How To Turn A Scrapbook Layout Into A Template

Many scrapbookers honey to flake using templates as they take a lot of the guess piece of work out of creating a layout and offer a quick and piece of cake way to put a folio together. Before nosotros look at a template, allow'due south understand a petty bit about them.

What are scrapbook templates?

Templates are the baseline or the foundation of your scrapbook layout. Call back of them as a blueprint for your page. The template outlines the composition of the folio and gives you a guide to the placement of your papers, elements, photos, titles and journaling.

Template designers make the templates available in several formats (.png, .psd, .tif, and some offering .page formats too) so they can exist used in a number of different software programs. These are the common template formats:

PSD: (Photoshop Document) this blazon of format is a standard in the graphics industry. In improver to Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, many other non-Adobe programs like Paint Store Pro, Gimp, and Photo Impact can as well open .psd files.
TIFF: (Tagged Image Format File) this blazon of format is a high quality graphics format. Information technology can be opened with most pigment programs including Microsoft Paint every bit well as with Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. If saved correctly .tiff files are much smaller than their .psd counterparts and then can be handy if your hard-bulldoze space is limited.
PNG: (Portable Network Graphic) this blazon of format is usable in all programs. It is a transparent graphic with no background. Yous will need to open each .png into one document to assemble the template (usually in numerical society) so that the layers are all in the correct place for the completed template.
Page: this type of file can be used in Forever Artisan and Storybook Creator scrapbooking software.

Photoshop CS/CC, Photoshop Elements, Pigment Shop Pro, and Corel all use formats of JPEG, PNG, PSD, and TIFF.
CraftArtist compatible formats are PDF, SVG, PNG, JPEG or TIF
Forever Artisan Graphics compatible formats are PNG, PDF, JPEG and Page.

When you lot purchase a template (or download a free template) do you have to utilize it equally is?

No! You can use the template every bit it is, or you lot can employ it a starting point for your layout. You might like to flip it, rotate information technology, only use parts of information technology, add to it or modify it in whatever yous wish to make your page y'all own.

What is the difference between a Sketch and a Template?

A sketch is a flattened paradigm that shows a composition for a scrapbook page. When you bring the sketch file into your program you'll detect it is non a layered format, but a apartment epitome. You can brand your ain template from the sketch by adding your own shapes and using the sketch as a guide to your composition.

A template is a layered file that you tin manipulate with papers, elements, photos and fonts. You tin can add together your own papers and photos and "clip" them to the layers included in the template to quickly and easily create your page.

Template Tutorial

Then allow's go started with a simple template that we created peculiarly for this tutorial:

Free digital scrapbook template download! Learn how to use digital scrapbook templates in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements with this digital scrapbooking tutorial from Kate Hadfield Designs.

> Download Heartfelt Template <

(Included in the download are the PNG files, the PSD file, the TIFF file and the Page file.)

Open up the .psd or .tiff file in Photoshop CS/CC or PSE. If you are using other types of software that do not support .psd files, open the .png files into your workspace.

Annotation: you might similar to save your page now with a different name so that you don't overwrite the original template!

As you lot can run across there actually aren't a lot of layers or a lot of complexity to this template. The hearts are placeholders for elements, there is a border that has an inner shadow added in a higher place it to requite the edge a cut out experience, there are 2 mattes behind the photograph and and then there are some elegant lines added to requite the photo cluster some cohesion. In that location is as well a spot for a title and likewise a spot for you to add some journaling.

This is the pattern for our folio.

I am scrapping in Photoshop CC 2018; all the same it works pretty much the same mode in Photoshop Elements (PSE). Once I have opened the .psd file, this is what the Layers Palette looks like.

Layers Palette - Learn how to use digital scrapbook templates in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements with this digital scrapbooking tutorial from Kate Hadfield Designs.

There is an eye side by side to each layer in the Layers Palette. If I do not want to see the layers I tin can hide them by clicking on the eye and information technology will go blank. To make the layer visible again, I click in the aforementioned foursquare once more to prove the eye.

Annotation: If you can't see the Layers Palette go to Window > Layers to open it.

When I scrap with a template I like to start from the bottom upward. I will plough layers on and off as I work and build upwards the design of my page.

