Lesson 30: Adding Transparent Backgrounds to Scanned Items

I was recently asked about how to take regular items--like stickers, di-cuts, buttons, etc--and turn them into an element that can be used in digital scrapbooking. This is not something I have done much of in my own pages, but I DO know how to do it! First of all, this is a tutorial FOR PHOTOSHOP. If you are not using Photoshop or Elements, this tutorial will not help you.

OLD SCHOOL METHOD

1. Scan in your item. Pull that scanned image into Photoshop.
2. Use one of your Lasso tools to cut out the image as carefully as you can.
3. Once it's cut out, do CTRL+J to create its own layer, OR, copy and paste it using CTRL+C, CTRL+V.
4. Save the picture as either a .gif or a .png
**Note: .jpg files cannot have a transparent background. Make sure you file has the grey and white checkerboard background that means "transparent" and then save it as a .gif or .png in order for it to retain a transparent background.

NEWER METHOD

1. Scan in your item. Pull that scanned image into Photoshop

2. Click on the Eraser tool and choose Magic Eraser from the list
3. Click on the background until most of it is gone. It will automatically make a transparent background--no need to create a new layer.
4. Clean it up by using the lasso tool.
5. Save it as either a .gif or a .png
**Note: .jpg files cannot have a transparent background. Make sure you file has the grey and white checkerboard background that means "transparent" and then save it as a .gif or .png in order for it to retain a transparent background.

And now, if you'd rather watch a video that demonstrates this, click below!

Watch the Video! Creating a transparent background in PhotoshopPin It Now!

Lesson 29: Using, Creating, and Downloading Patterns

Tonight I was working on a logo for the school I work at, and found the need to create my own pattern. I don't think I've given patterns much attention on this blog, for all they were one of the first things I learned to do when I started digital scrapbooking. Before I knew about kits and used them, I used patterns to give depth to flat surfaces when I created my wedding invitation, and also my wedding book. Patterns are a great way to make something pop a little bit, and they can be used in my diverse ways. These are some pages from my first two books, both of which were done without kits. I used patterns on the all the backgrounds for the pages.

Let's do a quick practice.

1. Open Photoshop and use your shape tool to draw any shape in any color.
2. Double click on your layer to get into the Layer Styles menu. On the list, check the Pattern Overlay box. You will see your shape take on the first pattern that is the default.
3. Click on the word "Overlay" from the list to bring up it's detailed menu.
4. Click on the down arrow and choose a pattern from the list.
5. Play with the different Opacity and Scale options

You have now used a pattern. There are a lot of other patterns to choose from. If you click on the small black arrow, as shown above, it gives you a long list. Here you can load patterns you've downloaded, but you can also add patterns that come with Photoshop but won't show up unless you add them. At the bottom of the menu (it's cut off in the picture) you will see a list of patterns with names like artists surfaces, nature, rock patterns, etc. You may want to click on each one to append them to your list so you can explore those as well.

Downloading Patterns

Can you get more patterns? I do it all the time! I often do searches for Photoshop .pat files. Here is a site where you can download some basic seamless patterns, to practice this tutorial. Click on the red download button.

When it prompts you where to save it, you will want to be very specific. I have actually created a "patterns" file in my Digital Scrapbooking folder. Any time I download a pattern, I put it there. Once I direct Photoshop to it in my Layer Styles menu, it will always go there automatically unless I change it.

This particular file is a .zip file so you will need to unzip it before you can use it.

Once you have downloaded and unzipped it, go back into Photoshop and into the layer styles menu as we did before. Click on the pull down menu and then the black arrow, as shown in the picture above. Click on "load patterns" and find the file you just saved.

Now when you scroll down, it will show the new patterns you just acquired.

Creating Patterns

Creating your own patterns is actually ridiculously easy. I did this today. I wanted the background to have floating clouds sort of greyed out and hazy, like watermark. So I found a picture of what I wanted and turned it into a pattern. I was then able to put it into my shape and change the opacity and scale as I needed it.

First, pull up the artwork you would like to use. You can create it yourself, or as in my case, just use a photo or a repeating image from online. Any texture file will do.

Go to Edit>Define Pattern. Give it a name.

