Article written using Adobe Photoshop CS6 with Windows 7
The warm summer sun is such a welcoming feeling after the long, cold winter. It reminds me of winter escapes to warmer places and slower paces. Other than fun in the sun, I love to use a needle and thread. However, even during the summer, a busy schedule and the lack of more hours in a day keep me from using them. So why not create some digital stitching on my scrapbook layouts?
Want to make your photos look as if they are sewn on the page? Here’s how to achieve that!
Before you start, choose the Brush Tool. I used the Dynamic Brush Set: Stitching 6401 and chose the V-narrow brush. After you choose your stitching brush, select the size of the stitch you want by moving the slider to the left (smaller) or right (larger). I decreased the size of the brush to 35 pixels. Once that is set up, make the foreground color the color of the desired stitching.
When your brush and color are set, make a new layer above the photo to stitch. This will keep your photo layer untouched in case you want to change the stitch.
The rectangular photo is easy. With the Brush Tool selected, click on a corner of the photo. Hold Shift and continue to click each corner and you will have created straight digital stitching lines.
I want my second photo to be an oval shape. I don’t trust myself to freehand-draw a perfect oval, so I will create a path. To do this, make an oval selection by using the Elliptical Marquee Tool and then click on “Add a Mask” at the bottom of the Layers Panel.
Now that I have an oval-shaped photo, I need to “stitch” it. Press Ctrl+Click on the layer mask to make the selection. Then switch to the Paths Panel and click on the “Make Work Path from Selection” icon (this makes the path you will want to add a stroke to). Click on the small triangle on the right to access the flyout menu. Choose “Stroke Path” and then be sure the tool to use is a Brush. Click OK.
There you go! You have now stitched your photos to the layout.
Now, get out those digital stitching brushes and “stitch” the summer away! Digital scrapbooking can combine some of your favorite hobbies in ways you never imagined. I’d love to see what you make, so be sure to share your layouts in the Scrap Girls Gallery!
Commercial license versions of Dynamic Brush Set: Stitching 6401 are also available.
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