Photo layout tip

When you’re laying out photos on your scrapbook page, do you ever get the sense that something just isn’t quite right, but you can’t put your finger on what it is? Well, it might be that the people in your photos are heading off the page, making your page look a little off balance. Simply changing the order of the photos, taking into consideration which direction the people in the photos are facing can make all the difference. Consider these two examples, using photos from the layout I posted a few days ago.

In the first example, the people in the outside photos are facing towards the outer edges of the pages. This tends to draw your eye out of the page, rather than into the page.

In the second example, I switched the outer two photos, so the people are facing into the page. Do you see the difference it makes?

The next time your scrapbook page doesn’t quite look right, try this tip and see if it helps!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all the Canadians out there! 

I have a quick tip for you today.  If you are using your brush or eraser in Photoshop Elements, and need to adjust the size of the brush as you work, rather than typing in the number of pixels or using the slider bar, just use the square brackets on your keyboard.  The [ key makes your brush or eraser smaller, and the ] key makes your brush bigger.  Much quicker and easier to do on the fly as you work.

I’d also like to share a page I created using my most recent kit, “If Today Were Spring“.

Quick Tip – Saving Designer Credit Info with Your Pages

If you’ve ever had a tough time remembering what kits you pulled which papers from and who designed them, this tip could be a lifesaver for you.

Photoshop Elements 6 allows you to save a wide range of information with your file, which you can access any time you open the file.  To add your information, click on File and File Info, and the dialog box shown below will appear.  The Description screen gives you lots of space to save your kit info, as shown, and other screens allow you to save information specific to the photos, such as the camera and specific settings used, etc. 

Photoshop Elements 6 File Info Screen

No more digging through your digital stash to find credit information when you’re ready to upload your pages.  A real time-saver!

Quick Tip – Zoom with your Scroll Wheel

When I’m working on a scrapbook page, I find I’m constantly zooming in to work on a small detail, and then zooming out to see the overall effect, but using the menus to select the zoom percentage or using the toolbar to switch from the tool I’m using to the zoom tool and back can be very cumbersome.

If you use Photoshop Elements and have a mouse with a scroll wheel, there’s a Preference setting that makes this very quick and easy. 

From the main menu at the top of your Photoshop Elements window, click on Edit, then Preferences, then General.  The window shown below will appear.  Make sure the check box for “Zoom with Scroll Wheel” is selected, and click on OK. 

Zoom with your Scroll Wheel

Now, all you have to do is position your cursor on the spot you want to see close-up and roll your scroll wheel up to zoom in, and then roll your scroll wheel down to zoom out.  Much easier!