Part 1:  Basic Design Principles

These are a few broad principles that apply to any kind of visual design, such as interiors, advertising, fashion, and, you guessed it – even scrapbooking!

Emphasis/Focal point

When you look at a layout (or any work of art), pay attention to where your eye goes first.  This is the focal point.  When you are creating a layout, think about what you want to your focal point to be.  For scrapbookers, it’s usually the photos.  Perhaps you have more than one photo there is one that you want to stand out, and the others will be secondary.   However, the photos don’t have to be the focal point; perhaps it’s the title or even some clever elements that help tell the story. Whatever it is, there are many ways you can go about creating your focal point.

Using the Rule of Thirds is a great way to create a focal point.  You may have heard of this rule before in regards to photography, but it absolutely applies to scrapbook layouts as well.

The rule of thirds states that if you place your focal point at one of the places where the grid intersects, it creates more energy and interest to your layout.  Additionally, if you place lines in your layout where the grid lines are, this will create a more pleasing visual design.

Another way to create emphasis is by playing with size.  One of my favorite things about digital scrap booking is that it is so easy to size and resize everything.  Making your focal photo big and your supporting photos smaller is an easy way to create emphasis where you want it.  Or a big title next to many small photos immediately lets the viewer know what the subject of your layout is.

The use of white space can be very useful in adding emphasis to a layout. (This is also sometimes referred to as negative space.)  White space refers to an area of a layout that is mostly unmarked.  Leaving an area void of photos, journaling, or other elements serves to add emphasis to the focal point of the layout. To place an element surrounded by white space gives it more visual weight and draws the eye to it.

One of my favorite ways to add emphasis is to add frames and borders.

- To make a photo stand out, I often add a simple white stroke to it.  This is really simple to do:

1. Make sure your photo layer is selected in your layers palette.

2.  Edit>Stroke (Outline) Selection

3.  Set the width (I like about 30 pixels)

4.  Set the color to white

5.  Select “inside”.  I like inside because it keeps the corners nice and

square.  Selecting “outside” or “center” will cut the corners off just

a little bit.

 - I often use a border of some kind near the edge of my layout.  I find it helps unify and contain the whole design, while adding emphasis to the design as a whole.

Contrast

Contrast is all about differences.  There are many different ways to achieve contrast:

Ÿ  use contrasting colors.  Contrasting colors are those that are opposite one another on the color wheel.

Ÿ  using light and dark.  For example, a bright photo against a light or white background can be very striking.

Ÿ  using size.  Small items next to large ones; photos or other elements of differing sizes placed together create contrast.

Ÿ  using different shapes together.  I love to add a circle (or several circles) to a layout with square and rectangle photos & elements.

Balance

 Balance is the distribution of visual weight on a layout.  The way you place the various elements on a page can help achieve a balance, creating unity and harmony.

One of the best ways to do this is to create a visual triangle on your page. This means placing elements on your page in three different spots that, if connected, would create a triangle.  This anchors your design and helps create balance and unity across the page.  There are any number of ways to do this – using items that have similar shape, color, size, etc.

Repetition

 Repetition, pattern, or rhythm refers to the recurrence of similar elements within a layout: colors, lines, shapes, values, etc. Any element that is generally echoed serves to make for a stronger visual presentation.  A good rule is “If you do it to one side, do it to the other side.”

Establishing a pattern using repetition and then breaking the pattern adds emphasis. For example, if you have a simple row of squares and then set just one of them to a different angle, they eye immediately goes to the one that is placed differently.  You could also add extra embellishment to one of squares to make it stand out.  This is an easy way to create a focal point.

One of my favorite ways to use repetition is by creating a grid on my page.  I do this by creating similar shapes and aligning them in a gird format – usually squares or rectangles, but I’ve used circles as well.  I use this grid to house my photos, pattern papers, and sometimes even other elements such as a flower or journaling block.  As the similar shapes are repeated it helps create unity and harmony in the design.

Part 2: Using All Your Tools to Tell The Story

 Before you start creating a layout, stop and think:  What is the story I want to tell?  Ask yourself questions about the subject of your layout.  What is it about? An event? An everyday moment? An individual?  Or perhaps just your own thoughts and emotions about the photos on your layout?  What is the mood?  What emotions do you want to convey?

