Create
Elements Using Shapes
Tools Used:
PSP 8
PSP Preset Shape
Paper
Embellishment
A Ribbon or String
Set up Tools:
1. Open your
paint shop pro, or graphics
program. I used PSP for this
tutorial, but am sure it can be
easily followed in another
program.
2. Click on the preset shapes
icon  .
3. Select
the shape you want to work with,
in my example I am working with tagroundtop.pspshape,
uncheck retain style, or you
will get ONLY a black
shape appear when you try to
draw. Un-checking this will
allow you to choose color,
outline, fill, pattern or
texture. Note: It will
also allow you to create out of
proportion. ***There is a bit
of a trick, I will tell you
later on of how to keep the
proportions.
4. Now
to set your palette so it fills
with the paper I provided.
Open your paper. As well,
you can open your embellishments
you plan to use.
5. Set your
palette to reflect this (where
bannw_paper is the paper you
want to use):
Make sure
you are choosing this for your
background or fill style. Set
your outline/foreground to NIL.
Now you’re all set to make a
tag using your PSP preset.
Creating
Tag:
1. Open a new
canvas the size you want to
create your tag. I generally
start with a 1.5”x2.5” canvas,
and go from there. So for this
tutorial if you’d like to follow
along exactly, that is what I
will use. You can make your tag
any size you want, and not loose
any quality.
2. Start as
close to the top left corner as
you can, drag your mouse to the
bottom right corner. Now here
is that trick I mentioned
earlier. To keep the
proportions of the shape, hold
the SHIFT key while you do
this. So, click where you want
to start, press and hold SHIFT
key, and drag mouse to the
bottom right corner. Now center
the tag on your canvas by going
to Objects/Align/Center On
Canvas. Voila, you should now
have a tag filled with the paper
I provided.
3. Now, this
is a bit plain is it not? Yes,
I agree. So let’s make it more
realistic. Add a slight inner
bevel to it, so it looks as
though it isn’t totally flat.
This is the inner bevel I used:
This is the
result so far:
You now
pretty much have a basic tag
with texture and depth, but
let’s go ahead and pretty it up
a bit.
Embellishing
Tag:
1. With your
embellishment open, go to
Edit/Copy, and then go back to
the tag we have done so far, and
Edit/Paste as New Layer. Place
the embellishment in the bottom
right corner, or wherever you
want, and add a drop shadow.
(Effects/3-D Effects/Drop
Shadow) I used 0, 0, 80, 20.
2. Now, copy
any other embellishment the
same as we did in the step
above, and paste it to your tag
image.
3. Now, we
need to make room to move your
ribbon or string, so it looks as though
it loops through the hole. So
to do this, I go to
Images/Canvas Size, and use
these settings. (Assuming your
using a 1.5”x2.5” canvas as I
did, otherwise you have to add
an inch to the height, but leave
the width that you started
with.)
4. You now
have room to move your ribbon/string up
into place over the hole. Now
add a drop shadow to the ribbon,
I used the same as I did
previously, and then add a drop
shadow to the tag layer, same as
above.
5. Merge all
layers, and you have completed
your tag.
This tutorial
should give you the basics on
how shapes can be use to be an
effective tool in scrapbooking.
I try to template as much of the
elements as I can so I am not
repetitively making the same
element over and over again.
This is the quickest easiest way
with no loss of quality I have
found to do this.
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