Tutorial- Design a Mask (part 2)

Are you ready for the next part of the tutorial? If you missed part 1, go to yesterday's post. Today, we are going to make the mask "pretty" by adding paper to it.

Circles Mask Tutorial
Also known as Design a Photo Mask- part 2

1. Open your circle mask .png file that you created in the first tutorial. If you do not have the first tutorial (Design a Photo Mask), you can download a copy at my blog.

2. Open some paper. I opened Sherbert Paper 1 from my Sherbert kit.

3. Click on the layer that shows the paper and drag it over the circle mask. You should now see the paper only as the mask is underneath it. You should have 2 layers in your layer palette. Close the paper file as you are done with it.

4. Since the paper file is size 12X12 and my mask is much smaller the paper will be too big to show nice detail. In order to show the detail of the paper correctly you need to reduce the paper size to just fit over the mask. You can do this by clicking CTRL + T, then CTRL + 0 (zero). You should see the bounding box. Click on a corner of the box and reduce the size of the paper to just fit over the mask. Click the green check when done.

5. We are ready to make a clipping mask now. See the red circle on the screen above? Put your mouse there… between the two layers. Hold the ALT button down. You should see what looks like 2 black circles joined together. Click. You should be able to see your beautiful circle mask now!

6. Notice what has happened to your layers. The paper layer has moved to the left with an arrow. It has been “clipped” to the layer below. Save as a .png file.

If you liked this tutorial or have any questions, please leave a comment on my blog. Thank you and enjoy! If you want to download a copy of this tutorial in .pdf format, click here. Also, if you want a copy of the circle mask template in .png format, click here.

Here's another example of using a photo with the mask. Please note that I cropped the mask to fit the photo.

Question regarding the "Designing a Mask" Tutorial

Tiffany asked a great question regarding the tutorial on Designing a Mask. She asked if you really needed to simplify. The answer is NO. The reason you don't need to simplify each layer is, at the end, when you merge all the layers together, it simplifies itself. Thanks, Tiffany, for asking that question. You have saved us from having to simplify each step!

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.

Sailing Mini-Kit Alpha

Warm weather is upon us. I hear lawn mowers going, birds chirping, and children outside playing. Spring has arrived here. Do you feel it in your neck of the woods? Here is the alpha for the Sailing Mini-Kit. I made it with the water from one of the photos. Do you prefer Capital letters, small letters, or both in an alpha? By the way, I sure am enjoying the comments that you'll are leaving on my blog and on 4shared. It really keeps me motivated to design more freebies!

Sailing Mini-Kit Elements

Just a quick post to give you the elements to the Sailing Mini-Kit. This looks like the same preview as yesterday because it is but the link will be for the elements. If you missed the papers, go to yesterday's post for the papers. The alpha will be next.

Sailing Mini-Kit Papers

I have for you today a Sailing Mini-Kit that I made at the request of Lindsay. She even sent me some photos and gave me permission to use them in the kit. This preview shows the papers and the elements together but today's download will be for the papers only. I will post the link for the elements tomorrow although it will look like the same preview. I call this one a mini-kit as there are not many elements to it. I know nil about sailing so please be kind. I made the wheel from scratch and, of course, I had to make some buttons. Hope you can use this.

Animal Prints Alpha

I got quite a few comments about this kit. Apparently a lot of you go to the zoo and have pictures so I'm anticipating seeing all of the beautiful layouts that will be done. Here is the alpha to the Animal Prints kit. The zebra stripes are "actual" zebra stripes from a photo that I took. Have a blessed day.