Three Easy Steps to Lighten Digital Papers

Themed collections can easily be used for other things with just a little tweaking. One way to do this is by making some of the elements more subtle. In this tutorial I’ll show you three quick steps to lighten digital papers to make them even more versatile.

This month’s ScrapSimple Club is a great example of how to use a kit in more versatile ways. With a name like Just a Little Love, you might think that it would be difficult to use for anything more than Valentine’s Day-themed layouts, but the beautiful floral papers and the cool Out-Of-Bounds photo frames work with just about any theme — even pictures of four-year-old boys.

Sometimes, floral papers (and other patterned papers) can be a little busy for the background of a layout. Here’s an easy trick to lighten them.

Step 1: Color the paper

If you are using a ScrapSimple paper template recolor the paper. If you are using a paper that is already colored you can skip this step.

Step 2: Create a new layer under the paper

Create a new layer below the paper layer and fill it with the same solid color that you used to color the paper template (or the main color of the pre-colored paper)

Step 3: Adjust the opacity of the new layer

Finally, lower the opacity on the paper layer until it is more subtle. Merge or link the two layers together and it’s ready to be used on a layout.

Have fun stretching your scrapbooking dollar even farther by using themed collections in unusual ways. I can’t wait to see what you come up with, so don’t forget to upload them to the Scrap Girls Gallery!

Tutorial written by Anna Mansfield