Using ScrapSimple Alpha Templates and Layer Masks to Enhance a Heritage Layout

This free digital scrapbooking tutorial was created using Adobe Photoshop CS2 with a Mac, but should be able to be adapted easily to other systems. If you have questions about how to do this, just ask on our message board!

I have this wonderful old photo my mom sent to me of her family.

I'd like the digital scrapbooking layout to consist of browns and beiges, but I like the book cover spine from this violet paper. With the Marquee Tool, I select the spine area of the paper.

I hold down the Shift key and drag the brown spine from the violet paper onto the beige paper.

Now that I have my background starting to look good, I need to go back and fix the photo border. Because the photo has rounded corners, I'm going to crop the photo to make it neater. I select the Shape Tool and scroll down to the Rounded Rectangle Tool option.

I've dragged the Rectangular Shape Tool over my photo.

To get a selection from my new shape, I'll hold down my Command key (Ctrl key on a PC) and click my cursor on the right-hand box on the Shape layer.

Marching ants now appear around the photo.

While on the photo layer, I make a mask with my selection by clicking on the Layer Mask Icon at the bottom of the Layers Palette.

Now my photo is bound by the selection.

I'd like to have a brown decorative frame behind the photo. I've dragged another digital scrapbook paper from the Bookworm Collection to be behind the photo layer.

To make a decorative frame, I select the Custom Shape Tool and load a frame from Valerie Randall's ScrapSimple Tools - Shapes: Frames 2101.

After creating my digital frame, I make a selection from the shape. With the selection, I make a Layer Mask on the dark brown paper by again clicking on the Layer Mask button at the bottom of the Layers Palette.

After hiding the white shape layer, I can now see my nice, new, brown paper frame.

Now I'm going to add a title to my layout. I've opened a couple of PNGs from the ScrapSimple Alpha Templates: Enchanted.

I dragged the letter PNG onto the letter decoration PNG.

With my Marquee Tool, I select the “F” letter and jump the selection onto a new layer by typing Command+J (Ctrl+J on a PC). Next I select the “F” embellishment and jump that selection onto a new layer as well. I've hidden the letters and embellishment layers so that only the F and F embellishment are visible.

I've dragged the F and its decoration onto my layout and positioned the layers where I'd like them.

To color my F initial cap, I lock the layer's transparent pixels by clicking the “Lock Transparent Pixels” option at the top of the Layers Palette.

I selected brown colors from my layout using the Eyedropper Tool and have filled my F and its decoration by typing Option+Delete while the layers were individually selected.

I've added “amily” in a nice script typeface to complete the word “Family.”

The digital layout is looking nice, but I'd like to add some interest to the background by working in another paper. I've opened another paper from the Bookworm Collection.

To blend the lettering paper into my background paper, I'll add a Layer Mask to my new paper. I click on the right-hand box on my paper layer. I'm selecting the Layer Mask to edit, and not the paper itself.

I make sure my foreground color is black. Now I select my Gradient Tool from the Tools Palette and drag down from the top left to the middle of my layout.

My gradient has been applied to my Layer Mask. Where the Layer Mask is dark, or black, the lettering paper will not be visible in my layout.

The simple beige paper is now blended perfectly into the lettering paper. I can read the word Family, but I also have some nice texture at the bottom right of the layout. I'll add some more embellishments to my digital scrapbook layout, as well as drop shadows, and I'll be done!

Digital Scrapbook Layout by Erica Hite
larger view

Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Alpha Templates: Enchanted, ScrapSimple Tools - Shapes: Frames 2101, Bookworm Collection Biggie, Bookworm Word Art Stickers Mini, Love Always Collection Biggie, and Family Ties Collection Biggie are also available.

Free digital scrapbooking tutorial written by Erica Hite.

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