from the Photo Bin onto my layout, it comes up as a single, Merged/Flattened layer. That might be okay, but what if I decide I want to Rotate it? The Shadow Styles aren’t going to adapt to the new position! And that might be okay, unless your eye sees the inconsistency and it drives your OCD crazy. Oops, projecting!

When I Open the cluster while it’s in the Photo Bin, all the layers and Styles are still there. How can I harness that so that I can have my cluster and tweak it too?

Answer? Do the tweaking right there on the layered cluster canvas! Here I’ve used the Rotate command to Flip the cluster Horizontally, then I Filled the word strip with white and oh yeah. I rearranged things a little.

This step can be done before you play with things, rather than after like I’ve done. But the tweakability is there either way. The goal is to be able to use the LAYERED cluster again, so it will need to be Saved As a layered cluster – a Photoshop document, so make sure it’ll preserve the Layers and Color Profile. You could alternatively Save As a TIFF to save some hard drive space. Go with whichever format you’re more comfortable with.

Here I’ve Saved the PSD to the folder for my Challenge layout. If it was going to be used again and again, I might put it into the kit folder so it would be right there to mix and mingle.

Now, how is it reusable once it’s been Saved? As I said, just drag-and-drop isn’t going to work.

I could decide how I want the cluster to be oriented on the layout, adjust all the shadows to sync with the rest of the layout and then drag-and-drop. But that’s a lot of work and might need a bunch of Undo and Redo [CTRL/CMD>X and CTRL/CMD>Y]. Surely there’s a better way… one that’ll keep the layers loose. Just build the layout behind it!

But to do that I’ll need to Image>Resize>Canvas [CTRL/CMD>ALT>C] so there’s room.

I used the default center as my Anchor point but it isn’t essential. What does matter is making the Canvas the size you want your finished layout to be. I work with a transparent background, so I want that preserved too.

Bingo! All the layers are there, I have room to add papers, photos and other elements, and the canvas is the correct size to become a layout!

I just popped a paper behind the cluster layers to show you how it works. I hope this is what Rachel had in mind when she asked her question…

Next Tuesday I’m going to use this same layout as my example. Can you guess what the topic will be?

PDF Version : https://bit.ly/3EVpJRJ

Clearly Complete – Adding Some Background

Whew… we’re in the 2021 home stretch now! Twenty-three more days and it’ll be over. This last week has been a whirlwind for me! Last Tuesday my daughter and I spent 5 hours – the first 90 minutes in torrential rain! – in a car so we could spend 3 hours with my parents on the day before their 65th anniversary. On the first we set a temperature record, 63°F. Now we have 6 inches of snow! And later today I see the ophthalmologist to find out when he can remove my cataracts. [I thought the dramatic changes in my vision were related to having had COVID in the spring. Surprise!] It’s a good thing I already had a lot of the work done for this tutorial! Today I’m going to show how I added some “wallpaper” in the background behind my glass mixing bowl and made it look realistic-ish. We’ll pick up right where we ended last week.

It was a challenge to find the right paper for this part. I tried a few and didn’t like the results, so let me offer some tips on selecting. Pick a paper with some pattern, but not too small or large. Choose something with colour, but not too light or dark. Texture is good, but only to a point. I think I might try to fake some subway tiles later and see how that goes… The paper I liked best was from ADB Designs‘ Antiques Emporium. It kind of reminds me of my grandmother’s kitchen. The way I imagine it, not how it really was – she had no running water! As you can see, the paper is behind everything except the original bowl layer.

I was really glad I hadn’t Deleted the original bowl layer when I started figuring out how to make this work, because it DOESN’T work using the glass version of the bowl at all. With the paper layer active, I Selected the edges of the bowl by CTRL/CMD>clicking on the Layer Thumbnail (that little picture of the bowl in the Layers Panel).

Light changes as it passes through glass. This step adds that effect. Enhance>Adjust Lighting>Brightness/Contrast.

When the Tool Options menu opens, adjust the Brightness by INcreasing it to 15, and DEcrease the Contrast to -5.

Now, it could be my eyes, but when I was looking at real curved glass with a pattern behind it as I figured this out, the glass created a slight blur on the paper. So Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. But just a little bit, 1.7 pixels‘ worth. Keep the edges of the original bowl Selected until I tell you to Deselect it!

