Book Design and Imaging
if anyone wants a few photoshop scrapbook layouts..I got really bored with booksmarts limited layouts and inabiltiy to move things around on the page so I finally figured out how to make layouts in photoshop. clipping masks and drop shadows are so cool! I have NOT printed these pages yet so I don’t know if they will print well or not. But, I did spend a lot of time on the layouts and would be happy to share them with anyone who wants the .psd files to play with. you can insert your picture intead of mine and eaisly change anything else like the background, size of containers etc. they are for 10×8 landscape. Anyway.. I thought it might help somoene out that is having a hard time figuring out the whole "create your own layout" thing. I think there are about 10-12 pages that i can zip up. Let me know your email address and I’ll send them your way. 
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A VERY generous offer that I am happy to take you up on. tony_frankland -at- btopenworld.com Many thanks, ........Tony |
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I would love to see what you came up with! Thanks. See me or my art at www.timeship.tv |
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I would love to see your layouts. Maybe I can get a little better at PS
PS Liked your book. How did the cover issue you mentioned work out? |
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Very much appreciated offer! I would love to see your layouts and try this out for myself! I have just downloaded BookSmart so I am a complete beginner… bjarte(dot)fronsdal(at)gmail(dot)com Thanx!!
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just a quick update.. I’ll do my best to zip these up tonight and then I’ll post a link where you can go downloadthe zip file. custom layouts are really easy to make though with the use of a clipping layer. for those that don’t know what that is.. here’s a really quick and dirty tutorial.. open a new doc. 9.61×8.24 inches create a new layer and use your shapes tool to draw a shape (circle square.. whatever makes you happy) onto the new layer then, go to file and open and open the photo you want to be seen in that little shape you just drew. use your pointer tool to drag that image onto the page you are working on. it should automatically create a new layer when you do this. make sure you photograph layer is above your shape layer. then, on the photograph layer, right click on that layer and click on "create clipping mask" now your picture will only show where the shape you just drew is. you can drag the photograph around to position the photo inside. If you want, you can use ctrl T to re-size your photgraph (be sure to hold down the shift key while you do this so you keep the dimentions). Then, once you have it positioned how you like it, you can hold down control while you select both the photograph and the shape layers. once they are both highlighted, right click, and choose "link layers" since the layers are now linked, you can use your pointer took to click and drag the resulting photo to whereever you want on your page. Really, that’s the jist of it. I was making it WAY too hard and confusing to make my own layouts. I then added backgrounds, scrapbook elements etc.. and layer effects like drop shadows etc.. but really, those are just if you want more "scrapbooky" kind of stuff. If you want just really clean lines that work well mixed in with the booksmart layouts, the clipping mask is the only thing you really need so give it a try ;)
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I would really like to see how you do it. Can you record the process and make it into an action in phostoshop? |
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I would love to see your layouts. I am new at photoshop and i need some type of guide. |
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Where can we download these templates? Is there a link to some other website or on Blurb, by chance? |
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Okay! finally found time to finish it up. here is your link where you can download the layouts
please understand that these are LARGE files becaues they contain layers. They can only be used in photoshop. Hopefully these will get you started. I know I like to have a working example when I’m trying to deconstruct something in order to figure out how it was done. I left my own pictures intact. Once you replace them with your picture, just delete the layer containing my pictures. let me know if this helps ya!
Amber |
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Thanks alot. I’ve been playing with one of your pages for awhile and I think that I am actually learning something! I’ve now got a whole bunch of new ideas that I have to try… Joe PS Nice looking family! Hope than everyone had a nice Christmas. |
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please send =) THANK YOU! email: ashl3ii@gmail.com |
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I would love to see your layouts. dreichenborn@cox.net I am just beginning and am confused but will find my way through I believe. I am pleased to know that all of you are out there and would/could possibly give advice if needed? Thanks for sharing. Danny |
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Sounds Great! digital safari ( a t ) y a h o o . c o m |
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I’d like to have them too … please send to gardenia.oz@gmail.com .. thanks! |
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How did your upload the layouts to Blurb? I thought that they only accepted layouts made in their software?
