Welcome to the the second installment of Make a Page Monday. Hey now…I'm on a roll! Two weeks in a row? Get out! We've no time to waste so let's take a look at a page I made just recently, shall we?
(click on the layout to see it larger in a new window)
SIZE & MODE: 8.5 x 11, two-page hybrid layout.
THE STORY BEHIND THE PAGE: I recently designed a set of PNG files at Designer Digitals called the "10 Things Phrase Pack." The pack contains 10 ready-made titles designed to pose specific questions which you then get to answer. I want to create an entire series of layouts featuring each title and the corresponding answers. I decided to start with "10 Songs That I Will Never Get Sick Of" because any chance I get to scrapbook about Journey is a chance I'm taking.
But as you can see by the package below, there are lots of ideas to scrap 10 things.
I also think it's fun to look to Google to provide all of your images. For each song that made my list, I entered the name and artist into my Google search field, then clicked on Google's "Images" link, and then on "Large" under the Size column. Voila. Images to use!
I realize that I don't have the legal rights to use them for commercial purposes, but I'm thinking, "Who's going to come after a little old scrapbooker lady making a page about Def Leppard songs?" I mean, really?
Let's break down the design nitty gritty for this week's layout.
1. Symmetrical balance: If you draw a line down the gutter (the space where the two pages meet in the middle) you'll notice that the visual weight you have on one side is essentially repeated on the right. True, on the left you have two columns of journaling, and on the right you have two columns of photos, but the space they occupy is essentially the same. Ergo, symmetry. Each page has a much more open outer column. On the left, you have a title and on the right, you have nothing. This does not harm the core of the balance structure on the design.
2. The principle of repetition: Several things are repeated on this design. Colors are repeated in the type (black, green and orange); type treatments are repeated (bold song titles, italicized artist names); the circular numbers are repeated; vertical lines are repeated; I repeated black cardstock as a base, as well as rounded corners on the white cardstock; and of course, the design is essentially flipped and repeated across the gutter. Remember, when you repeat things you reinforce a sense that things go together, also known as 'unity'.
3. White space: Ahhh. The space on each outer most edge of this design allows the dense, journal- and image-heavy content to have some breathing room. White space creates a visual invitation into a viewing experience. Even though there is a big chunk to read, the open space makes it feel less intimidating, so much so that you might want to ready about my dirty little guilty pleasure that is song number 6. Speaking of space, notice too how I've tried to preserve equal spacing in and around all of the photos. Again, this is to create a purposeful, unified design.
4. The principle of unity: If you look at this layout as essentially a six-column grid, the two inner columns on each page are in direct relation to one another, creating a large central block of visual info. The placement of the columns serves to connect the whole design, creating one large chunk of content. This creates a sense of togetherness in the design.
Here is a basic sketch you can download to keep in your scrapbooking files. The sketches are on 8.5 x 11 paper for easy printing.
Today I'm tossing in a free download of my two-page, 8.5 x 11 design. You can type in your own title, or you can buy my 10 Things Brush Set at Designer Digitals to complete the page, or choose another list of 10 from the set and go in a totally different direction.
Here is the layered 2-page PSD file (for use with Photoshop or Photoshop Elements) for your downloading pleasure:
Enjoy!
Note: 12 x 12 scrapbookers can simply increase the canvas size in Photoshop of each template page. Simply increase the canvas size (Image > Resize > Canvas Size) of each template page, making sure to choose a left or right anchor point in the Canvas Size dialogue box.
For those of you who want to make the page, there are only a few things to know on how to create the final layout. You can type up your list first, then make the format changes, or make the format changes first. Whichever works best for you! All instruction applies to Photoshop Elements, but can be adapted to all levels of Photoshop.
To change the font colors:
1. When you open the document you will probably get a font error message. Just click OK and proceed. I used Arial in the template, but you are welcome to use whatever font you like. My final page features Avenir.
2. Click on one of the two journaling layers (found at the bottom of the Layers Palette with the "T" as the icon). Each of the columns are a separate layer, so you'll have to change them one at a time.
3. Using the Horizontal Type Tool, click and drag to highlight the first item in the list.
4. With the text highlighted, click on the Set the Text Color control in the tool bar that runs across the top of the work space.
When you click on this black square, it will bring up the Color Picker. You can then select a color to try, click OK, and the color will apply to your text.
If you want to save that color to the Color Swatches, simply go to Window > Color Swatches, and in the lower bar on the Color Swatches window, there is an icon with a page corner turned back. Click once on that and it will add the color you pick to the Color Swatches for future use.
5. Once you have your colors changed and your journaling typed up, simply send the file to print on a light colored cardstock.
To add a PNG title to your file:
1. Open the PNG file you want to use from the set, Select All, Copy and Paste into your document. Resize by grabbing one of the four corner handles, then use the Move Tool to position the title on your page.
To learn how to break apart a PNG file and recolor the words in the title, see this post.
To use the photo template for printing out photos:
1. Open the CZ_ListTemplateRight.psd file. You will see a layer for every photo. Click once on the first target layer where your first photo will go (COLUMN 1-A).
2. Open a photo you would like to use. Select > All and then Copy (Edit > Copy) and Paste (Edit > Paste) the photo into the CZ_ListTemplateRight.psd document. Using the Move Tool, click and drag to move the photo directly over the first square.
3. Pop the photo into the square by hitting Control + G, or Command + G (Mac). If this doesn't work, you can also go to the menu controls Layer > Create Clipping Mask. Size the photo within the mask by clicking and dragging on one of the four corner handles. If you don't see the corner handles, click on "Show Bounding Box" in the upper tool bar.
5. Repeat this process for each photo. Remember to click on your target layer first before opening the next photo to be used. In this way, every time you paste in the next photo, it should paste directly above the intended layer which makes for easy masking.
6. Once all the photos are dropped in, you are going to size them up just a bit to allow for printing and trimming. Hold down the Shift Key and click on all of layers in the Layers Palette, minus the Page Lines and Background layers. You should see a dotted outline around all of the photos on your document and corner handles. Click on one of the four handles and drag to increase the size just a tiny bit. This will give you a bit of trimming room for the photos, to preserve the final size.
7. Turn OFF the Page Lines layer by clicking on the eye icon and send this file to print onto photo paper.
8. Turn off ALL of those photo and mask layers and turn the Page Lines layer back on. Print that file onto the same color of light cardstock.
9. Trim all photos to equal size and adhere onto the cardstock with the lines.
Note: I trimmed a quarter of an inch around my entire white page portion, then mounted my pages onto black cardstock. I also rounded the outer two corners on each page, just because I was feeling nutty.
cardstock—OP White by Bazzill Basics
photo paper—Ilford Gallerie Smooth Pearl
digital brush set—10 Things Phrase Pack by Cathy Zielske
software—Photoshop Elements
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Questions? Comments? You know the drill, my design peeps.