It looks okay, but there are still a few things it needs. I added a new blank Layer immediately above the paper. Click on the sheet-of-paper icon to the upper left of the Layers Panel.

Next, I Filled the outline of the bowl on that blank Layer with black using the Paint Bucket tool. Looks awful, but it’ll be great! Now you can Select>Deselect the original bowl outline (CTRL/CMD>D).

Don’t worry about that black, and don’t be intimidated by this step either. It’s going to work beautifully, I promise! The black is going to become a shadow, and bowls cast very complex shadows. To make it work, Image>Transform>Distort.

The best thing about Distort is that you can adjust the image in a single dimension, or multiple dimensions, depending on what your goal is. I know the light is coming from the top right part of the bowl because of where that big shiny spot is. For the shadow effect I arrived at through lots of trial-and-error, discarded screenshots and Undos, what worked best was just to pull the lower left “handle” straight out as shown. The image comes out from behind the bowl. I clicked the checkmark.

Then I Rotated the black image to the left, keeping the corners of the bowl and shadow layers aligned. And yes, it looks like it’s just a mess.

But not for long! Remember, the outline of the original bowl is still Selected. So now I’m going to Cut out the black that sits inside the outline. Edit>Cut or CTRL/CMD>X.

That wedge of black has to go too. I used the Rectangle Marquee tool to draw a box around it.

And again, Edit>Cut (CTRL/CMD>X).

Now to soften it up. Clear glass will never cast a harsh shadow. Ever. Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur.

This shadow needs a LOT of softening, so I pushed the Blur all the way to 24.9 pixels. See how it spreads behind the glass a bit? Exactly what I wanted to see.

I know I’ve mentioned why I change the Blend Mode on my shadows to Linear Burn, but I think it bears repeating. The Normal Blend Mode remains opaque and doesn’t allow any of the colour under it to show through. Linear Burn will let both the colour and the texture be visible.

Last step for this shadow is to decrease the Opacity down to about 18%. It’s subtle, but quite nice!

All that’s left is to add a smidge of shadow behind the “dough”. Remember the steps for custom shadows?

1- Select the edges of the object by CTRL/CMD>Clicking on the object’s Layer Thumbnail.

2- Add a blank layer underneath the object. CTRL/CMD>Click the sheet-of-paper icon if you have the object’s layer active.

3- Fill the Selection from Step 1 on the new blank layer with your shadow colour using the Paint Bucket Tool.

4- Select>Deselect (CTRL/CMD>D) the object’s outline and nudge the filled layer so that the light source conforms to the rest of the layout.

5- Smudge the shadow layer to change the contours a bit, making the shadow look more natural. This is based on how the light would penetrate to the background. Thick, flat things will be more snugly connected to the background and the shadows here will be sharper and closer. Thin, curved things might be farther away from whatever is behind them and the shadow would be less distinct.

6- Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur the shadow layer to the degree the object will block passage of the light.

7- Change the Blend Mode to Linear Burn.

8- Decrease the Opacity of the shadow layer until it looks “right” and you’re done!

I really enjoy trying to make two-dimensional images look real, and think it’s worth the effort. My next attempt might be a snow globe. If you choose to give this a try, don’t feel like you have to use exactly the same settings and what-have-you that I’ve used. Play a little so that when you’re finished, it looks good to YOU! Because you’re the only one who gets to have an opinion.

Anybody have a great idea for next week’s topic? Drop a comment below and I’ll see what I can do.

PDF Version: https://bit.ly/3pYuqon

Can I Make Something Crystal Clear? (As Glass)

Omigosh. November is over at midnight! For me, December will be even busier than November – and Canada doesn’t have Thanksgiving in November! – has been, and I wouldn’t have thought that possible. But here we are…

Last week I signed off with a promise to show you something really cool, and I hope you’ll be suitably impressed. It all started with a message from Carol (gnana96): “Hi Jan, I have another tutorial suggestion for you. Several years ago I started scrapping family recipes for my kids and adult grandchildren. The first year they got an album and several recipes and every year I give them 7 to 10 more to add to their collection.
This year one of the templates I used was from The Cherry On Top What’s Cookin, template 1. The template has a mixer and a bowl which I thought would be so cute for my 7 minute frosting. The bowl on the template is white and I thought it would be cute to make it a glass bowl so I applied one of Karen Schulz (Snickerdoodle) glass styles to the bowl and my sister Ellen and I both decided that it just didn’t look right so I ended up attaching a patterned paper to the bowl. (The layout was for the bingo challenge and I posted it as # 13)
I’m not sure if I chose the wrong glass style or if my idea itself was flawed. I know Ellen has tried to apply glass styles to something besides a bowl and she didn’t think it worked either so I am hoping you can help us out.
How do we decide which style to apply and what needs to be done to make it look right. How do we make a glass bowl look like a glass bowl and not like a glossy part of the wall.
Thanks
Carol”