Now go to you layer styles menu as we already have done and pull down the arrow to show your patterns. At the very bottom you should now have another pattern--the one you just added! It's that easy!

Changing Blending Modes

One little tip as you are playing with patterns is to pay attention to your blending mode. This is especially true if you want to have both a gradient and a pattern on the same shape.

I don't profess to me a master of blending modes, and I only use a few of them for different reasons. But here's just a few tips:

Overlay: If you would like to use both a gradient and a pattern, set the blending mode ON THE GRADIENT to Overlay. This will ensure that you can see both the pattern and your gradient.

Also, if you change the blending mode on your pattern to Overlay, it also changes the look to be more transparent and let the color of your shape shine through better.

The others on the list you will have to test out and see what they do. The only other ones I use a lot are hard light, vivid light, and sometimes multiply. This is not because the others aren't useful, it's just that I have a lot to learn myself!

Here is the finished logo that I created tonight. I ended up using a lot of patterns. The trees have one of the default nature patterns added, the maroon background has a sky pattern that I created, and the wood outer border is from a pattern that I downloaded!

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Play Program Examples

Today I thought I would create a post to share with you all how to make a school play program--something I've been doing in Photoshop for the last seven years. I've just recently finished up the program for this year's play, Oklahoma! so it's been on my mind.
This will be written with the assumption that you will be using some version of Photoshop to do it, though much of it will still be applicable in any program.

First of all, you must decide several things before you begin:

1. How many pages? Is is 4, 8, or 12? Usually I do 8 page programs
2. Will we be getting advertising?  If you do advertisements, consider going up to another page to accommodate them. Also, give yourself plenty of time to get them!
3. Printing: Before you get too far, get some quotes for printing. I've found that its sometimes the same price to get the whole thing done in full color rather than black and white. We get ours printed through FedEx. We usually pay in range of $500-$800 for about 1000-1200 programs.
4. Find some artwork. Do we have a logo? While you don't need a lot of artwork, its nice if you at least have a logo or a theme. My good friend Henry Ballesteros does the graphic design for all our logos each year, and they really inspire me as to what direction to take with each program. You can always find things to add as well--like this year for Oklahoma I found a great picture of growing wheat to go in the background, and some shots of barbed wire that I could use as well. I always have Henry send me the logo and then each part of the logo in peices so I can use them throughout the program. If you are doing your own logo, then it shouldn't be too difficult!

Now that you have answered the preliminary questions, you are ready to gather your information. As I am not the director or even really that involved in the play itself, this is the information I collect from those in charge. You will need to collect at least some of these--depending on what you want to include in your program.

1. First and last names of the Leads and the characters they are playing. I like to do headshots of the leads to go in each program, so figure out which are the 6 or 8 or 9 most important leads--whatever number is right for the play, but no more than 9 in my opinion--and get their info.
2. List of all the chorus members and everyone else actually IN the play. I usually do a mockup of the program and send it around during a rehearsal so kids can mark if their names are spelled correctly.
3. Committee lists--the director, music director, etc. You'll see a sample  in the template of what type of people should be listed here.
4. Tech Crew--I swear this is the hardest one to get because tech crew is often not assembled until the very end. SUCH a struggle every time!
5. Musical Numbers (or scenes) - At this point I usually just borrow the book for the musical and go through to enter the scenes as they are written in the book.
6. Pictures--to me, this is challenging but so worth it. It's what makes the program a keepsake for those involved. I usually coordinate with the director to find a date they are doing a hair and makeup rehearsal that is just before my turn-in date with FedEx. Then I take a few (ok a lot) of photos during their rehearsal. You don't need a ton, but enough to get good shots of the leads and as many chorus people as you can.
7. Special Thanks - I usually a Special Thanks section where we put the names of parents who helped, the costume company, whatever.
8. Ads - if you are doing ads, make sure you have the artwork of each ad ready to go in digital form.
9. Copyright information - When you purchase a play, there are certain copyright verbage you must include on the program. Some companies ask that you send them a copy of your program to prove you included it! The verbage required will be in the Director's handbook that came with the purchase of the rights to the play. Make sure you include this information!

