{"id":46205,"date":"2022-09-06T20:29:59","date_gmt":"2022-09-07T03:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gingerscraps.net\/gsblog\/?p=46205"},"modified":"2022-09-08T21:50:40","modified_gmt":"2022-09-09T04:50:40","slug":"tutorial-tuesday-photoshop-elements-188","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gingerscraps.net\/gsblog\/2022\/09\/tutorial-tuesday-photoshop-elements-188\/","title":{"rendered":"Tutorial Tuesday (Photoshop Elements)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yes! You CAN Create Curved Lines in Elements!<\/strong><\/p>\n

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PDF Version : https:\/\/bit.ly\/3QvbYPm<\/a><\/p>\n

As we’re all well aware, there are lots of things Photoshop<\/strong> does that Photoshop Elements<\/strong> doesn’t. Sometimes there are work-arounds, sometimes there aren’t. I had given up hope on smoothly curved lines after trying a lot of things I felt should<\/em> work – but failed spectacularly, and then I found George Peirson<\/strong>, the HowToGuru<\/strong>. He’s got some really interesting techniques that I had to try for myself. THEY WORK! Today I’ll show you the easiest one to master, and create a curved paper multi-layer border with it.<\/p>\n

I chose to work on a transparent 12×12 canvas, since it’s my preferred layout size. There’s no reason this can’t be accomplished on a smaller or larger scale, so do what suits you best.<\/p>\n

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This is the shockingly easy way to curve lines, and it uses the TEXT TOOL<\/strong>!!! Any font will work, and choosing a big character size will make it quicker. Center<\/strong> your Text cursor<\/strong> on your canvas and type out a line of “underscores” – SHIFT>-<\/strong> to extend across the page. Using the underscore gives a longer dash than the hyphen does, and the ends join seamlessly.<\/p>\n

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For once, we’re not going to Simplify<\/strong> a Text layer<\/strong> before we manipulate it. Instead, click the Text Warp<\/strong> button shown and a new menu will open up. Make sure Anti-Aliasing<\/strong> is also checked.<\/p>\n

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The Text Warp menu has a drop-down option bar labeled Style<\/strong>. Click on the bar and choose Flag<\/strong>. The only parameter we’ll change is the Horizontal Bend<\/strong>. Push the slider all the way to one side or the other. I’m right-handed, so I went to the right. For this example I’ve only gone to 94%<\/strong>, but 100%<\/strong> is also going to be perfect. If you want to see what the other adjustments do, play with them. They’re not permanent until you make them permanent.<\/p>\n

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So now we have a very gentle sine wave. If you want something more um… dramatic, we’ll need to Simplify<\/strong> the layer.<\/p>\n

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This Image>Transform<\/strong> Tool<\/strong> is so useful! For my sample, I chose Image>Transform>Distort<\/strong>. This command tells the Bounding Box<\/strong> that each of the “handles” is moveable in any direction.<\/p>\n

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So just grab a handle and pull it or push it around until you see a shape you like. Then click the green checkmark.<\/p>\n

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The usual Resize<\/strong> and Reposition<\/strong> functions are still operational, so you have lots of room to make adjustments. I Rotated<\/strong> it so it’s vertical, then stretched it top to bottom and positioned it where I liked it best.<\/p>\n

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My goal is to create some Clipping Masks<\/strong> for a curvy border, so I used the Paint Bucket Tool<\/strong> to fill the space between the edge of my canvas and the curvy line.<\/p>\n

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You can see there’s a faint blank area. That happens sometimes with the Paint Bucket<\/strong>. It’s easy to remedy. Just click the Paint Bucket<\/strong> in the space again and that blank area will fill.<\/p>\n

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Okay. I have one layer. Let’s make another one. I’ll use a different colour so it’s easier to see what’s what. I’m also going for a shorter baseline.<\/p>\n

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This screenshot shows how the length of the line and the percentage of Bend<\/strong> influence the curves when I used the same Style<\/strong> through the Warp Text Tool<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Here I’ve Rotated<\/strong> the line already, and I’m ready to Simplify<\/strong> it.<\/p>\n

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This time when I chose the Image>Transform Tool<\/strong>, I chose Skew<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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With Skew<\/strong>, the handles can move in two directions, horizontally or vertically. You can see my Bounding Box<\/strong> in the screenshot.<\/p>\n

