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Layout by Syndee Nuckles
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ScrapSimple Tools - Shapes: Build A Flower 6303
Build your own flowers with this versatile digital scrapbooking custom shape set! These work great to create clusters.
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Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Tools - Shapes: Build A Flower 6303, ScrapSimple Tools - Shapes: Shapely 6301, ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Rhinestones 2 and ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Butterfly Shadows 6301 Mini are also available. |
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Layout by Elisha Barnett
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In the Teal Zeal Collection, you'll find richly textured and papers in vibrant to soft teal tones and a touch of complimentary coral and green hues. It's filled with glittery embellishments and versatile word art.
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If you have praise, comments, or questions for any of our Product Designers or Layout Artists, did you know you can send them a PM (private message) using the Forum? It's easy!
If you are a registered user of the Forum, just click on the "PM" box at the bottom of any of their posts to send them a message. Or, to check out more of your favorite Scrap Girls team layouts, visit the Scrap Girls Design Team section and the Scrap Girls Layout Artist Team section of the Layout Gallery.
Making Brushes Handier and Even More Useful
Thursday, June 7, 2012
IN TODAY'S ISSUE:
- What's New in the Scrap Girls Boutique
- Scrap Girls, Etc.
- Scrap Girls Club
- ScrapSimple Club
- Designer Freebie
- What's Happening at Scrap Girls
- Ongoing Opportunities for YOU
GENERAL INFORMATION
Contact Scrap Girls
Your email address is safe with us. We never share, rent, sell, or loan our list with anyone! If you ever need any assistance, please email [email protected] or call
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The entire Scrap Girls team wants to say how grateful we are that you have chosen to participate with us. You'll never know just how much your support means to us and our families. Ro IMPORTANT TO KNOWDon't forget to check out the Retirement Sale section of the Boutique. Items in this section are always on sale for 30% off. The items you will find during any particular month will be discontinued permanently on the 5th of the following month. So if you see something you like, grab it while you can! OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUSuggest a Challenge, Win a Prize! Have a great idea for a Gallery layout challenge? Submit it to [email protected]. If your challenge idea is chosen, you will win a prize! Friday will be Customer Challenge Day, so keep an eye out on the Message Board calendar. It will be fun to see what YOU come up with for us to do!
Of course, it is a surprise what you will receive because birthday presents should alway be a surprise! Make sure your Forum email address is current and that you have the correct birthdate entered into your profile to participate. |
Scrap Girls sends a birthday gift to each of our Forum members!
TIP OF THE DAYWhat happens if you get an error message when unzipping a file? Delete the file completely off of your computer, reboot, and then download it again to a new location on your computer. This forces your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to give you the good file. If you still get an error message, then email us at [email protected] to let us know, and we can check the file. |
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*ADVERTISEMENTS*
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Today's Scrap Girls, Etc. article is written by a member of the Scrap Girls Forum! Barbara (BarbaraC1977) has shared with us a great tutorial about making brushes easier to use in Adobe Photoshop Elements. Thank you, Barbara!
Making Brushes Handier and Even More Useful
When you install brushes, Photoshop creates a preview thumbnail in the Brush Palette to help you select a brush. You can select "Stroke Thumbnail" for brushes used as strokes; I use regular "Large Thumbnail" for most shape and texture brushes. Unfortunately, Photoshop shows all brush preview thumbnails squeezed to fit in a square shape. This is fine for brushes whose vertical and horizontal dimensions are nearly equal. It is a significant distortion for brushes that are long or tall.
Here's an example, showing Elisha Barnett's Dynamic Brush Set: Decorative Tape 12601:
When you haven't used the brushes in a while, it takes some experimentation to refresh your memory of each brush and how they would look on your layout. If you don't remember the name, hovering over a thumbnail will eventually show the name of the brush preset, but I get impatient waiting for this tooltip to appear.
I like to move quickly and go straight to the correct brush set and brush. I've developed a technique in Photoshop that helps me do this, and I'd like to share it. This technique also works in Photoshop Elements; the steps are almost identical.