Now that you have your information, time to lay it out! I will continue this tutorial for an 8 page program--or, 2 pages front and back in a booklet. Layout for a program of this size should look like this for page numbers. I usually get blank pages out of my printer and mark them up with  marker, showing where I want each thing to go, before I even touch Photoshop. This is just a suggestion--I don't always do it exactly like this!

This is assuming you have no ads. If you DO have ads, you can squeeze them in on the back page or below committees, add another page, or don't do as many pictures on page 4 and 5.

Entering Text Using Word

When entering in high text information, type in in Word first. Then save it as a .pdf file. Pull that pdf file into Photoshop and it will be treated like a picture. You can't make changes to it--if there are changes you will have to make them in Word and then import them again. BUT--Photoshop is not a word processing program. It's not easy to get it to line up in columns and especially to do the dotted lines leading out to each person's name.

How to get dot leaders in Word 

How do you do that anyway? Well, I DO teach Word for a living, so here it goes for Word 2010. In Word, type the first title (Director) and then on the Home tab go to the Paragraph section and click on the tiny arrow in the lower right corner, as shown above. When the menu comes up, click on the "Tabs" button in the lower left corner. Then, set a left or a right tab with dot leaders, as shown.I usually set my tabs to 3.5 or 4. Test out what you think looks right for your needs.

Now when you press the tab key, you will have dots leading you out to where you set your tab, and you can enter the names needed. You'll end up with something like this. Note--the first half is a left tab at 3.5 with a dot leader, and the second half is a right tab at 4 inches with a dot leader.

Now when you save it, first save it as a Word doc. Then save it again, but this time, change the file type to .pdf when saving.

Add Your Information

From here on out you can add your information as needed. I try to stuff it full of as many pictures as I can! Below I have pictures of all seven programs that I've done--you can get a lot of ideas of how to lay out your information by looking at those examples.

Saving

Make sure when you are totally done, that you save this correctly. You do NOT want to give the printer your psd files because A) they can only be opened in Photoshop B) they are huge and C) If they don't have the fonts you've used, you'll lose your fonts!

So, when completed, first go to Layer>Flatten. This will make all your layers into one layer. Then go to Save As and choose PDF from the list. These PDF files are the ones you want to give to your printer. 

One final note--if you do not want to do all this yourself but would like a program like the ones above, you are welcome to contact me and for a price I can do it for you! Yay!

Examples

Here are the layouts for the last seven years at my school. The older ones are not complete--I didn't save them or lost the files, so some are missing pictures or the center picture page. I KNOW the Cinderella one here is not the final one I finished, but, you get the idea. You can really see that, as my knowledge of Photoshop grew, the quality of the programs did as well. Last year's, for the Pirates of Penzance, was my absolute favorite.

2005-2006 - Bye Bye Birdie

2006-2007 - Guys & Dolls

 2007-2008 - Cinderella

2008-2009 - Seussical

2009-2010 - Thoroughly Modern Millie

 2011-2012 - Pirates of Penzance

2012-2013 - Oklahoma!

For cost, I'll tell you what we paid for this last program for Oklahoma! For 1000 full color programs it was only $442.00 at Fedex. I thought that was a pretty awesome price!

I hope this helps you create the perfect program for whatever your event is!




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Tip 8: Photomerge--merging large scanned images

I actually have this information on the "RealCrappy" section of my blog, but I wanted to give it it's own post to make sure people are seeing it. This is about scanning in 12x12 or just large photos that do not fit on your scanner.

I just love this feature in Photoshop! Its called Photomerge, and is in CS3 and up. I understand it's availabe in Elements but I'm not sure which version. Here are the step by step directions. This is using CS6, but I've done it in CS4 and 5 with no trouble.

1. Scan each side of your 12x12. I actually scan it four times to get all four corners.

2. Open each scanned page and make sure they are all right side up.

3. Save each picture as something more unique. I usually give them the same name with a number.

4. In Photoshop, go to File, Automate, Photomerge.

5. Click on Browse

6. Upload the 2 (or 4) photos that you scanned and saved.

7. Choose collage.

8. Wait. Watch the magic.

9. Now it's all one photo! Click CTRL + E to merge them all together.

10. Use crop to crop it to the size you want and to get rid of any unwanted edges.

11. Save as a jpg. You may want to resize it--it will be pretty big.

And here's a video if you'd like to watch the magic happen!

