This is the third instalment of my series on digital scrapbooking basics. If you missed my earlier instalments, you can read the first instalment here - What Is Digital Scrapbooking? (Part 1) and the second instalment here - What Is Digital Scrapbooking? (Part 2).

Transform Tool

This is another tool you will use often, but there is an important thing you will need to remember to avoid frustration. The transform shortcut on your keyboard is Control>T or through the menu it is Edit>Free Transform. When re-sizing pictures, you must hold down the shift key to keep the ratio set. If you don’t hold down the Shift key, you will distort your picture. So while holding down the Shift, key click and drag on one of the corner ‘handles’ to re-size your picture. This will maintain the correct proportions. Once you are happy with your size, either double click inside the object you are transforming, or click on the tick in the options bar at the top to commit the transformation, or simply hit the Enter key on your keyboard.

Drop Shadows and Strokes

Make sure you have the correct Layer selected and then click on the F Symbol on the bottom of the Layers palette (see right). Clicking on Drop Shadow, you can then adjust the settings on this how you wish, but remember not to go overboard. You want to give a realistic effect and using a large drop shadow gives the effect of photos (or text etc) floating above your layout, rather than being part of it. Have a play with these settings to see what sort of effect each change has on the look. Remember, subtle is best. Click OK. Next click on the Layer Styles icon again, and this time choose Stroke. A Stroke is just a line/frame around your photo or element. It is a good way to emphasize the picture, but it is not necessary. I usually use them in graphic style layouts to define the photo from the background but it is up to you whether or not to do this. I usually use roughly the same settings in most of my layouts Size = 9px, Position = Inside and then choose the colour I would like according to the layout. The other settings I usually leave as the default.

More Layer Effects and Styles

Photoshop provides a variety of effects—such as shadows, glows, bevels, overlays, and strokes—that let you quickly change the appearance of a Layer's contents. Layer effects are linked to the Layer's contents. When you move or edit the contents of the Layer, the effects are modified correspondingly. For example, if you apply a drop shadow effect to a text Layer, the shadow changes automatically as you edit the text.

The effects that you apply to a Layer become part of the Layers custom style. When a Layer has a style, an F icon appears to the right of the Layer's name in the Layers palette. You can expand the style in the Layers palette to view all the effects that compose the style and edit the effects to change the style, or even turn parts of a layer style on and off. This can be very useful in determining what style looks best.

The Layer effects I use most are Drop Shadows and Strokes as previously mentioned, and also Bevel/Emboss (Texture), and sometimes Inner and Outer Glow and Inner Shadow.

Again, play around with these on your Layers and see what effects you can achieve using them. Most of the time you will stumble across something that really appeals to you and enhances your layout in some way.

Save, Save a­­nd Save, oh and don’t forget to Save!

I can’t stress this enough, and it will save you a lot of heartache. You just never know when your computer might crash, Photoshop might freeze, or you could be called away from your computer and little children might want to help finishing a layout. So save, and save often. The quickest easiest way to do this is by hitting Control>S on the keyboard, or go to File>Save in the menu. Try and remember to do it every time you add something new to a layout (ie, papers, elements etc), every time you add a layer, and after any major change. Trust me, there will come a time when you’ll be glad you did!

History Palette

This palette is probably one of the most useful palettes in Photoshop; it allows you to go back through each step you have taken. The default amount of steps you can go back is 20, but this can be changed via your preferences. If you change the amount, don’t increase it too much or it will slow down your computer and Photoshop. I recommend a maximum of 30 for 1GB of RAM and 50 for 2GB of RAM.

Check back soon, there is more to come...for more hints and tips check out my blog at The blissful Pixel....see you there :-)