Create a square document that measures 600x600 pixels with a transparent background. Then select images to represent the product. In this case, I'll copy in the PNG images provided by Elisha, resize them to fit the rectangle, and arrange them to be visible. I use the marketing image (included in your download) whenever it's a clearer preview of the brushes.
Next, in a clear, readable font, add a title. I use the core product name and the designer's initials. Make the text as large as you can fit comfortably onto the square. The most important characteristic is to make the outer perimeter of the image and text content to be close to a perfect square. This assures the Photoshop preview will be a much more faithful replica of the brushes.
Merge the layers together, and then press Ctrl+Click (Cmd+Click on a Mac) on the thumbnail in the Layers Palette:
You should see the "marching ants" marquee highlighting all areas of the dark image.
Click Edit> Define Brush Preset then name it to match, such as EBA_DecorativeTape. In PSE, click Edit> Define Brush from Selection.
Select the Brush Tool (type B) and then select the brush drop-down arrow on the toolbar:
Click the (tiny) drop-down arrow, and then click the arrow at the upper-right of the window, and click Preset Manager.
In the Preset Manager, locate the newly created label preset at the very end of the brushes and click to select it; drag its thumbnail to the beginning of the Decorative Tape brush set.
The preview is small, but shows the shape of the subsequent brushes, and the text is just large enough to be legible. I could have chosen a single representative PNG file and used a larger font, and it might be even more effective.
Here's another example, showing Dinny's (Diane Miller) Brush Set: Edgy LINES. When I first load the brushes, the Photoshop thumbnails don't give me any clue how they will perform.
Fortunately, Dinny's marketing preview is very clear. When the marketing image shows the brush images clearly for your needs, drag the image into your 600x600-pixel workspace.
Select the borders, white and purple areas and delete them, since brushes are created with a monochrome image. Add the text title "Edgy Lines DMI" and proceed as above.
Now the brush set has a label and a preview that brings order to the squiggly thumbnails to the right.
When the previews are relatively undistorted, such as in Brush Set: Lovely Lace by Syndee Nuckles, you might still want an easy-to-read label for those brushes.
Create a simple text title, using a larger font in a 600x600-pixel workspace. Select the text layer content (Ctrl+Click on the thumbnail in the Layers Palette) as above, and then Edit> Define Brush Preset, then naming it appropriately "Lovely Lace SNU."
To save your brush sets with the labels, open the preset manager in your Brush Palette:
Click to select the label preview and drag it to the beginning of the appropriate set. Click the label preview, press and hold the Shift key, and click the last preview of this brush set. When you've done this correctly, all of the thumbnails in this set will have a heavy border, as shown.
Click "Save Set," then navigate to the desired location, and save the updated brush set with the appropriate name. The next time you load these brushes, they'll be labeled with the design name and designer initials.
This technique helps me identify and use brushes much more efficiently. I hope you find it useful in your scrapping!
Barbara Crane (BarbaraC1977)
Scrap Girls, Etc. is a column pulling bits and pieces from all over Scrap Girls. Stay tuned as Scrap Girls' team members bring you tutorials, musings, recipes, interviews, design/software tips and tricks, layout walk-throughs, and who knows what else!
Learn to make digital scrapbooking layouts and more! – Scrapbook Software Secrets Revealed Ready to learn advanced techniques? – MORE Scrapbook Software Secrets Revealed |
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Join the Scrap Girls Monthly Club and you can have fun with the newest traditional digital and printable scrapbooking looks while saving! (A $40.87 value for $9.99 or less!) The Scrap Girls Club contents are released on the 1st day of the month (or the closest business day to the 1st). With the Scrap Girls Club, you will receive:
June's Scrap Girls Club designed for you by Brandy Murry |
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 Layout by Brandy Murry using June's Scrap Girls Club |
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May's ScrapSimple Club has been created for you by |
Join the ScrapSimple Monthly Club and you can enjoy the newest ScrapSimple looks while saving! (A $13.95 value for $6.99 or less!) The new ScrapSimple Club contents are released on the 15th day of the month (or the closest business day to the 15th). A commercially licensed version of the ScrapSimple Club is also available here. With the ScrapSimple Club, you will receive:
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 Layout by Laura Louie using May's ScrapSimple Club |
Layout by Brandy Murry
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Designer Freebie by Brandy Murry coordinates with her ScrapSimple Type Paths: Shabby Text
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Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Torn Paper Masks are also available. |
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Today's freebie designed by Brandy Murry
* There is a "free download" button on the details page for each gift. You don't need to put them in your shopping cart unless you are shopping for other items. Also note that if you are slow reading your newsletter, you may find this freebie has already been retired, as the freebies are only available as gifts for about two newsletter cycles.