Photomerge - Scanning 12x12 Photos Video


Wahoo! Love this new feature!Pin It Now!

Why Learning Photoshop is WORTH IT.

Every year I create a calendar for my mother-in-law for her birthday. You'd think that, as a digital scrapbooker, I scrap each page like I do my books. But actually, no. I don't have the time. Her birthday is the end of January and that's a rough time of year. I'm trying to get my yearbook published, and Christmas just got over and I just went back to work, and there is just no time.

So for the past few years I've actually just used Walmart.com to do it. They have a photo section, and you can upload your photos and use templates and just drop them in where you want. As I've spoken to other people who are just beginning to dabble in the digital scrap world, this is what they do for their books. They don't learn Photoshop or any other program--they just go to a site like Snapfish or Shutterfly, choose from a variety of templates, fonts, and elements, and throw their book together in a matter of hours.

I have no problem with this--for some people, that works for them. And heaven knows, to get an entire book done in a few hours? Goodness, I probably spend at least an hour per spread, and my books have about 60 spreads! So I can see the draw for that. Those books may not be as personalized as mine, but they are still beautiful.

This year I dropped the Wal-Mart idea because I hate how they only have just a few templates and backgrounds. I did a search and found Mixbook, which I'd actually heard of before--I'd seen it appear as an advertisement on my own blog! Ha! Anyway, I made my calendar on Mixbook this year and it is SO much better. They had so many templates, but they also allowed you to go in and move the photos after you put them in the template, and resize and zoom in and change the order and stuff. I guess it gave me a taste of what it's like to scrap using one of those sites instead of using Photoshop.

I guess most people I know are just looking for the easiest, fastest way. They don't want to spend the time learning a new program. They are overwhelmed when they open Photoshop, or they see my pages and think that it must be way hard to create something like that. And--to each his own. Do what works for you. But as for me, I am SO GLAD I bothered to learn Photoshop. At the same time, I understand the fear. I just got access to Illustrator at work, and when I open it, I feel that lost overwhelmed feeling I had when I first opened Photoshop, and I remember what its like to feel like it will take forever to figure it out.

But learning Photoshop, for me, has been much more than just learning a program to digital scrapbook. I use this skill I have developed nearly every single day. The other day my sister wanted a poem she wrote to look pretty so someone could put it on their wall. I created a beautiful document using kits. Photoshop. My school wanted READ posters of our teachers to hang in their rooms for a literacy project. I took pictures of each teacher and made lovely posters that hang all over our school. Photoshop. I created these awesome little cars that go on my walls, and the students get to put their names on them and move them as they increase their typing speed. Photoshop. I wanted to give a special gift to the ladies I visit in my neighborhood at Christmas. I made a bar of soap and then designed a personal soapbox for them, with a personal message and the scent of the soap right on the box. Photoshop. A few years ago we couldn't get one shot in our family photo with everyone looking nice. I combined several different pictures seamlessly so you could see everyone at their best. Photoshop. Honestly, I could go all day.

My point is, although it might be easier and quicker to spend a few hours doing a simple book, learning this program is a life skill. It's something that makes you more valuable in the work place. It's something that can be used to enhance your home. Once you figure out the basics, you'll have it open all the time, like I do. You'll constantly see ways to use it. I have used this skill to make myself invaluable at work. Next year a new middle school is opening and many teachers will be surplused. Among other things, Photoshop has been a tool I have used to secure my usefulness at my work. I make every poster, every advertisement, the program for the school play, the tickets, and even the school website. It's not likely they will want to let me go--not when I do so many extra things. Photoshop. I'm tellin' ya--it's worth it!

So take the time. And if you are overwhelmed, read my post on The Five Things. Once you learn those five things, you are good to go and everything else is just gravy. As I opened Illustrator the other day, my first thought was, "Where is there a blog like mine that will teach me how to use this in an every day way?" I'm sure there is one--if you know one, please comment below! I need to get started! What a journey it has been learning this program, and I'm still just a total amateur!