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I’d like to make the curved line longer, and have more curves, so I’ll make a Copy<\/strong> layer.<\/p>\n

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Then I moved them around so the spot where they intersect provides a smooth curve. I did some Zooming<\/strong> while I was lining them up.<\/p>\n

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It looks pretty good to me. I won’t worry about the tail on the left side of the line.<\/p>\n

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Then I Merged<\/strong> the two lines into one long one.<\/p>\n

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Once I had just one long line, I moved it over so it sat on top of the black shape, which is visible again.<\/p>\n

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And I dumped the Paint Bucket<\/strong> into the space. Clipping mask<\/strong> #2 is done.<\/p>\n

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I wanted to try one more thing, using a tilde\u00a0~\u00a0<\/strong>instead of an underscore. The main difference is that the line of tildes won’t connect up the way the underscores do. Elements 2019<\/strong> finally included kerning: the ability to adjust the space between characters, only they call it Tracking<\/strong>. Earlier versions don’t have that function, so I’ll show you the “non-kerning” method of creating a wavy line with a tilde. It’ll take a few extra steps.<\/p>\n

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But before we do that, I decided I wanted to stretch the tilde widthwise by 50%<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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The Warp Text Tool<\/strong> isn’t going to work for this curvy line so the tilde layer needs Simplifying<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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I made a Copy<\/strong> of the tilde layer.<\/p>\n

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Using the arrow keys I nudged the two tilde layers so they created a smooth wavy line.<\/p>\n

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I Merged<\/strong> the two layers and made a Copy<\/strong> of the now-double-tilde layer.<\/p>\n

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Nudge the two layers to create a smooth wavy line, Merge<\/strong> the two layers and make another Copy<\/strong>, this time with double the bumps. Keep repeating these steps until the line stretches across the whole page.<\/p>\n

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I think it needs something…<\/p>\n

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This time, after much trial and error, I chose Image>Transform>Perspective<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Woohoo! It looks like rickrack! I could use it just like that and be quite happy.<\/p>\n

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Instead, I moved it into position and Filled<\/strong> the space.<\/p>\n

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I liked what I had, but thought maybe one more layer. Rather than make a whole new one, I instead played with the original shape. I made a Copy<\/strong> of it then hit it with Image>Transform>Distort<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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It’s just different enough that it’ll add something to the stacked border. Whenever I have something on my canvas that extends outside the edges, I use the Crop Tool<\/strong> to get rid of those parts so they don’t mess with the final product.<\/p>\n

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I changed the colour of that last layer to a grayish-green then flipped it horizontally and Rotated<\/strong> it 180\u00b0<\/strong> so the widest part was at the top. I think it’s good now.<\/p>\n

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Here’s a view of the four Clipping Mask layers<\/strong> with papers Clipped<\/strong>, and with a small drop shadow. You could position the layers horizontally, which could give you a nice wave effect, too. Now I can tuck the corners of photos in between the layers, add some elements and have a really unique border when I’m done.<\/p>\n

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In a coming tutorial I’ll show you a couple of other ways of creating curved lines so you can choose the one you like best.<\/p>\n

Whew. It’s still Tuesday where I am. I made it!<\/p>\n

PDF Version : https:\/\/bit.ly\/3QvbYPm<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yes! You CAN Create Curved Lines in Elements! PDF Version : https:\/\/bit.ly\/3QvbYPm As we’re all well aware, there are lots of things Photoshop does that Photoshop Elements doesn’t. Sometimes there are work-arounds, sometimes there aren’t. I had given up hope on smoothly curved lines after trying a lot of things I felt should work – […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[229,102,284,92,62],"tags":[373],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-21 09:14:23","action":"change-status","newStatus":"private","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category"},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gingerscraps.net\/gsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46205"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gingerscraps.net\/gsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gingerscraps.net\/gsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gingerscraps.net\/gsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gingerscraps.net\/gsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46205"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/gingerscraps.net\/gsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46294,"href":"https:\/\/gingerscraps.net\/gsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46205\/revisions\/46294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gingerscraps.net\/gsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gingerscraps.net\/gsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gingerscraps.net\/gsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}