Welcome to my video tutorial series about digital scrapbooking in Photoshop Elements 6.0 (PSE).  In this series, I will be guiding you through my process of creating a digital scrapbook layout using a pre-designed layered template that comes in the form of a .psd file, or a Photoshop file.  The process will be similar in other versions of Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, as well as on a Mac versus on a PC, although there may be slight differences in how some tasks are accomplished.  However, in these videos, I will be focusing solely on Photoshop Elements 6.0 on a PC. 

     Before I begin, I want to state that there are many different methods to do almost everything in Photoshop, and you have to find what works best for you and your style and workflow.  Throughout the videos, I will try to mention anytime I am doing something that I am certain there is another way of accomplishing. 

     The first tutorial video will be a brief orientation to the PSE 6.0 editing workspace.  I will describe a few of the tools in the Tools Palette, explain the importance of the Layers Palette, and point out the Project Bin and the Menu Bar.  

     One small note:  the tutorials are best when viewed in high definition and at full screen.  To change the video to HD, you will need to adjust the resolution to 720p.  To open to full screen, click on the square shaped icon in the lower righthand corner of the video player.

    The next video tutorial describes the process of opening photos into Photoshop Elements and creating a new blank document for creating a scrapbook page from scratch.

     The layered .psd template that I am going to open and begin using in this next video was designed by a scrapbooker named Ali Edwards, who creates digital templates and elements for DesignerDigitals.com.  You can find her available digital templates here, and I highly recommend visiting her website for daily project ideas and inspiration. 

     One thing I want to note about the changes that I make to the template in this video is this:  when I save my project for the first time, which is something I recommend doing early in the process, although I do not demonstrate this in the videos, I make sure to rename the document to the title I plan to use on my scrapbook page.  By doing this, any changes that I have made to the template will not be saved to the orginal .psd file.  That way, I still have the option of using that template again in the future, if I so choose.  I will discuss the process of saving your files, both in the form of a .psd and in a .jpg format, after the final video tutorial. 

     Another thing to note before watching this tutorial is that, when I am clipping the photographs to the square shapes where I want them to appear, I mention an "interlocking circles" cursor which should appear when the mouse is hovered over the line between the two layers while holding down the ALT key, but unfortunately the video does not pick up this cursor change for some odd reason.  Please trust that it will be there when you follow my instructions on your own version of Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.  In this following video, I also mention another way to accomplish the same clipping task.

     In this video, I begin adding patterned papers to the digital template and we can begin to see the scrapbook page take shape.  For the background paper, I demonstrate how it is sometimes possible to adjust the color of a digital element to better match the colors being used in the project.  

     In the previous video, after making changes to the pink paper I wanted to use, I chose "Merge Visible" in the screen where the adjustments to the paper were made.  If there had been other layers open in this window, choosing this option would have merged all of the layers into one.  This is not something that I would normally do within a working project, because I want to ensure that I will be able to go back and make adjustments to individual layers further on in the process if I choose to.  Almost the only situation in which I choose to merge layers in this way is exactly the scenario in this video:  if I have changed an element in some way before pulling that element into my working project, I merge the layers to simplify the process of moving that element and to ensure that the element layer and its adjustment layers do not get separated.  After moving the element onto my project, I close the window in which I made the adjustments without saving the changes that I made.  This means that the element will go back to the way it was originally.  If I liked the newly created element enough to want to use it again in the future, then I would need to save it with a new file name, so as not to lose the original version.

     The next video illustrates how I add embellishments to my scrapbook page.  One embellishment that I want to discuss in a bit more detail than I do in the video is a "brush."  Photoshop Brushes are meant to be similar to actual artists' brushes, in that the Photoshop user can use brushes to draw or paint, in order to create designs or alter elements.  Photoshop comes with a variety of different brush styles, such as basic shapes like circles or squares, grids, sponges, and other shapes, but a brush can be created from almost any single color shape or image, including text.  Brushes can be created by the Photoshop user or downloaded from the internet.  The brush that I use on this scrapbook page is a word art image. 