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Quick Tips 7: Lifted Photo Edge

So there is a tutorial that I found the other day that I find I am using ALL THE TIME. I thought I'd reiterate it here on my blog. If you want the original tutorial, you can find a link to it at the bottom of the page.
Anyway, I wanted to learn how to lift the edge of my photo so it looks like it's coming right towards you. For this you need to use the Warp tool which, I'm ashamed to say, I haven't really played with much. Where has this been all my life?

I have used this illusion on several pages--here are some examples:

So for this tutorial I decided to do a video instead of written directions. Enjoy!

WATCH THE VIDEO

I will show how to create this:

If you want to see the original tutorial I learned this from you can find it here:

Creat4u.blogspot.com - Lifted Edge Illusion TutorialPin It Now!

5 x 1 Box Pattern - Perfect for CD's!

So this week I created a new box pattern. I made some CD's for a friend of mine for Christmas, and I needed a box to put them in. Aha! I'll just make one! It's rather ridiculous how much time I spent making a stinking box--more time than the CD's took, but oh well. I'm weird that way. Plus, I knew I would be able to share it with all of you!

The box is quite simple--it's five inches across and one inch high. Of course it can be used for lots of different purposes, and it's a great Christmas box. I also made a Silhouette pattern for it since its just so much easier to cut it out with my Silhouette!

The kits I used for this are both free kits from Peppermint Creative. The bow comes from Party Pants, which is $1.50 here. I made the ribbon myself, and the paper comes from Techno Geek, also at the same site.

Anyway, it's a great pattern! It's large--you will need to do the top on one page and the bottom on another. If you need instructions on how to create a box like this in Photoshop, you can find full instructions on of my many other box pattern posts, like this one: Box Pattern with Lid. My other box patterns can be found the in the Projects Using Photoshop drop down menu on the right.

PDF CD BOX by Realscrappy Lid
PDF CD BOX by Realscrappy Bottom
Photoshop CD BOX by Realscrappy 
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How to Make a Christmas Advent Calendar

So...this post is a little off topic since its about a project I did that has little to do with Photoshop and nothing to do with scrapbooking, BUT--I wanted to post about it and I did use a computer (including my Silhouette) to do a lot of it, and this is my blog! I can post whatever I want! So here it is--my Christmas Advent Calendar. Mine is the one on the left is mine, and the one with the red ribbons on the right is my sister's.

 

We had one when we were kids. As the youngest of five sisters, my turn to put up the daily decoration on the tree didn't come around too often and was most exciting. I remember counting it out and seeing which one I'd have on my day.  I've wanted one for a long time, but this year Afton is nearly 4 and the twins are 18 months--old enough to start the tradition.

I wasn't sure where to start. I saw a few pictures online and on Pinterest, but could find no tutorial for it. Purchasing them is expensive--and I can see why. They are so time consuming to make! This took the two of us about nine hours. So I called up my sister Nicki, who is always my go-to pal for sewing projects. Nicki helped me make the bedding for my twins in 2011.

So Nicki and I got together and pooled our talents. We are complete opposites in so many ways, but have a lot of similar interests. When we do a project together, it seems to work out great because of this difference. She with the measuring/mathy/sewing side and me with any drawing and creative insights. I can sew, too, and I was the one with access to the awesome Silhouette! Yeah, I'm pretty sure she could have done it without me, but I know I couldn't have done it without her! The whole thing only cost about $22.00 to make. It really cut down on the cost to buy the materials together.

Materials Needed:

• 1 yard canvas or burlap (or some other very sturdy material for your background)
• 1/2 yard cotton fabric for the pockets
• 1/2 yard green felt from the roll
• 1/4 yard fabric for the lettering. We used a gold silk I had leftover from my daughter Afton's Halloween costume.
• 10-12 squares of felt from a craft store. We got some of it with the glitter--highly reccommend that. Especially the white glitter. Gets lots of colors.
• 1 inch wide dowel with end peices
• Thick ribbon for hanging
• Glue gun, sewing machine, green thread
• Any other supplies you want to add
• Glitter glue (gold and silver. Made a HUGE difference)
• Various types of ric-rac, braid, and ribbon
• Small sequins, puff balls, rhinestones, etc 

Step 1: Prepare your canvas. The size is up to you, based on the room you have in your house. But make sure to account for the tree and leave room for the pockets at the bottom. We bought 1 yard  60" wide and just cut it in half, one for each of us. Then we just hemmed all four edges. The top edge we left a large loop so that we could thread the dowel through to hang it. When finished, its 33 inches tall and 28 wide, with the edges hemmed.

