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Using the Brush Set Biggie: Strip Calendar
Note: Tutorial created using Adobe Photoshop CS3 with Windows XP.
Have you ever noticed that the seven sets of vertical numbers on any calendar are always the same? You may be surprised to find out that I never gave this much thought until about a year ago - right around the time I designed the Brush Set Biggie: Strip Calendar! I reasoned that if the dates are always in the same configuration, then you really only need the seven sets of numbers in order to create any grid for any month - ever. Want to create a calendar for the month of September in 2010? Just load this brush set and, in just a few short minutes, you can have exactly that! Here's how it works.
Begin by opening Photoshop and loading the brush set. It comes with a grid of seven vertical blocks, a strip for each day of the week, and a set of horizontal day names. The grid serves as the base for your calendar, although you can certainly use the numbers without this if you choose.
Create a 12x12 inch canvas. The brushes were created for an eight inch calendar, but the extra space on the layout will allow you to see how to make adjustments better. I've filled mine with a white background so you can see what I'll be doing with the number brushes.
On the first layer, brush the number grid. On the second layer, brush the first set of numbers. You may want to drag a horizontal rule just below your first number so that you can see where the remaining layers need to align.
Next, create a layer for each of the remaining brushes until you've brushed them all. Your calendar should look like this:
Now, if your month happens to start with the 1st on the first day of the week, you're all set. But, what about when the 1st falls on the fourth day of the week? What then?
To adjust for different days, simply select all of the number layers and drag them to the appropriate day for the 1st. As we've already established, if you get the 1st correct, then everything else will automatically fall into place with these brushes. This screenshot shows what your layout should look like after you've dragged the number strips to the right so that the 1st falls on the fourth day of the week.
Select layers five, six and seven (the ones that are now completely off the grid!) and move them together so that they align with the second row of numbers on the calendar. Your layout should look like this:
The final step is brushing a layer for the day names. See how simple this is? This is how you would make any of the month grids that you would need for a calendar set. If your month has less than 31 days in it, like the one that I've created for September 2010, simply erase the numbers you don't need.
If you really want to save time, save each month as its own PSD file so that you don't have to re-create it each time. For added variety, you can clip a background photo to the grid.
Finally, these brushes are great for layouts that document something that recurs on the same day of the week. In that case, you would only have to brush the set of numbers that correspond to your day of the week.
Layout by Melanie Johnson
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Tutorial written by Melanie Johnson
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