Then, using your answers, think about what tools you have that will help you tell the story.  Often we only think of the photos and journaling as the storytelling part of a layout, but I want you to think about ALL of your scrapbooking tools; how can they be used to help tell the story?  These tools might include:

Color/Tone/Value.  This may include specific colors, or things like bright vs. muted or light vs. dark colors.  Pay attention to the emotions that color can covey.  Using a monochromatic color scheme can be especially dramatic. Often mimicking the colors or tones of the photos enhances the story.

Shape.  Different shapes can convey emotion as well.  I find that squares and rectangles create a sleek, streamlined feeling.  I love to use circles to help convey energy and playfulness.  Combining a mixture of the two is also a great way to establish structure while adding a playful or whimsical feeling.

Embellishments.  There are a lot of theme kits available for digital scrap bookers.  Sometimes it is fun to add themed embellishments that go very specifically with the story you are telling. This can also be done using less descriptive embellishments – for example I used colorful stitching in the shape of a circle on a page that had a photo of a rainbow.

Journaling/Type.  Do you need a lot of words or just a few?  Sometimes journaling can fill most of a page, and sometimes a simple title is all that is needed.  When selecting alphabets or fonts, try picking ones to match the subject and mood of your layout.

Photos.  Because of digital photography, we can take tons of photos – too many to scrap.  Sometimes, especially for event pages, I like to include a lot of photos to convey all the people, celebration, and fun.  Other times, less is more.  I may take 50 candid shots of my toddler, but just end up putting one on the page because it gives the story greater impact.

Your overall style and design.  Will it be simple and clean, or busy and noisy?  Soft and ethereal? Sweet? Grungy? Whimsical? Playful? Calm? Bold? Choose a style that not only reflects what you like, but something that reflects and supports the subject of your layout.  Use the design principles (from part 1 of this lesson) that will best serve your story.

There are probably other tools I am forgetting as well!  The key is to simply use everything at your disposal as a scrapbooker to let your story shine.  Don’t get too caught up in all the rules. Don’t try to use every principle on every layout, use what works for you, play around, and have fun!

There are so many reasons why templates are awesome tools in your digital scrapbooking adventure. I’ll share some of my top reasons why I love templates.

1. Templates give you a great starting point, a jump start for your design juices to flow.
2. Templates are great for beginner scrappers and intermediate scrappers alike.
3. Templates help you do things that you don’t know how to do, or things that you can’t do in Photoshop Elements, for example. They also help you try new things.
4. Templates are very versatile—rotate them, add or remove things, use them over and over again.
5. Templates are not just for page design—use them for borders, photo masks, hybrid projects, etc.

Using Clipping Masks with Layered Templates

Step1: Open Photoshop or other photo editing program.

Step 2: Open a layered template (File > Open > folder where your template is stored). If you want you can also go to File > Save As and save this project under a new name so you don’t accidentally save over your original template.

Step 3: Open the digital papers, photos, embellishments that you would like to use on your layout and bring them into Photoshop (File > Open > folder where your photos and digital scrapbooking supplies are stored).

Step 4: Select the shape layer (such as “photo1” in the layers palette in the screenshot below) in the layered template that you would like to replace with paper or a photo—make sure it is highlighted in the layers palette. Then use the Move Tool to drag your photo onto your layered template. In the layers palette, make sure your photo layer is located directly above the template shape layer you want to clip it to, see below:

Then use the Move Tool to position the photo so that it covers the shape you want to clip it to in the template.

Step 5: To create the clipping mask, go to Layer > Create Clipping Mask (Keystroke Shift+Ctrl+G in PS). In PSE, go to Layer > Group with Previous (Keystroke Ctrl+G). Or you could right click in the layers palette and select “Create Clipping Mask” in the drop down menu. Voila! The paper is now the shape of that layer!

Step 6: With the paper layer active, use the Move Tool to re-size and rotate the photo until the desired portion of the paper is visible. What’s great about clipping masks is that it doesn’t crop or cut the paper at all, it just “masks” or hides the parts outside of the shape, so you’re not stuck with cropped paper later on if you want to change it.