Step 2: Cut out your tree. I'm afraid I don't have a pattern for this. It really was a work in progress. I made several patterns out of paper before I was satisfied. We made our tree out of three separate peices, so I had three patterns. I just drew half the tree on folded paper, then cut it out double so it was the same on both sides. We decided to add tinsel to our tree--I glued this on before we sewed the tree on to the canvas, but later wished we'd done it the other way around. It was a lot harder to sew on the felt with the tinsel there. The tinsel is just from the ribbon section at Hobby Lobby and was just hot-glued on.

Step 3: Pockets. My sister and I found this challenging because the one we had as kids had 24 pockets, which is easy--4 rows of 8. But we wanted 25 pockets so we could put up an ornament on Christmas day. 5 rows of 5 would make the whole thing longer and our tree would have to be smaller. So we settled on four rows, and made a Christmas tree sort of pattern out of it, with four rows, 8, 7, 6, and 4. We loved the look, and hadn't seen any others online that looked like that. We decided to make our pockets 2 inches tall and 3 inches wide. To make the pockets:

1. Cut four strips out of iron-on interfacing. They should be 12x2, 18x2, 21x2, and 24x2.  
2. b. Iron these strips on to the pocket material, leaving a healthy edge.
3. c. Cut around the strips leaving about a 1/2 inch margin
4. d. Iron the excess margins flat against the back 

Step 4: Numbering. There are a lot of ways to do numbering, but I am SO glad we had access to a Silhouette to do ours! I just got the material and ironed it on to the Silhouette interfacing. Peel off the back then run it through the silhouette to cut your letters out of fabric. I got to choose my font, and the Silhouette makes it easy to size it exactly. I made sure they were just under 2 inches and would fit our pockets just right. They came out perfect! We ironed on the letters before we sewed on the pockets, which was scary because there is no second chance with that! I just made sure to measure every three inches and then sew the number on. You could also just paint the numbers with glitter glue or cut them out by hand.

Step 5: Sew on pockets and tree. Again, this was Nicki's job! I was too afraid! But it was pretty simple. She sewed along the bottom and the edges, and then measured every two inches and sewed vertically up to complete each pocket. Do the pockets first. We left a 1/2 inch space between each row. Then sew on the tree with green thread. This can also be a bit challenging to not let the felt pull at all when you are sewing. The nice thing about doing three separate peices was that we could adjust the tree to fit the space left very easily.

Step 6: Making the Ornaments. This was the most time consuming but also the funnest part! A few of the patterns I drew free-hand. But most of them came from shapes online. So I guess I DID use Photoshop a little for this! I'd find some free Christmas shapes, or download a Christmas Dingbat font. Then I'd pull the shape or the font into my Silhouette and size it to the right size. Then I'd cut it out on cardstock. These became the patterns.

Here's a trick: FREEZER PAPER. This made eveything so much easier. SO glad I read this tip online before we started. You trace your pattern onto the freezer paper. Cut out the pattern just square--don't cut it out perfect. Iron the freezer paper onto your felt. Make sure you iron it just enough to make it stick--I barely ironed it at all. Cut it out. The nice part was that you could use it again. We made all ours double sided, and we were make two sets, so I could re-use the freezer paper pattern over and over again.  Here are some up close shots of some of the ornaments we did.

Step 7: Hanging your Tree. Put the dowel through the loop you made. You can paint the dowel if you want. Add the bobs onto each end. I just used ribbon to tie each end and hang it from the wall.