Well, didn’t I have to right away start playing with those glass styles (after I ran to the store and bought them – how did I not have them in my stash??). Today’s tutorial will look at making a solid opaque object transparent and three-dimensional, and next week I’ll show you how to create a realistic look against some “wallpaper”. [<whispers> I had some issues with Elements and had to reset all my preferences, then it was still giving me a hard time. That’s why the text is a little wonky on the screenshots.] Let’s go!

I started out with this bowl from Wimpychompers‘ Baking Traditions (retired). She has a mixer in the kit too, with a metal bowl; I opted to use this one but the technique will absolutely work on pretty much anything. The only alteration I made to the bowl was to make it taller.

For this technique to work it goes best on a Copy of the object, so right-click>Duplicate Layer>OK or CTRL/CMD>J gets that done.

I have several clear glass bowls and the upper edges of them are all thicker than the rest of the bowl, so I decided to make my digital glass bowl the same. I’m going to give that top band a bit more heft later. For right now, I activated the Rectangle Marquee Tool.

Working with the Copy layer, Select the top band using the Rectangle Marquee Tool as shown.

Now we want to make a Copy of JUST THE BAND. To do that you can click Edit>Copy or CTRL/CMD>C.

The band needs a layer of its own, so add a blank layer above the two bowl layers by clicking on the sheet of paper icon.

Now Paste the Copy of the band onto that new layer: Edit>Paste or CTRL/CMD>V.

For right now, let’s turn the Visibility for the band off. It won’t go anywhere.

I was steam-rollering through the technique when it occurred to me that I probably haven’t covered how to load Styles. How remiss of me!! If you’re not a pro at loading Styles, follow along. First, make sure you know where the .ASL file containing the Styles lives on your computer. Click on the Styles button at the bottom right of the Layers Panel. It looks like a deck of cards. When the Styles menu opens, click on the icon that looks like a stack of paper, at the top right of the Layers Panel, up there underneath the Share button. That opens the settings menu for the Styles tool. Click on Load Styles. Then when the pop-up opens, find your .ASL file in your folders and double-click on it. There! The Styles will show up in the dropdown menu now. I rename all my .ASL files for easier recognition, so on my list the glass Styles come up as Glass Karen Schulz. (I’ve linked to the store so you can find them quickly!)

Karen hasn’t used a descriptive name for the Styles, just numbers. The one you want to use is the one I’ve outlined.

In this screenshot, both bowl layers are Visible. Can you see the rounded Bevel and the shine?

Here I’ve turned the original bowl and top band layers’ Visibility off. All that’s left is the shiny clear glass! But it doesn’t look much like a bowl. So let’s play with the settings! Double-click on the fx icon for the bowl’s Copy layer where the Style has been applied. You’ll see this pop-up menu with the default settings for this Style.

It took me some fiddling to get this right. Don’t be afraid to experiment! I increased the Opacity for the Inner Glow to 75% and the Bevel all the way to 250 pixels. Now it looks round!

Next, let’s apply a different Style to the band layer.

Now, we’ll tweak the fx as before, with these settings.

With the Visibility for all layers turned on, this is how the bowl would look as a glossy ceramic. The original bowl layer isn’t needed any more for the technique, but I’m not going to Delete it yet.

Let’s put some cookie dough in the bowl! I turned the bowl Copy layer and band off for this part, leaving just the original bowl visible. This cloud from Lindsay Jane‘s Sunny Days Ahead (retired) looks a bit like dough if you squint. But how can I make it fit into the bowl?

Make sure the cloud is completely covering the bottom of the bowl. Select the edges of the bowl by CTRL/CMD>clicking on the bowl’s layer thumbnail (the little picture in the Layers Panel) with the cloud layer active.

Now it’s time to Invert the Selection by clicking Select>Inverse or CTRL/CMD>SHIFT>I.

