Digital Scrapbooking Kits

April 29th, 2009

The art of digital scrapbooking is getting more popular everyday. When people first decide they want a digital scrapbook they usually start at the normal place. Google the term ‘digital scrapbooking kits’ or similiar things. This is definitely a good way to get a feel for the world of scrapbooking but there are also other ways.

If you are looking into digital scrapbooking perhaps you found it by first searching for some software that helped you do that. If so, check the site you found out about it and see if they have any tutorials, downloads or free kits of any sort. Sometime the very first place you heard about it will be the best place to keep looking.

A good digital scrapbook will consist of great pictures, layouts and the look that time went into it. One good way to skip the hard beginning parts is simply to use a template to get you on your feet. Most people who just start out doing will use one of the templates to get them going. Don’t think of it as cheating, just think of it as skipping the hard part at first. You will want to eventually go back and do it yourself most likely because this is the way you gain the most control of the scrapbook you are creating.

You can find some good digital scrapbooking downloads on some of the more popular sites and this is definitely something you want to consider. Digital scrapbooking templates really do get you ahead of the game and if you are just starting out you can find some good ones on the first pages of the search. Don’t be afraid to just start clicking away until you find out that really sticks out to you and go from there. Some really talented artists create some great layouts and will teach you scrapbooking arts with tutorials.

There is even a digital scrapbooking magazine for the hardcore dedicated people and don’t be afraid to jump in and start reading. You won’t want to read too much before you just delve in though so keep that in mind. Doing and failing is alot better than just reading about it and never getting your feet wet.

Digital Scrapbook Kits

April 24th, 2009

Welcome to Seaside Scraps, this is a place to let your creativity grow and home of the Biggest kits this side of the sea! We will always have digital scrapbook kits great in size and quality! Be sure to stop in our mall and browse our many wonderful items for sale and be sure to check out our freebie section too, always a goodie to be found!

We are here to help you organize and preserve all those long collected and cherished memories of those birthdays, anniversaries, and family events, every thing from school events to just a day at the park. You can always find that something you need to add that extra touch to any photo!

When you want to find the right kind of digital scrapbooking kit you need to make sure you look around and find the best one for you, don’t just settle on the first one you find.

Digital Scrapbooking is the latest and greatest in being able to turn your images into a scrapbook on the web. There are no needs for pins, tape or corkboards, those are things of the past. Use the latest technologies to get done what you need done and have no mess to clean up afterwards! Digital Scrapbooks make it easy for anyone with a camera and a computer to make the most of out their images by creating a collage on the internet and doing it with ease. Use already made background images to spice it up or create your own. That’s the beauty of digital scrapbooking!

Displacement Tutorial

April 24th, 2009

Displacement mapping is a really cool technique that I myself just learned about a month ago. This tutorial will be done using Photoshop. This can also be done in Elements as well. Okay, let’s get started!!

I will be using a paper from L.C. Potts Woodworking kit as the background for this technique. Anytime I make a LO, or use a background paper.always either duplicate it, or place it on a new document. This way.am ensuring that I do not accidentally overwrite the original. The first thing I want to do is open up the document I wish to use as the background.

We need to save this as a displacement map. Once again, make sure this is a copy and not \the original. To turn it into a displacement map, go to image>mode>grayscale.

Now, we need to save it , so we can use it later. This file needs to be saved as a .psd file. Save it to a place where you know you can find it later. I save mine in a folder called displacement maps. Okay now that we have our displacement map saved, we can get to work.

Open up a COPY of the ORIGINAL background. I have also opened up the photo I will be using. With the photo layer highlighted in the layers palette, go to filter>distort>displace.

Depending on the amount of distortion you are looking for will determine what values you enter into the box. Since my background has more vertical striations.chose to
make the vertical scale larger. This is a trial and error kind of thing, you have to play around with it until you get the desired effect, but I think this will work just fine.

Once you click okay, it will ask you for the file. You will want to open up the file we saved previously as the displacement map from above. Once it is applied, you picture
will distort slightly, but we are not done yet.

This is what it looks like after the displacement map has been applied: You probably can’t see much of a difference from this image, but there is a slight
displacement. The next step is to ctrl click on the photo layer to make an outline selection. Highlight the background layer and hit Ctrl-J to create a copy of the selected
portion of the background.