Step 8: Hanging the Ornaments. This part was something Nicki and I discussed for a while before we decided what to do. The one we had growing up, you just stuck it on the tree, felt to felt. It usually stayed up. But over the years the ornaments got old and handled so much that they fell off a lot. We started to pin them instead. But I didn't want my kids dealing with pins. We also talked about using buttons--just sewing 25 buttons on the tree and then adding a loop to each ornament. But buttons are so expensive! And we'd need 50 of them betweent he two of us! Velcro is another option, and would work great if you can get green velcro. Or magnets--but that seemed expensive too. In the end, we decided to use simple hook & eye. Hot glue the eye onto each one, and then hot glue the hook onto various locations on the tree. One thing I wish I had done is place the eye further down on each ornament so you can't see it--it would have been a lot easier to hang it. Also, you don't get a second chance when putting the hooks on the tree, so place them carefully!

So there you have it. I hope this tutorial is helpful--other than that I'm posting it AFTER December 1st so I guess you'll have to wait until next year!

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3 Ways to Use Digital Kits with the Silhouette

As promised, here is my second post on projects I have done with the Silhouette using digital kits. From what I have learned, there are basically THREE WAYS to create boxes using your Silhouette.

1. The first is the one I gave a full tutorial on in my last post. Using a pattern (either one of mine or one from the Silhouette online library) use a screen capture to pull it into Photoshop. Then create an exact design with the capture as your guide. Pull the finished design as a jpg into your Silhouette software and use Reg Markings to have the Silhouette track your exact pattern. It will cut it out exactly. This is the method I used in my previous tutorial. It's the most time consuming, and the most likely to come out perfect. Also, remember that if you are creating your own pattern, in Silhouette go to File, Save to Library. This way you can use it over and over again!

2. The second method is similar--only its not so exact. I used this method when creating a box for a bridal shower party favor. I did not make this pattern. In the Silhouette, there is a pretty awesome online library. I bought this pattern by Samantha Walker for $.99. I still did a screen capture and pulled it into Photoshop, but I didn't make a template. I just placed the paper and designs roughly where I wanted them, using the screen capture as a guide. It's much quicker and easier than actually creating an exact template, but the problem is, it's a lot harder to ensure that everything will match up perfectly. The words might be off, or the design might not come together exactly as it's supposed to.Still, it also gives you all the Photoshop options like accind shadows and text, etc, that you can't do in the Silhouette.  It takes some trial an error, and if you don't want to have to keep printing copies and wasting paper to practice it, it might be better to take the time to create an exact template and cut it out with registration marks. Still, it turned out very cute. I made little mini soaps and put them inside. It went well--until one of the guests thought it was a chocolate and took a bite...

3. The third method is the simplest and has the least amount of control. You basically don't use Photoshop at all! I was in charge of a baby shower a few weeks ago, and this was what we had for the party favor. Only I had ribbon in the lace holes and candy in it! (wish I'd taken a picture of the finished ones--I had forty of them and they were all different and so cute!)

Again, this is not my pattern--I got this online for $.99 by Loni Harris. But what a cute pattern! I did find it much easier to use a glue gun for this one, though. Anyway, for this one I just opened up the Silhouette software and pulled in the papers I wanted to use. Then I used the edit points button to adjust the paper where I wanted it. I used a kit by Lindsay Jane for this one. This is the easiest method, but you no longer have Photoshop abilities like adding shadows, recoloring or adding text. This screenshot is not of the above pattern, since I don't own it, but of one of my own patterns. This is what it looked like in the Silhouette software.

This is what it looked like printed and folded.

For the type, I just copied and pasted it from Word. You don't want to use the text editor in the Silhouette because then it will be cut out. It worked out just great! This one was hard though because it didn't always line up exactly as I planned--sometimes you place the paper a little higher or a little to the side, and it throws off the pattern. Again--the only way to get it to cut EXACTLY where you want is to use Registration Marks. But they also limit the size of the paper you can use, adding larger margins.

I also wanted to throw in one last box I also made--this was for another wedding shower I was a part of in May for a dear friend fo mine. This was a design by Jennifer Wambach. She did the dress and the tuxedo. For this one I did method #2, but on a much smaller scale.  Here are some pictures of the boxes, filled with kisses, from the shower!