New Member Chat
Tuesday, June 12th - 8:00PM EDT
Join Theresa (tiza126) for the New Member Chat on June 12th at 8pm ET in the Live Chat room lobby. This is a great place to ask questions about getting around the Scrap Girls site or about digital scrapbooking in general - and a great place to make some new friends. All are welcome, new and long time members included. You do need to have Java installed on your computer to access the Live Chat.
High Noon Crop
Wednesday, June 13th - 12 Noon EDT
Join April (April Showers) each Wednesday at 12 Noon EDT for the High Noon Crop. All coasts and time zones are welcome! These crops are designed to allow you to work on your own photos and themes, simply giving participants a one hour goal and a fun, new challenge each week.
On June 13th, we'll do a Photo Manipulation Challenge. Create a layout using a photo you have manipulated in some way - change it to black and white or sepia, remove a distraction, cut out the subject - anything goes!
Create your layout and upload it to the special High Noon Crop Gallery. You'll be amazed what you can get done in just one hour, but there is no High Noon Sheriff timing you! Hope to see you in the chat room!
Speed Scrap Crop
Thursday, June 14th - 8:00PM EDT
It's time for some Speed! Join Carla (CRS) at 8pm EDT for the Speed Scrap Crop! She will give you six tasks, spread out over an hour. You'll then have one hour to get a layout finished and posted in the Gallery!
June's Forum Game: Re-JUNE-venate!
We helped you jumpstart your January and now it's time to re-JUNE-venate your focus on scrapbooking! Join us on the Scrap Girls Forum for "Re-JUNE-venate!" This is a game and challenge that focuses on taking time to scrapbook regularly despite the little "speedbumps" of life. When the month is over you'll have completed several layouts and been treated to some fun along the way.
A Welcoming Committee Member will post a task each Monday through Saturday from June 1-30. The tasks will be formatted in a LARGE PURPLE FONT for ease of locating them in the game thread as it grows. Some tasks will require Forum participation, email responses or gallery posting. Read each daily task carefully to see what is required of you.
Those who complete all the required tasks and submit or post required participation by 11:59pm EDT on June 30th will be entered in a drawing to win one of three $10 Gift Certificates to the Scrap Girls Boutique! Those who complete all the layouts will be entered in a drawing to win one of two $5 Gift Certificates. Each person who completes a layout will be entered – once for each completed challenge page- into a drawing for one of three $3 Gift Certificates.
For complete details, visit the Monthly Forum Games folder on the Scrap Girls Forum.
June Monthly Layout Contest: June is full of weddings and graduations – a time of pomp and circumstance. For June's contest, we want to see your wedding, graduation or other special occasion layouts. Post your layouts in the June Monthly Layout Gallery before Midnight EDT on June 30th and you could one of the two people who will win a $10 Gift Certificate to the Scrap Girls Boutique! Please be sure to list your layout's product credits in the description or under the EXIF Properties.
Club Concepts Layout Contest: Post your new layout using the current club selection (either the Scrap Girls Club or the ScrapSimple Club) in our Scrap Girls Club Members Gallery or the ScrapSimple Club Members' Gallery. Be sure to list all of the Scrap Girls products you used. If your layout is chosen, it will be showcased as a Club Concepts layout winner, and you will win a $5 Gift Certificate to the Scrap Girls Boutique!
Check our Forum calendar if you have any questions about what is happening at Scrap Girls. All event times are given in the Eastern Time Zone unless otherwise noted. Need help converting time zones? Check out the World Clock - Time Zone Converter. (Use 'USA-New York-New York' as the location for the Eastern time zone.)