Now we want to move our copied piece above the layer of the photo. With the copied portion highlighted, go to image>adjustments>desaturate. Once you have desaturated the layer, change the blending mode of the layer to linear light.

This is what it will look like!! You can adjust the desired look by doing one of two things. You can adjust the opacity of the upper layer, or you can adjust the levels of the upper layer to get the desired effect. To adjust the levels, go to image>adjustments>levels. Play with the sliders until you get the desired effect. This is
lots of fun and you can make some really cool LO’s with this technique!!! I like to use this technique if I am stamping or painting on to my page as it really enhances the effect!!

NOTE: Once you have done this, you can not move the photo, as everything has to line up perfectly for this technique to work right.

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Digital Color Scrapbooking

April 24th, 2009

Designing a layout with color is so much a personal preference. We could all scrap the same picture and come up with a different color scheme. There are many awesome articles on how to pick colors for your layout on the internet. I have listed a few below for you to check out but do a search on google and you will find many more.

Basic Color Theory. First we must understand some common terminology about color.

Monochromatic: A layout that uses only one color with different shades and hues. Analogous: Two to our colors adjacent on the color wheel.Complimentary: Two hues directly opposite of each other on the color wheel. Triadic: Three colors equally spaced on the color heel. After reading all the above articles and doing a little searching are you still color challenged like I am? I often find that the case when I start a new kit. Will the colors look alright together? There is an easy solution to that problem. I got online window shopping. My kit Stars and Stripes was totally inspired by my shopping trip. I found bedding set for a teen girl’s room and used it for my choice of colors.

I bet you are wondering how I match the colors exactly. It is quit simple. Using my color dropper, I placed it over the color I wanted to use and click on it. The color now appears as my foreground color. It also shows the red, green, and blue color numbers on my screen. I can also find the HTML code and other information by clicking on my foreground color. You can use the same technique to pick colors from a photo to determine what colors to use in your layouts.

Paper scrappers often search for the perfect piece of paper to scrap a picture. Although I love that you search for the perfect kit to scrap your picture as your purchase is what pays the bills so we can post these tutorials, you don’t always have to buy another kit to scrap that favorite photo. Another example would be that you love a kit so much you want to use it but you have all boy pictures and everything in the kit is pink. You can change the color of anything when you digitally scrap. I am going to show you how to change a simple piece of paper to different colors using different techniques. Changing the color is not limited to what I show you here so experiment and find that perfect color for your photo.

The easiest way to change the color of a piece of paper but getting the right shade might be challenging. I want to change my color to blue. First I click on my foreground color and find the shade of blue that I want to use. I now know the hue and saturation numbers and if you are like me and forget easily right them down. Now go to Color, Colorize and enter the hue and saturation numbers. Not exactly the color I was looking for but a start. I can now play around with the brightness and contrast to get the results I want.

There are others way to change the color also. Using the layers blend option is a fun way to get fantastic results. With the original color, I add a new layer and flood fill with my color of choice. In PSP the layer blends can be found right on the layers palette. There are many layer blends and by just changing the layer blend mode you can get very different colors. Here is another result using the same layers but changing the blend mode. Remember, have fun with color. There is so much you can do with your graphics program by just trying a few different things. Please do not share this tutorial with anyone. Instead please give them the link to our tutorial section.

Texture Scrapbooking

April 24th, 2009

Textures and creating new textures are my personal favorite part of designing. I am always experimenting with new ways to use textures and making new textures. Before we get in depth with this subject, if you don’t have PSP, you will need to download the plug in Simple Filters from Simple Filters. Then install it as a plug-in in you programs plug-in folder. You don’t have to limit yourself to the textures that come with your program. You can make your own and although these are usually applied for you in the kits you purchase, you may want a special textured paper or you can even apply texture to your photos for a different effect. Textures need to be seamless tiles or you might get a funny look when you apply a texture usually it looks like there is a small space between each repeated tile.

The first step is to decide on a picture you want to make into a texture. I am always taking pictures for this purpose but sometimes just don’t have the right one. If you need a picture to turn into a texture you can find some fantastic ones at the Stock Xchange. This is the picture I will be using to make my new texture which I got at the Stock Xchange. First change the picture to grey scale. In PSP because I like my tiles to be square, I use the square selection tool to select the area I want to use to make my tile. From this picture alone, I could make a few different textures. The area you select does not have to be large in size; in fact texture files are rather small.

