PS & Templates

[kittenb]

Ok I am very comfortable using PSP for templates but since I have PS I figure I should try it. Problem is I need someone to tell me how I do it. ROFL LIke maybe color me a picture. LOL I am so lost in PS

[karenstimson]

What do you want to know about using templates in Photoshop? Is the template you want to use in a layered .psd format, or is it a png? What do you want to do with it? Anything you do in PSP you can do in PS, but the tools are situated differently and I understand from my friends who use PSP that Photoshop seems very unintuitive to them (that's how I feel about PSP lol). I'll be happy to walk you through whatever you want to do, just give me more info, okay?

Hugs,
Karen Stimson
Wool Sweater Street Scrapbooking Boutique

[kittenb]

ok ummmm like how do I start ? ROFL I am PS Dumb I have All kinds of templates

[karenstimson]

It depends on what kind of template you are using. To load a template, go to File, Open, and navigate to your template and click on the name. If it is a layered file, look to the right of your PS workspace and you will see a tab marked Layers. To view the layer thumbnails, click on that tab. Each layer is represented by a small thumbnail of whatever is on that layer. When you are working with a layered template, you need to fill the element on each layer with either a color or pattern, a paper or layer style. There are a zillion ways to do it, but let's assume you want to use different papers to fill each of the elements on the layers. Click on the layer thumbnail you want to fill and you will see the white space turn blue. Now click on your paper and go to Edit, Copy in the menu at the top. Click on your template again, and go to Edit, Paste. Now you should see a new layer just above the layer you highlighted a minute ago, and it's filled with your paper. Right-click on this layer and check Create Clipping Mask, and every element on the layer below will be filled with your paper. Repeat this for each of the other layers, and you will have a personalized template. Then you just need to copy and paste your photo in behind the empty space in the template for a photo, and add whatever text you want.

Does this help?

[Shanners]

Well, that helped me, too. I didn't know the "clipping mask" step.