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Once you’ve finished a page in PhotoShop, save it in .jpg format, and then upload the entire page as one image to Blurb. |
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please send.. and thank you!! .. splum@bristow.k12.ok.us |
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I’d love to have these as well! Thank you so much! bklyn812@gmail.com |
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ambychelle – will these templates work in Photoshop CS3 for MAC? |
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i have no idea if they would work on a mac they are .psd files .. if you can use those, they should |
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Please send me your templates-I am a new Blurb user and need all the help I can get! Many thanks, Betsy |
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Murphyspubli, Adobe Photoshop CS3 are supported on Macs and Windows. You will be able to open native Photoshop files all across the platform regardless. It is important to note that if someone saved native PSD files on latest version of Photoshop CS3, and if someone else wanted to open PSD (saved on Ps CS3) might not be able to open on older version of Photoshop CS3. Always a good idea to update and KEEP all of essential “toolbox” apps up to date. |
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Opps, when I say “older version”, I meant that any OLDER versions of Photoshop BEFORE Ps CS3. For example, if someone still use old Photoshop, say Photoshop version 5, trying to open .psd (the one saved on Photoshop CS3) – that person will not be able to open that file. So that means that person is out of luck not able to open latest version of PSD files on older version of Photoshop. |
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I would definitely be interested. Always anxious to try new things. I have been using a scrapbooking software, but this sounds interesting, too. Please email to wjukich@hotmail.com. Thanks, Wendy |
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On this same vein, I would like to find one software that will do soft edges and will do drop shadows on 3 sides of a photo . I saw one book in Blurb that had great photos with black 3 sided shadows on a white background and they looked very professional. I know it can be done in Photoshop, but it’s time consuming to get all 3 sides just right. I end up using different softwares for different layouts because one will do one thing and not another, etc. |
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wjukich, As for soft edge and all that, it can be done in Photoshop with layers and techniques offered in Photoshop itself. For other creative aspect of uniqueness or such remarkable creative stuff, it can be done with variety of layers to put in soft edge. Possibilities are endless! For those who want to learn how Photoshop works, be kindly advised that it is very complicated app to work with for first timers. They might feel overwhelmed working with Photoshop app. To reduce such overwheleming experience, perhaps a good idea to participate and register for a educational seminar or workshop or CES class at local technical college or university. Or even right on any cruise ship that offers some simple workshop on how to work with Photoshop for first timers or new Photoshop owners. That is my two cent advice. |
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I would be very interested too. I just heard of Blurb and BookSmart a few days ago. Previously I have used MyPublisher and have been very happy with the results, but after looking through the bookstore here, I can see way more potential. If you could send to don.v.ius@gmail.com that would be excellent! Thanks so much in advance for your willingness to share your expertise and time. |
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great photos with black 3 sided shadows on a white background and they looked very professional. I know it can be done in Photoshop, but it’s time consuming to get all 3 sides just right Wendy, Although Photoshop is a "very complicated app to work with for first timers" we were all first timers once. There are two approaches to learning Photoshop, if you have the time and money going on a course (I love the idea of a cruise) is the best way, but for many of us that is not an option. There are many free tutorials out there on the internert and if you approach each task you want to perform as a one-off there is a good chance you could find a short tutorial on how to do that particular task, that is the way I have taught myself how to use Adobe Photoshop CS2, CS3 and Lightroom over the last few years. Not necessarily the most efficient approach but defineately the cheapest. If you did a search (e.g. Google) for Photoshop Drop Shadow you’ll find quite a few tutorials out there. For instance….. http://www.photoshopcstutorials.co.uk/html/blend_images_with_backgrounds.html The other tutorial sites I made (make) regular use of are listed below…..... http://www.luminous-landscape.com/ http://www.photoshopessentials.com/ http://www.chromasia.com/tutorials/online/ ......Tony
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I would absolutely love your layouts. I am on my third family book, and am getting really bored with the layouts. Thank you so much! Megan |
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Thanks for the emails from everyone who found these useful. I know the designs aren’t for everyone, but I do hope they have served as a helpful example of how it all works so you can create your own. Don’t let anyone scare you away from photoshop! It’s a fantastic program and very user friendly if you just learn one thing at a time. I’ve had CS3 for about two months now and it did seem overwhelming at first. But, what I did was to make a list of things i wanted to learn and then found tutorials online. there are thousands of them and some are quite good. Just take it slow and learn one thing at a time and you’ll be surprised at how fast you pick up on everything. Just in case anyone was wondering.. i did some playing around with the files and they do work just as well in Photoshop Elements. The difference is that the clipping masks are created in a different way. You highlight the layer you want clipped, hold down Alt and move your curser until it looks like two little intersecting circles when it is directly over the line between the layers you are working with. seems strange that you couldn’t just right click and choose "creat clipping" but I find Elements to be more cumbersome than CS3 overall. I know it’s suppose to be even more user friendly, but I really like CS3 menus better. the help menu on elements explained layer clipping quite well, so be sure to read it if you are still confused. My pointi s, you can use these layouts and easily create your own even if you don’t have the uber expensive CS3. I created them in Cs3 but they have been tested in Elements 5.0. I had my book printed up with these layouts and they came out fabulous. All the teeny tiny details came out clear and sharp and real enough that you want to touch them. As far as trim and such, I tried to keep anything really important 1/2 inch away from the edge and i didn’t do any compensating for the gutter. Everything was dead on as far as my eye could tell. |
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cool thanks my email is |
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Sure, thanks Amy. You can email the .psd files to: sami.router (at) gmail.com |
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Hey Amy, That is sooooo nice of you to do this for everyone! If you still have them available can I have the photoshop files to play with. Thank you so much! Contactus(at)heatherrenestudios.com |
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Yes please! My email: books@milestone-photography.com |
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Thanks! I would love some help… My email is kmaclean@mindspring.com |
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if still in the giving mood…. mattlomeli (at) yahoo (dot) com
thanks! |
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Thanks for posting your ideas. Can you send me the inforrmation on your layouts? We find the inflexibility really annoying too, and would appreciate your thoughts. Many thanks. |
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Thanks! |
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Thanks so much! That is really generous of you. If the offer is still open, my email address is spoche@itcginc.com |
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I would love to see your layouts, I could use the help Thanks |
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:D i wouldnt mind seeing them… |
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Thanks I would love them! God Bless you! My email is bizziebeemom@hotmail.com |
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THANK YOU SO MUCH! What you’ve done is great! email to: sol@puropapel.com thanks again… |
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Hi, I would love to get the templates if you’re still giving them out. My email is: scoco@hawaii.rr.com |
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If your not tired of e maiingl these out I would love them! Thanks! |
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I’m interested. Thanks a Gig!
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Love to see your work! LBVandal@mac.com |
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Great! Send ‘em on! |
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PLEASE send them!!!
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