I also wanted to add that I found a really awesome tutorial on this same subject aht, if you are still confused, might be helpful to you. She goes into much more detail about using the actual Silhouette software.

Creative Cowgirl - Silhouette Tutorial: Print and Cut using Digitnal Scrapbooking Kits

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Scrapping Boxes with the Silhouette - Pentagon Badge Box Freebie included!

Today I want to talk about incorporating a Silhouette with Photoshop. Not an easy feat, I can tell you. The two programs are not really meant to work together, so you have to be a little sneaky. Still, I love using my Silhouette, and combining it with my Photoshop skills was a natural progression.

First of all, What is a Silhouette? Well, if you know what a Cricut is, it's like that. If you still don't know what a Silhouette is, it's basically a cutting system. You enter in a design and it cuts it for you. You can cut out paper, fabric, vinyl, use a pen instead of a blade--the possiblities are endless. They cost about $300.00, and you can find them on the Silhouette website if you want to learn more. The rest of this tutorial will be aimed at those of you who have or Silhouette and have a basic knowledge of how to use it.

Now, this baby is a real dream for paper scrappers. I got one at work, and at first I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. I mean, I'm a digital girl. I don't use ACTUAL PAPER. Why would I need it? And of course, for my actual digital scrapbook pages, I don't need it. But there are so many other projects that I do in Photoshop that do require cutting, and this has been awesome.

The main thing I have used it for so far is cutting out boxes. I have taken a few of the box patterns that I have created and turned them into Silhouette files. Here's a quick tutorial on how I do this, and I will also include the Silhouette and photoshop files needed to create this box. It's my Pentagon box, modified to be shorter. I use this for a badge box.

NOTE: If you do NOT have a Silhouette but still want this pattern, you can still download the file at the end of this tutorial. You will not need the Silhouette file, but you can still juse the Photoshop pattern that is like the others I have created on my site.

Here is the written instructions for this tutorial. I also have a two-part video at the bottom of this post if you prefer to watch!

Step 1: First, I create the pattern I want using the Silhouette software. This in itself is an artform that I am not going to explore with you. It will also work to use an existing pattern from someone else, but keep in mind that patterns are copyrighted--if you use this process, don't give out the pattern or sell it or anything like that. Use it only for personal use!

Step 2:  Do a screen capture of it. Open Photoshop and create a 8 1/2 x 11 page. Paste in your screen capture and resize to the full size. From there, I create a template. I added a little to the edges--it gives me a little more wiggle room when it's cut out. Here's the template below. The red lines are on a different layer and can be made invisible when I'm ready to print.

Step 3: Create your design on the template using the kit of your choice, as explained in my earlier box tutorials.  Here's one I made using a kit by Lindsay Jane. Make sure to make the "Overlay" layer invisible before you save it--those lines are only a guide when designing your box. You don't want to actually print them.

Step 4: Now I go to my Silhouette software. Open up the original pattern. Go to file open. Make sure you pull down the file type menu and choose ALL so that you can see more than the Silhouette files in your folder.

Open up your scrapped design and paste it on top of the pattern. Resize the design so they are the same size. You will need to right click on your design and send it to back.

Step 5: Now you are ready to cut! Make sure the Reg marks are showing. Click on the Send to Silhouette button. Choose Click Here to Print. After it's printed, put it on your cutting mat and put it in the machine. Click on Detect automatically. The Silhouette will work for a moment until it identifies all your marks. Once you have the message that it was successful, press cut.

Step 6: You should now have a perfect, scrapped box! Carefully lift your box off the cuttong mat. Fold it on the now perfectly perforated lines, and glue or tape together!

The finished box measures about 3 inches across--the perfect size for an average size badge!

Here are the files so that you can do the above project. It includes the Silhouette pattern of the badge box, as well as the Photoshop file of the badge box template. It also includes a freebie design show below, using JennCK's kit Low Tide. If you need directions on how to design your box in Photoshop, read my pentagon tutorial. There is also a video attached to that tutorial.

Download Badge Box Files

Video Tutorial - Part 1

Part 2

I will be creating another post shortly showing some of the other box projects I have made with my Silhouette, using other, more simple techniques.Pin It Now!