You can see the area I selected. In PSP go to Selections – Convert to seamless tile. As it is quit large, I reduce the size and then save as a bmp in my texture folder. This is my result reducing the size to 1 x 1 at 72 dpi. Not sure I like it so I go back and change the size of my texture as I never closed the texture so I can undo the size change I made. I saved the texture at its normal size and this is the result I got which I like much better.

Now that we did this in PSP, for all of you other users lets do it using the simple plug-in. You do it the same way until after you select the area you want to use to make the tile. Now go to filters (plug-ins) simple filters quick tile. It will show you the results. Click apply. It will place you tile right in the picture you are using.

Just copy and then paste to a new image. You now have your seamless tile. Save it in your texturizer folder as a jpg. Note to DIP users: DIP does not allow you to add textures but if you have the texturizer plug-in you can use that in DIP. I tried to find the free download on the web but the site is gone and I am not sure where to find it. If you own any Adobe graphics programs, the texturizer is included and you can tell DIP where to find this plug-in in your preference. Please do not share this with you friends instead give them the link so they can download it themselves. You may use this tutorial for any personal or professional use but you may not claim this tutorial as your own.

Tags: Digital Scrapbooking, digital texturing, scrapbook tutorials
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Folded Corners

April 24th, 2009

When you deal with digital scrapbooking a lot it helps to take the time out and look at other people’s digital scrapbooks to get a headstart on what people are doing. Sometimes you will find a good scrapbook that was created with a lot of research and it helps you skip the hard parts.

Making the fold is the easy part it’s getting the shadow right that is the tricky part. This tutorial is written using Photoshop. Use the polygonal lasso tool to draw a selection outline in the shape of a triangle in one of the four corners of your image. Once the selection has been made, go to layer>new>layer via cut. This will put your new triangle piece on its own layer.

At this point you have a few choices. You can change the color of the fold to white, or you can leave it the same color as it is. If you are working with a patterned paper, you can pick a color that matches the patterned paper to apply to the “fold”. It all depends on what look you are going for. For the purposes of this tutorial, I am going to choose a color that matches the paper. Now you need to get your fold pointing in the right direction, so with the triangle layer highlighted, go to Edit>transform>rotate 180.

I left the selection outline on to make it easier to see where the fold is. Okay, now you have your fold. That’s the easy part, now to get it to look like a fold, this is the hard part. You will need to create a custom shadow. To do this, ensure your “fold” is selected, hit Ctrl-J to duplicate the layer. Hit D to return the color chips to their default setting and with fill the “fold” with black, but using alt + backspace. Make sure there is an outline selection around it, or it will fill the entire layer with black, you only want the triangle filled.

Move the “shadow” below the original “fold”. If it’s easier for you, you can always rename your layers to keep track of them. With the shadow layer highlighted in the layers palette, go to filter>blur>Gaussian blur. Adjust the slider anywhere between 2 and 3. Lower the opacity of the shadow layer to around 50%. I set mine at 48% because that is what looks good to me. Select the smudge tool . We are going to use this to pull the middle edges of the shadow outward and pull the three points of the shadow inward.

You need to play around with the size of the brush until you get it where you need it. I set my brush to 90 pixels and a strength of 50%. The image above gives you an idea of what you will be doing with the smudge tool. To get the desired effect you will need to practice. I have only pulled out the middle portions so far. You can stop here if you like the desired effect, but if you want to add more realism, you will need to add a highlight to the fold itself. To do this, you will need to use the dodge tool.

I normally set it at midtones and then somewhere around 10-20%. I have the size set to 40, but once again that is something you will need to adjust depending on the size of your fold. Then you want to brush across the top of the fold to make the highlight. Okay, now I have my highlight on the top of my fold. Now using the burn tool, I will do something similar but I will hit the tip of the fold and the back edge of the fold. Here I added a bit of burn to the tip, and then some along the back edge, all you need to do now is apply a shadow to the mat. Create a new layer under the MAT. I use a soft edge brush for this. Make sure your color is set to black and click the brush at one end and then shift click and the other end of the fold to get a nice straight line. Then lower the opacity of this new layer to create the shadow for the mat.

There you have it!! This technique does take lots of practice, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be flipping and folding all the time. I tried to make this as clear as I could, but without images it can be kinda tough.

Tags: Digital Scrapbooking, folded corners effect, scrapbooking tutorial
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