How to Clip a paper or photo in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements

One of the main benefits to using a layered template to create a scrapbook page is that you can "prune" your papers and photographs to a layer in the template. Your paper / photograph will take on the size, shape and style of the layer it is clipped to without you having to cut or edit your paper. Using clipping masks this style allows you lot to apace and easily add your layers to the template and to put your page together.

Notation: If your template contains shadow styles on the layers, your ain photos and papers will take on the shadow style of the layer they are clipped to too! This is a nifty mode for beginners to acquire about shadowing.

Here'due south how to clip your paper or photo to a layer using a clipping mask:

add a blank layer higher up the shape or photo layer you want to clip your new layer to
identify your newspaper or photo you lot want to clip on to that new layer
with your newspaper or photo layer selected in the layer palette yous can utilize any of these methods:

a) Use the shortcut key [holding down the ALT+Ctrl+Chiliad (PC) / OPT+Cmmd+G (Mac) . This will clip the photo/paper to the layer below.
OR:
b) Hold the alt/opt key and hover betwixt the paper/photo new layer and the layer you desire to clip it to. It will show a box with a little arrow. Right click with your mouse and the layer volition clip to the i below.
OR:
c) Using the superlative tool bar and choosing layer, select Create Clipping Mask from the drop down menu Layer>Create Clipping Mask

These 3 ways volition prune a paper, photograph or adjustment layer to the layer below it in the Layers Palette.

Note: If you lot add a new photograph or newspaper layer in the wrong place in the layer stack, you tin can hands movement the layer upwardly and downward by dragging the layer in the Layers Palette, by going to Layer>Adjust or by using the keyboard shortcuts (see Layer>Arrange for various shortcuts).

Once the paper or photo is clipped to the layer below, your layer palette will look similar the layer palette here with the paper layer indented and the tiny down pointer showing. This shows that the newspaper is clipped to the grayness rectangle below and has taken on the size, shape and position of that layer.

Annotation: If you are using an adjustment layer (for case a hue or a b/west layer) on a photo or paper, brand sure that aligning layer is clipped to the layer yous want to alter, otherwise it volition affect all layers beneath it in the Layers Palette.

Using this method, y'all tin can continue to add your photos, papers and elements to your template to build up your scrapbook folio – clipping your layers to the template layers, or hiding the template layers equally necessary.

My finished page

Hither is the page I made with the template. As you can see, my layout looks slightly unlike and then the template, just the base is still in that location. (I used Kate's Scotland the Brave doodles and Weekend at Home Papers for this layout.)

Scotland digital scrapbook page created with the free template download from Kate Hadfield Designs! Layout by Creative Team member Christa.

Hither's the template and the finished page:

I replaced the hearts with some doodles, added more journaling and some extra doodles to the initial template blueprint. (I also made the background paper using the thistle doodle and a blend mode to make it low-cal like an overlay.)

As I didn't use the hearts, I turned them off in my Layers Palette. The green and the blue papers are shown in the Layers Palette clipped to the template layers and and then I but added my championship, journaling, elements and shadowing.

Layers Palette - How to use digital scrapbook templates in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. Digital scrapbooking tutorial from Kate Hadfield Designs.

My Layers Palette was very long so I posted the listing here. You tin run into all the layers where the eye is not showing were the hearts, the championship placeholder, the championship shadowing and the journaling placeholder. These layers are not existence used at all and tin can be deleted.

The slider is showing that you lot can use the slider to move down in the layer palette.

The layers with the little arrows prove the clipping masks I used to put my folio together and clip my papers and photo to the template layer.

One template, five ways

For the most office, I have used the template as is to create my page, but you can as well alter templates to create many different designs your layouts. Hither are some examples of quick alterations that create dissimilar compositions from the same initial template:

One template - 5 ways! How to use digital scrapbook templates in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. Digital scrapbooking tutorial from Kate Hadfield Designs.

Equally you can run into, that is the same template manipulated 5 different ways just by moving around the eye items. You can make so many pages with simply 1 template! You can also mix and match templates by taking items from i template and merging them with another to create something completely different.

As you lot can run across from the monthly Template Challenges, there are many means to use the same template to create different pages. The main affair is that you lot use templates as an aid to making your pages. Mix and friction match them and take fun with them!

I do hope that this helps with using templates and different things you can exercise with them!