Step 7: Once you are satisfied with the position of the paper in its new shape it is a good idea to merge the two layers to decrease the memory required to store the layout. Right click on the photo layer in the layers palette and select “Merge Down” from the drop down menu to merge your photo into the template layer. Alternatively go to Layer > Merge Down (Keystroke Ctrl+E).

Step 8: Continue this same process with your photos and papers until you have used all the pieces in the template that you want.

Step 9: Embellish and make the layout your own!

Extra template tips:

Templates are so versatile and fun to use. They are a good starting foundation for any layout. Some templates come with drop shadows already set, others don’t. Either way you can add or delete drop shadows as desired. Add your own personal touches to finish off your page. You can alter them to fit your needs, rotate them, move shape layers into different places, delete layers you don’t want to use. You can even use them with text. There are so many fabulous possibilities using layered templates and clipping masks in your digiscrapping! Have fun!

Saving

Once you’re done with your layout you’ll want to save your file. Click on File > Save As. It’s good to get in the habit of always choosing “Save As” instead of “Save” so you don’t save changes to your original picture accidentally.

Choose the file you want to save your scrapbook page or document to. Enter the file name then choose the format you want to save in. There are two ways I like to save my layouts.

1. PSD files: This keeps all the separated layers intact, which is great if you ever want to go back and make changes on your layout. It’s also great because you can keep using the same design for different scrapbook pages by using clipping masks to change out your photos and papers. The downside to PSD files is that you can’t send a PSD to the photo lab (it has to be a JPEG) and they are very large file sizes.
2. JPEG files: When you save as a JPEG, the layout is flattened so there are no layers. So once you know you are finished with your layout, you can save as a JPEG. This is the file type your photo lab needs for printing. Also, the file size is much smaller than a PSD.

Here are a couple to get get you started! Click on each of the images below to be taken to the download link for the template.

Our most recent.

This year we got to be right across from the Microsoft Playground. I was SO excited. They have a nice lounge/play area for people of all ages with games and activities to do to help with the overwhelming education of genealogy that took place at the show.

Our old friend Jill, from Flip-Pal, stopped in to say hello. She is such a motivational woman to be around. She always pumps me up about our graphics and tells me how much she loves our company. Jill always manages to squeeze in little business tips and tricks, that she has picked up along the way of many of her own ventures in life. I always appreciate them and have acted on a few of them.  I don’t know anyone nicer or more thoughtful than this woman. I love her. lol

Overall the show was a success and we got a lot of new people into the world of digital scrapbooking.  I always have such a good feeling in my heart and head at the end of shows that reaffirms me why I do what I do.

LOVE for all my digital scrapbookers out there!!

Much love,

Amy

1. Open or create two separate layers to be directly on top of one another that you want to ‘mix’ together. This could be:
Papers on Papers/Elements
Elements on Papers/Elements
Photos on Papers/Elements
Adjustment Layers, like Solid Color, Gradient, or Pattern on Papers/Elements

2. Select the top layer of the two to be mixed and from the Layer Blending Mode drop-down list select an option, such as Multiply, Screen, or Overlay.
TIP: After making the first Layer Blend Mode selection, use your keyboard arrow keys to move up and down through the list to experiment or play with the various options.

OPTIONAL: Change the Layer Opacity setting on the top layer to make the blending mode not as prominent.

Changing Color (Method 1)

1. Open the image you want change colors.

2. In CS versions select the Image menu, Adjustments, and Variations. In Elements versions select the Enhance menu, Adjust Color, Color Variations.

3. Using the options provided:
Select the Area to be affected (Shadows, Midtones, Highlights, Saturation)
Adjust the Intensity slider

4. Click on OK to accept changes or click on Cancel to reject changes.

Changing Color (Method 2)

1. Open the image you want change colors.

2. Select or sample the foreground color you want to use for the new color.

3. Select the New Adjustment Layer button from the palette options bar, and choose Hue/Saturation.

4. In the Adjustments window choose the Colorize checkbox. Then proceed to adjust the saturation and lightness as desired.

5. Click on OK to accept changes or click on Cancel to reject changes.

TIP: Changing the Hue will alter the base color you previously chose.
TIP: Play with various Layer Blend modes to try and get a more natural look to the color change.

OPTIONAL: Better results can often be achieved by first converting the base image/layer to black and white (BW) and then adding the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. To do this, select the layer to be converted to BW and then:
(CS versions) Select the Image menu, Adjustments, Desaturate.
(Elements versions) Select the Enhance menu, Adjust Color, Remove Color.

