Saturday, March 27, 2010

Photoshop tutorial...for announcements, handouts, etc....

I have to start off this tutorial with a HUGE warning that I am NOT a professional photoshopper! Everything I know is self taught. I am sure there are MANY different and better ways to achieve what I have outlined here...but this is what works for me and I am too lazy to look up the photoshop "correct way" to do things :) 
With that out of the way.....this is how I create my own stuff. 
To see the screenshot details larger...just click on them. 
Start by clicking file>new> then put in the size you are wanting to make your announcement or card, or what ever you are making. For this Young Women handout I am making a simple 4X6 so it is easy for print. (Just regular photo size.) 
Once you have your blank canvas...(you can just leave it white) click File>open> and go to the folder in your computer where you have your digital scrapbooking kits stored. Open up the free kit I showed you last week:) double click on the paper PP4. 
It will then open up in photoshop. You are now going to size this for your handout. I cropped it to 6.5 X 4.5 resolution 300 ppi. 
minimize your screen and you will see both your digital paper and your blank canvas. click on the move tool and drag your digital paper right onto the blank white. 
I made the paper a little larger than the white so I could move it around a bit and get it right where I wanted it. Also this makes sure there is no white showing. You can flatten the image now if you would like to. I don't usually do that though...just in case I change my mind later :) 
Now you are ready to add more. Click on File>Open> and go to the freebie again. double click on the cream paper. 
Once it opens up in photoshop you are going to change the size of the paper. You could crop it again...but I will show you another way to change the size, too. Go to image>image size> then you can put in the numbers you are wanting. For this white paper we are going to put in 2.5in X 2.5 in at 300 ppi. (you will see why in a bit) 
Once again...minimize your screen, click on the move tool and drag it right onto the handout you are creating. Once it is on there you can move it anywhere you are wanting. It creates its own layer on top of the previous ones. If you want to move something underneath a layer...simply right click and choose which layer you are wanting to move. 
Now we are wanting to open another layer. Go to File>Open>and go to the freebie once again. Open the blue frame. 
 
You know the drill now, right? Once it opens in photoshop just click on the move tool and drag it right onto your creation. 
It will be a little small over the white layer we created so simply go to the top corner of the frame, hold down the shift key and drag the corner arrow until it is the right size, covering the entire white piece. (I am sure there is a way easier way to do this...if you know how, please share!:) 
Once again...we are going to open another paper. File>Open>choose the blue paper from our freebie collection. 
This time we are going to crop the paper to 3 X 4.5 300 ppi. 
Drag onto handout. 
Move it to where you want it. 
Almost done! Now go to File>Open> double click on the single flower. 
Drag it onto the blue layer. 
At this point...there is a handy little tool that helps me get everything lined where I want it to go so it is all symmetrical and nice. Go to View>Show>Grid
Then these super great lines show up on your creation and you can make everything line up great. I guess I should tell you now that when you have these printed...there may be slight cut off around the edges. I know there are ways to make it so it doesn't do this...but it requires math skills and stuff that I don't have. So, I just make sure I leave plenty of room around the edges just in case. Pretty tricky of me...eh? 
From here you can just use the type tool to put in whatever message you are wanting. To choose the color I want for text, I usually sample one of the colors off of the actual paper. For this I sampled the brown and used that for my text color. From here...just save as a jpg. and then you are ready to print! I prefer Costco...but since I usually make these on Saturday night I just send them to my local Wal-Mart :) at $.9 a piece...I would say it is a pretty cheap handout! 



Here is my finished product. We are having a lesson tomorrow on preparing to receive an LDS patriarchal blessing. One of my girls had hers a few weeks ago and her quote after she got it was so great that I just had to use it for our handout tomorrow. She is going to be participating in our lesson so I thought it was only perfect to share her quote. A little inappropriate? Maybe...but I think that is why my girls love me, so. :) 
I tend to keep things pretty light around there....



Hopefully this is a good start to encourage you to make your own handouts, cards, announcements, invitations, etc. Once you make a few...the possibilities are seriously ENDLESS! This is the same way you would make a scrapbook page. You would just change your sizes! Good Luck! 

Have fun!!!!!

Don't hesitate to leave questions if you have any! I made this using CS3...but any version of photoshop should have all the tools I used in this tutorial! 

3 comments:

Janae said...

Great tutorial. Now if I could just be as creative as you!

Stephanie said...

Kati, this is awesome! Thanks so much, you've taught so much more than just this... I can figure out so much more now on my photoshop program that I never thought I'd learn! Thanks Again!

Stephanie said...

Hey, I found an easy way to change the size of any image...if you go to edit>free transform you can manipulate any image how you want to. Just make sure you're in the right layer!