To remove the bits of the cloud hanging over the edges of the bowl, Edit>Cut or CTRL/CMD>X and it’ll disappear.

I nudged the “dough” up a bit to create the illusion of glass walls. You’ll see what I’m talking about in a minute. But before we get there, I want to make my “dough” look like it was made with butter and not shortening, so I’ll need to make a Copy of the “dough” layer. Right-click>Duplicate Layer>OK or CTRL/CMD>J.

I really tried to change the colour on this “dough” using the quick-and-easy Paint Bucket, but it looked HORRIBLE. So instead, let’s add a Layer>New Fill Layer>Solid Color.

Check that box Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask.

Then pick a colour that looks like “dough”. Or whatever colour you like!

Next, Merge the Fill Layer with the Copy cloud layer.

To preserve the lumpiness of the “dough” change the Blend Mode to Linear Burn.

Et voilà! Cookie dough in a glass mixing bowl!!

Carol, I hope this is what you were expecting. Happy birthday!

PDF VERSION : https://bit.ly/3FXy1cw

Pleated Paper? Maybe…

The other day I got a private message from Ginger, whose working title is Dandelion Dust Designs. “I’ve had some customers and CT members fall in love with this LO in the GS Gallery and would love a tutorial on how to do that amazing layered/shadow work on the left side of the page, if and when you have time as a future tutorial! Thank you!!” The layout she’s talking about is this one, wvsandy‘s Use It All challenge layout, and it’s FABULOUS! (I’ve linked it there so you can visit the Gallery and leave her some love.)

What follows is part of a literal scraplift of wvsandy‘s layout. As I was putting it together, I learned a few things about how layers work that I hadn’t known before, and so the screenshots are a bit muddled. I’ve tried to work around that to give you the most concise instructions and fewest extra steps that I can. Please tell me if you try this and come up with a better method! First off, I started with a blank 12×12 canvas on my workspace. (Obviously, you can make it whatever size you want. I just like 12×12!)

For best results this technique wants a light-coloured neutral background – otherwise the shadows that make it so awesome will be diminished. I’m using Jumpstart Designs‘ Good Friends Gather Here for my layout. (Sheri gave me a shout-out in her newsletter! Did you see it?)

Essentially, I’m creating a template for the paper strips/pleats in these next few steps. Looking at the inspiration layout, the paper strips along the left of the page don’t reach to the centre and there are 12 of them. So using the Custom Shape Tool, with the Rectangle shape selected, I set a Fixed Size of 5 inches wide, 1 inch tall for my “cookie cutter”. The foreground colour isn’t important for this but should be something that contrasts with the background. This Tool creates a “Smart Object” which can’t be altered in its original form and must be Simplified. In later versions of Elements, there’s a Simplify button right there in the Tool Options panel. If your version doesn’t have that, right-click on the layer and choose Simplify Layer from the dropdown menu.

Next step is to make a bunch of Copies of that paper strip template. The quickest and easiest way to do that is to click CTRL/CMD>J as many times as you need copies. Or you can right-click, Duplicate Layer>Ok for each copy.

All the Copies will be stacked up on top of the original paper strip and will need to be moved up or down the stack to create the column of strips.

Because I screenshot as I work my way through the techniques I show you, if I discover I’ve taken the LONG way to get where I’m going, the images won’t sync well with the text. And of course, I figured out after I’d gotten more than halfway through that I wasn’t taking the most sensible route to my destination. (GPS anyone?) Please read the text on the images and the text for each step to see where I’ve messed up. (It’ll be in red here…) I’m going to show you how to quickly and easily Align the edges of all those strips and Distribute them the length of the page. For the shadowing to work best, the strip layer at the BOTTOM of the layer stack goes to the TOP corner of the page. So move that layer into place. 

Now, rather than what the image shows, you’ll move the strip at the TOP of the stack to the BOTTOM corner of the page. The rest of the strips will need to be moved up and down the stack later, but for now they can stay piled on top of each other.

To Align all the left edges of the strips with the left edge of the page, first we have to Select all the pertinent layers. Click on either the top or the bottom layer then hold down the SHIFT key and click on the one at the other end of the pile.