Controlling Changes

Isolating by Selecting First
An excellent way to help control what and where colors are affected in the previous techniques is using selection tools to first create a selection around the area or of the colors you want to affect.
The Magic Wand and/or Quick Selection Brush are two beneficial tools in quickly and efficiently getting only certain areas highlighted or isolate where changes will occur.
Jumping to a Separate Layer
After selecting what or where you want things to be affected, an additional step to further control and add flexibility to your changes is to jump those pixels or area to its own layer.
With a selection made, press Ctrl/Cmd + J to Copy the pixels/area to a new layer above the current.
With a selection made, press Shift + Ctrl/Cmd + J to Move/Cut the pixels/area to a new layer above the current.
These new layers can then have their Layer Blend Mode adjusted, have an Adjustment Layer clipped to just its specific pixel information, or change the Layer Opacity.

Class taught by Bryan McEwan

This first one is a playing deck card box that I am printing out and folding for Caulen’s class valentines day projects. You can find a Poker card box online, as a template. I found mine here and made the green lines super light so you can see them enough for folding but you wont be able to see them unless you are really, really up close.  I also sized them down a little smaller so two boxes would fit on my 8.5×11 photo paper so I don’t waste paper and ink. Aside from cutting them out this is a really easy and cute project to do for your kids school parties or other fun gifts you can think of. If you would like the exact template/print out that I used and designed feel free to email me amy@digitalscrapbookmemories.com, and I will be more than happy to give it to you for free. That way all you have to do is print,fold and cut your way into a cute gift for Valentines Day.

I have tons of photos in frames around my house, and I wanted to create something different so I found that word art in frames works really well together. The best part is that you can change them out with every coordinating season or holiday and have new decorations for only a few cents all the time! This is what I came up with for a Valentines Day word art frame. I found the frames for about 5.00 at Michales, the ribbon was 2.99 for one roll and some Modge Podge to hold the ribbon to the frame.

The last thing I have created, so far, for Valenties Decorations in a”Be Mine” banner. It was really easy to create the template (if you want it for free please email me: amy@digitalscrapbookmemories.com) that fits onto an 8.5×11 piece of photo paper that you can design and print out on your own. Now I know mine looks light in the photo but in person it came out super cute.

Those are some examples of easy to create projects for your home that you don’t have to spend a ton of money on.

Love,

Amy Herzog

2. Open photo you want to use to create the silhouette. File>Open>Select folder where the photo is located>Open.

3. Click on the Lasso Tool in your toolbox. Right-click to see your options. You can choose either the Polygonal Lasso Tool or the Magnetic Lasso Tool to create your selection.

4. Using your Lasso Tool, move your mouse to carefully select the area on the photo that you want. The “marching ants” will show your selection.

5. Once you’ve made your selection, you will make a copy of that selection. Layer>Duplicate Layer. (Shortcut: Control-J)

6. Now you will clock on the “background” layer in your layers palette, and press DELETE. This will remove the excess part of the photo.

7. To make the silhouette a solid black color click on Hue/Saturation, and move the”Lightness” slider all the way to the left. Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation (Shortcut: Control-U)

8. Now you have your silhouette! You can use your move tool to drag it onto any new project you want and use it in so many fun ways!!

9. To save your silhouette file, you will want to save it as a PNG file. This will allow you to move only the silhouette image (not the background) to different documents and projects.

10. Here are some idea of what you can do with silhouettes:

Do individual head silhouettes, family holding hands, bride and groom kissing, action silhouettes (dancing, jumping in the air, ect)

You can line them up in a row of each family member’s silhouette and frame it. Cards and tags. Use printed out silhouettes as a template to trace out fabric or vinyl to make personalized pillows, put on glass or vases, create personalized jewlery, ect. You can make a family tree just using silhouettes of family members.

Here are some examples of what Brooke Kemp (teacher) came up with for silhouettes:

Thank you Brooke Kemp for your amazing and simple class!

Step 1: Create a new canvas
There are two main ways you can create a double page layout:

1. As one large canvas (12 x 24 in. or 11×17 in.)
2. As two separate canvases (12×12 in. or 11 x 8.5 in.)

I like to do it on one large canvas just so I can see the whole spread together all at once, like a magazine.