     In the video, I choose the "Brush Tool," and then select the image from the menu that appears.  A brush will only appear in this menu if the brush file, or .abr file, is located in the brushes folder of the Photoshop software being used, which, for me, can be found here:  C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop Elements 6.0\Presets\Brushes.  If a .abr file has been downloaded to your computer, but not moved to this folder, it can still be loaded manually into your software by using the Preset Manager, which can be found in the Edit menu, as well as from the menu of brushes that opens when you are selecting brushes from the Brush Tool.  

     If a brush is added directly to a layer that already contains an element, it cannot be moved or adjusted on its own because the brush image has essentially been stamped onto that layer like a rubber stamp.  For this reason, if you wish to have more control over an image that you want to create with a brush, then you need to open a new layer, as I do in the video, and then add the brush to that layer.  By doing so, as you will see, I was able to resize my brush image, and I could also have recolored it if I so desired.   

     The final video covers a few finishing touches to the nearly completed digital scrapbook page.  In it, I show how to add a stroke or outline to the thin white frame that was included with the template to help it pop off of the polka dot patterned paper background.  Strokes can be added to almost any element in the same way that I demonstrate here, and you can also choose "Fill" in the Edit menu, which is the option just above the stroke option, and fill an entire layer or the entire image on a layer using a very similar process as adding a stroke.  The only thing to remember is that, if you want to only fill the shape that is on a layer and not the whole layer with a color, then you need to make sure that the "Preserve Transparency" box is checked in the fill option window.

     I also address Drop Shadows in this video.  There are countless ways of adding drop shadows, but you have to simply play with them until you find a shadow style that works for you.  The point of adding drop shadows is to make the elements on your scrapbook page appear to be more realistic, and this requires a certain degree of attention to detail to accomplish.  Mainly, you have to keep in mind which elements will be farthest off of the page and which ones will be the flattest, and this will help you in the decision making process regarding the size, distance, and opacity of the drop shadows you add to various elements.

    Once your page is complete, or better, once you have begun making significant progress to it, it is time to think about saving your page for future access.  Until you save your project for the first time, you are simply making changes to the layered digital template you are using, or to the blank document you opened.  If you want to keep the digital template in its original form to be able to use again in the future, then you need to save your project using a different file name.  I usually choose to name my files with the title of my scrapbook page, so the layered file for this scrapbook page would be This_Is_Why.psd.  If I close and reopen this document after saving it, all of my layers will reappear, but anything I had open in the Project Bin will need to be reopened.  The great thing about digital scrapbooking is that you can work on a page for awhile, save and close it, and come back to it later on. 

     When you are completely done with your project, you should also save the file as a .jpg, or a picture file, so that you have the option of printing the scrapbook page, including it in a photobook such as the kind you can create on Shutterfly.com, posting the photo of your page to the web, or sending it in an email.  Some people choose to flatten their image before saving it as a .jpg, which works in much the same way as the "Merge Visible" option I described earlier, but I do not choose to do this.  My main reason for this choice is that I want to be able to go back to my .psd file later and make changes if I find a typo or need to adjust a shadow or something.  If the .psd file contains only a flattened image, I will no longer be able to access any of the individual layers.  So, I skip the step of flattening my image before saving my page as a .jpg.  I simply go to File--Save As--, and choose .jpg as the format.  When I am done, I have two files associated with each digital scrapbook page, the layered Photoshop document in the form of a .psd file and the completed image file in the form of a .jpg file.

     If you are a beginning digital scrapbooker who has dipped your toes in the water or a complete novice who is toying with the idea of diving in headfirst, I hope that this video tutorial series has given you some confidence and armed you with enough useful Photoshop skills to begin creating your own digital scrapbook pages and to start preserving your memories in a way that you and your family can enjoy for years to come.

If you have questions or comments for me, please feel free to leave a message below or email me at rnvt19@yahoo.com.