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Using the Take Two Folded mats

So much interest in the mats and they are really easy to use.. you need only ever use one photo, one mat, a blending mode and you are done. They are also useable in PSP I have been told.

The following samples are if you want to step it up a bit. Step by step what I did to achieve each look.

The mats are available here - two sets, one has a lot more folds, the other more simple. Another way to add interest in your pages. The mats all have a slight grungy texture this just helps the photos 'grab' the texture when you blend. I did use the curve tool on the folded mat layer to whiten up the mat on the climb photo.

My favourite way to recolour

FIRST SCROLL DOWN TO MY PREVIOUS POST TO SEE MY NEW ARTLINES COLLECTION AND READ ABOUT MY ARTLINES COLLECTION ONE AND TWO SALE :-) I would just hate you to miss out.. honestly:-)

Anyone who knows anything about photoshop knows that there is usually several different ways to do things... so this is nothing new and it isnt the only way to recolour it is just my favourite way to recolour part of a page. It is easy and because I am always so indecisive it gives me the ability to 'play' until I get the right colour. So what happens when you find the perfect paper in your 'Tracy Ann' designs stash (because obviously that would be your first choice right? :-) BUT ugggggggggh there is one colour that is all wrong.... but what would be the prefect colour.. maybe it is a sea green .. or pink... hmmm so many different colours that would match my photo which will I choose?

1. First I open my paper.. in this example I used this blue and brown paper from the My Design 'Mocha' series. What? You havent seen this paper well go HERE right now and see :). The design is perfect but I think it needs to be pink for what I have in mind.


2. Next I get my magic wand tool (yes I have stopped calling it that sparkly thingy over on the left).. and with my tolerance set at about 70 and contiguous not checked i click on the blue and watch the marching ants. It didn't quite pick up all that I wanted so I went to SELECT/SIMILAR and it picked up the rest of the blue (sometimes you may need to repeat that step to get the colour picked up or play with the tolerance) and I had the marching ants around the edge and the stitching so now what ever I did the stitching would stay the same and only my rectangle of blue would change.

3. With the selection still made I select LAYER/NEW ADJUSTMENT LAYER/HUE/SATURATION and I check colourized and play with the slides changing the hue, saturation and lightness until I got the perfect colour and my texture was preserved. Be careful when you recolour things that you dont upset the balance of the paper or make colours too gaudy.

4. That is it.. you have changed the colour but you have also made it totally adjustable. To play select the adjustment layer and click on the little box with a slider in your layers palette. This brings up the sliders again and you can play again until you get the right colour. Sometimes I duplicate the adjustment layer and keep my original and play with the second then hide and unhide layers to see the different results. This is really very easy if you need more help PLEASE email me....

In the following design from the My Design Mocha kit paper I changed the blue to a pink and then I tried changing the bottom two panels to soft greens. All of it took me just a few minutes. This is just a simple technique and there is so much more you can do from using your blending modes to photo filters.

Disclaimer: I use Photoshop CS to create. I am no expert and dont ever represent myself as such.... this is just the way I do things. :-)

Making a Brush from a Photo

Thanks so much for the feedback on my tip yesterday :-) I was going to do something else today but I received a comment on this layout at SBB yesterday even though the layout has been posted for ages and it reminded me of this really simple way to make a brush from a photo. I am no expert and there are many ways to achieve the same result in PS so this is just my way and not meant for advanced users of course.
Can I say I love this layout.. one because it uses a not so good photo and two I love the grungy feel which I did using brushes ... brushes can be used in a very subtle way to enhance a layout and that is what I have done here. By the way this kit is available from an Australian site (price is aussie dollars) Karens Scrappin kupboard.
This may also change the way you take photos when you are out! This was on a weekend trip to a heritage village called Sovereign Hill and I noticed this poster and snapped it thinking it would make a great background. So here is how i made it into a stamp and used it on this layout (and others since!).

1. I opened the photo and dragged it on to a new sheet layering it over a blank transparent layer. I closed down the original photo at this time.. I try never to work on the original photo so it is always intact.

2. With the photo layer selected I cropped the photo until I had the part I wanted to use for the stamp.
3. I then went to Filter/Sketches/Torn Edges played with the image/contrast and smoothness sliders until I liked what I saw in the preview window. Clicked ok and let PS do its work (this may take a little while depending on your computer). I then had a crisp black and white photo and using the technique I posted yesterday I selected the white and deleted and cleaned it up a little with my eraser.

4. Once I liked what I saw and had the writing in black and parts of the image transparent I ressized my photo down a little. The size brush you can save in PS is limited so you may or may not have to do that. I then used my marquee tool and selected the part i wanted and Edit/Define Brush Preset.
Your brush should be now ready to use. It will stay in your brush palette but will need to be saved to preserve it permanently. I will have to cover saving another day :-) It is that easy... of course this is a very simple brush and there are a number of filters you can use to create all sorts of effects. The secret is to play!!!! You can also save part of a altered picture by using the marquee tool to select the part you want.
Making brushes is so much fun... I left this brush fairly intact.. stamped it on a separete layer when I added it to my layout and used the eraser and a grungy brush to soften it up a bit. You could do this step before saving it as a brush if you prefer but I like to preserve it a little more intact for more versatility. If you have never tried this I hope you will and let me know how you go :-)

1. Pic one is the layout.. see the horses brush underneath the large photo.
2. Is the original photo of the poster before cropping.
3. This is after applying the filter and before removing the background.

How to make an overlay from a paper

I am self taught in photoshop.... I have learned a few things from books but basically everything I do is trial or error... I dont follow instructions very well if they have more than 3 steps :-). I love my menus.. I know perhaps two shortcuts everything else I do by the menu.... it is something inside of me that doesnt allow me to take a shortcut. It is the same with phones.. no quick touch dialling for me... I use my memory and not the phones and dial every number fully (I remember phone numbers easily). That is why I sometimes have trouble explaining how I did something or giving instructions... but here I am going to try. These will all be very easy so if you are an experienced photoshop user move along :-)

This is how to use a solid paper with a nice distressed finish and create an overlay like the cirlces shown on this layout. I used the circle paper from A Sweet Dream.
or in the bundle A Sweet Set

1. Create a new page 12 x 12 with a transparent background. Open the paper and drag onto your new page with a blank layer beneath the paper.

2. With the patterned paper layer selected use the magic wand tool.... set the tolerance to between 50 to 100 and check that contiguous and all layers are both not ticked.

3. Using the magic wand click on the colour you want gone and wait for the marching ants. In my example I clicked on the white on the circle paper. Now go to Edit/Cut and all the colour you selected should be gone and you should have transparent sections on your paper.

4. To use my circle paper I erased some of the edge circles until I had just full circles and dragged it over the corner on my layout.

Such an easy and fun technique to use, play around and try a differnt solid colour behind, blend, erase.. have fun.
If you liked my little tip.... go buy one of my kits :-) or leave me a comment :-) If you thought it was lame then go buy a kit anyway!
Tracy