So to start, create a new document. (File > New)

Step 2: Add a guideline to separate the pages (optional)
This step will provide an optional “visual aid” so that you can visualize the two sides of your canvas that will eventually be your two separate layouts. By adding a guideline, it may be easier for you to remember where you will “cut” your layout and help you avoid placing a photo, journaling or any embellishments in the middle that will be chopped in half.

To add a guideline in Photoshop CS4, go to View > New Guide, with the vertical placement at 12 inches.

This is what it’ll look like with the guideline added.

The nice thing is that the guideline won’t show up in your prints, so you won’t have to delete it before printing.

Step 3: Design your layout
Now comes the fun part! Add your papers, photos, embellishments, journaling, etc. to create your amazing layout. Again, I like to avoid placing things in the middle of the canvas because I don’t want things to be chopped in half when printed, but it’s completely up to you in your personal design preferences. However, strips of paper that span the entire canvas or perhaps even large landscape photos would work just fine, just as long as a person’s face isn’t cut in half.  You’ll also want to make sure that your journaling isn’t too close to that middle line, because you don’t want anything to be cropped off in printing.

Step 4: Save your project and prepare for printing
When your double page layout is complete, first save the entire project as a layered .psd or .tiff file, just so you can go back and make changes later or use it as a template for another project. Also, this will “protect” the file from any changes you will make when preparing for printing or posting in galleries.
Next, we’ll prepare for printing by flattening the layout. (Layer > Flatten image)

Then you’ll want to separate your pages by using the crop tool. In the options bar at the top, type the dimensions for the page. For example, type in 12 inches by 12 inches with 300 resolution.

To crop, start in the left corner, then click and drag out the crop lines until the whole left side of the canvas is selected. Hit enter or the check mark to confirm crop.

After cropping, save the left 12×12 layout as a JPEG and it is ready to print! Then undo the crop and do the same thing for the right side of the canvas, and save it as a JPEG.
Now you can send your layouts to your favorite printer or online publisher.

Special Thanks to Brooke Kemp for teaching our class on Double Page Layouts!

I flew out to Arizona for the Mesa Family History Expo in Mesa, AZ. To my surprise there were less vendors than last years shows, but there was no shortage of people. I think my favorite part of doing Expo’s is meeting all the new people and showing them how exciting and amazing digital scrapbooking is. I don’t think a lot of people know how cost efficient digital scrapbooking is over traditional scrapbooking ( if you want to find out how it saves you money, email me: amy@digitalscrapbookmemories.com).  Every show new people come to our booth and wonder what digital scrapbooking is. After talking to them and figuring out what they want and what they are looking for I am able to get them really excited about jumping into the world of digital scrapbooking. There were a lot of people who asked questions first and came back the second day with the decision to invest in digital scrapbooking. Over selling our graphics, the most important thing to me is to see how excited a person gets over digital scrapbooking. I love people getting into the digi world and starting to see how amazing and fun it is. They then see how and why I do what I do and am so passionate about sharing it with everyone.

Back to the show, lol. Everything, like I said before, went so well. I met a lot of new people and made some new friends and saw some old faces from the show last year. I had several people so excited about digital scrapbooking that they are blogging about our company. Isn’t that so cool?! I am hoping to see a lot of them on the message board to share their new layouts and ask lots of questions. We visited with our friends from Heritage Collectors, Marlo and his wife, and got the latest on their products and vice versa. I caught myself taking breaks while everyone was in classes to go out and enjoy the sunshine and warm weather. Utah, as most of us know, is not the warmest in January so I soaked up as much of the sunshine and warmth as I could.

I can’t wait for the Roots Tech Expo at the Salt Palace Convention Center in two weeks. I hope some of you can  make it out to come and visit me and check out our new products. This show is MASSIVE and contains over 150 vendors from all over the country. Last year was their first year doing the expo and I am very proud to be a part of it again. We were very successful at the last show and I am crossing my fingers that this show will go even better.  Check the blog in a few weeks to get a review of the Roots Tech show. This time I will not forget my camera so I can show everyone how much fun it is!!

Much love,

Amy Herzog

amy@digitalscrapbookmemories.com