Tutorial - Designing a Mask

Michelle wanted to know how to create a mask after she saw it in a layout so I thought I would show you how to design a simple mask. This tutorial will be in two parts. Here is the first part.

Design a Photo Mask Using Photoshop Elements 6.0 1. Start with a New File. I made mine 6 inches in width and 6 inches in height with a 300 resolution. Make the background transparent.

2. Click on your Shape tool and click on the Rectangle Tool.
3. Draw a rectangle. Leave some room on the top and bottom as we will be adding to those areas. Simplify the layer. You can do this by clicking on the top bar and clicking “Simplify” or you can right-click on the layer and click “Simplify layer”.
4. Now we are going to add a design with custom shapes. I will be using Design Circles. You can download these for free from http://allsilhouettes.com/design-circles/.

5. Pick a circle shape that you like and add it to the top of your rectangle.

6. Keep adding random circles to the top and bottom of your rectangle. Simplify each layer. When you are done, it should look something like this. 7. Next, merge all layers by right-clicking on the layer palette and clicking “merge visible”. 8. Save as a .png file. You have now made a mask template that you can use with hundreds of different papers. I will show you how to use this mask with different papers in the next part of the tutorial.

If you have enjoyed this tutorial or learned anything from it, please take a moment to leave a comment on my blog. I really appreciate it! If you would like to download this tutorial in a .pdf format, click here. Also, if you would like the circle template in .png format, click here.