With the Move Tool active, look for the Tool Options at the lower left of the workspace. Click on the Align Left button and Elements will move all the strips so their left edges are aligned. With all the layers still Selected, click on Distribute Center as shown. Elements will move each strip so they’re evenly spaced down the page. If there’s a slight gap in the column, it could be that 3600 pixels isn’t exactly 12 inches. Just close the gap.

Then you can start Clipping papers to your strip templates. I’ll do three strips from each of four papers for mine, but you do you! Drag a paper on top of the first paper strip layer then right-click and choose Create Clipping Mask or use the keyboard shortcut CTRL/CMD>G for Elements versions 13 and lower, CTRL/CMD>ALT>G for versions more recent. You’ll need to move the various layers up or down the Layers Panel to have them in the correct order.  You can drag them up or down or use the CTRL/CMD>[ key to move down, CTRL/CMD>] to move up.

You can shift each paper layer around while it’s just Clipped to the strip template so that the results are pleasing to your eye.

Before going any further, make one more Copy of the original paper strip template. It’s going to be the basis for the custom shadow layers we’ll be creating next.

Some template designers use black for shadows, some designers like a warmer, softer brown colour. Click on the foreground colour and make your choice.

The quickest way to change the colour of the shadow layer strip is to CTRL/CMD>click inside the Layer Thumbnail and use the Paint Bucket. Just click anywhere on the canvas. Or you can click Layer>New Fill Layer>Solid Color>Use Previous Layer as Clipping Mask.

Before going on, to minimize confusion I suggest Merging each paper to its strip template. Select both layers by CTRL/CMD>clicking on each layer (not the thumbnail though!) then right-click and choose Merge Layers, or simply click CTRL/CMD>E.

Now Move that shadow layer so that it’s underneath the layer at the top corner of the page.

To turn a black rectangle into a realistic shadow, it needs to peek out from under the paper and give the impression there’s space between the paper and whatever is underneath it. You can nudge the shadow layer down and to the right using your arrow keys, but to get a truly interesting shadow, let’s go a bit further. Image>Transform>Distort.

Grab the “handle” at the lower right corner of the shadow layer and click>drag it a bit to the right and down. Don’t go too far! If you did that in the default Move Tool Options, and that Constrain Proportions box is ticked, the shape of the strip won’t be changed, it’ll just be bigger…

To further refine the shadow, let’s play with the Smudge Tool! The icon is a gloved finger. This tool is really versatile, but it’s easy to overdo it and sometimes the preview of it lags a bit behind its action. So a gentle touch is essential. I like to use a large diameter brush for creating a bit of a curve along an edge, then a much smaller one to pull a corner or tip out and over. Think of it like moving a pile of flour on the counter. If you use a glass and push it, you’ll get a curve. If you use a knife to pull it, you’ll get a tail. That’s how this tool works.

So now we have a very sharp, harsh shadow. Ew. Let’s hit it with a Filter! Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur.

The slider adjusts the degree of blur applied to the image.

Achieving realistic shadows also requires a change to the Blend Mode. Why? Well, you want to be able to see what’s underneath the shadow, but you still want it to have good saturation. Leaving it “Normal” means it’s opaque and completely conceals what’s below. Linear Burn and Color Burn both give the layer transparency so pick the one you like.

But it’s still harsh. So I’m going to lower the Opacity of the layer to 45%.

See how the edge of the paper layer below the shadow is visible? That’s the goal!

Now that we’ve made a nice shadow layer, let’s make a bunch of Copies! Same process as for the paper strip template layers. One for each paper strip. CTRL/CMD>J times x.

And just like all those paper strip templates, the shadow layers are piled up. Move them as you did the paper strips so that there’s a shadow layer under each paper strip and nudge it into place.

Again, let’s minimize confusion. If you turn the visibility of all the shadow layers but the one you’re working with off, it’ll make it easier to see what’s happening with it.

Here’s another option for moving layers around in the stack.

Here’s the almost-there arrangement of paper and shadow. It looks good!

Once each layer is shadowed, you might want to further tweak the shadows so it doesn’t look too perfect. Nudge some of them down a tiny bit more. Pull out your Smudger again. But make your changes subtle!

My finished scraplift will be my Inspiration challenge layout. I used some word art from Jumpstart’s Gracious Heart Graced Life (the not-so-secret add-on part!) and used a Gradient Fill layer to make it work better with my photo and papers. I love it!

See you all next week!!

PDF Version : https://bit.ly/32PvjYw