template

Hello folks! It’s Tuesday again and that means another tutorial! Today I am going to show you how to make a template. Now, as with so many things pertaining to PS, there is more then one way to make a template. This is just how I prefer to do it. Now, I scrap with templates about 98% of the time. Wether with my own or another designers, I use templates. So, lets get started!

I always have some sort of idea of what I want my page to look like. Always a background. That’s what I start with. Open a new 12×12 document and fill in the back ground. That is our first layer.

Next, I like to add my basic shapes and paper blocks. Each shape gets it’s own layer. I make the shapes by accessing the shapes in the menu bar hot key “U”.  Add all the circle and paper blocks that you want. Arrange till you get it just right. Here is what my template looks like so far-

Now, at this point, I like to actually start scrapping my page. I find that it is easier to start scrapping then to try and just plop some flowers on there and make it look good. So I open a new document and drag the template and scrap away.

Here is what I have now- The template is going to be easy to finish from here. I can see exactly where I need to put what.

Ok , back to the empty template. I add flowers and elements by accessing the shape tool again {U}. If you click on that blob looking thing {first arrow} you can access all the shapes. The second arrow lets you choose WHAT shape to use and the 3rd arrow lets you choose your color. Just so you know- You can also access the square, rounded corner, ellipse {circle} and Line tool here. They are the boxes preceding the blob

And now for the finishing touches. I save all my templates in PSD,TIFF, PNG and JPG format.{click HERE to see how to convert your PSD into PNGS} Cover all the bases, right? You shouldn’t save TIFF or PNGs with shadows, but you can JPG and PSD. You don’t HAVE to of course, but I personally think it makes the template look better. Every shape I used to make this template came with my program. Anyone can make a template! It’s easy, right? Now, head over to the DSS forum and get your template making skills on! I’m hosting the template exchange and I’d love to chat with you over there. I made this template into a freebie too. You can DL HERE {CUOK} enjoy!