Bingo! (Photoshop Elements)

Does your family enjoy getting together for Family Game Night as much as mine does? Bring all of the fun of those board games to your scrapbook pages by creating personalized Bingo board accents.

Step 1: Create a board

Begin by creating a new white 5×7-inch canvas at 300 pixels/inch in RGB color mode.

Step 2: Design the grid

Create another new white document. Make this one 5 inches by 0.033 inches at 300 pixels/inch in RGB color mode. Press Ctrl U (Mac: Cmd U) on the keyboard to activate the Hue/Saturation dialog box. Drag the Lightness slider all the way to the left. This will recolor your grid strip black.

For this project, you will need to use the Photoshop Elements rulers. From the Menu Bar choose View > Rulers to make the rulers visible across the top and down the left side of your editing window.

Get the Move tool and drag the black strip onto the white document.

Press Ctrl + (Mac: Cmd +) on your keyboard several times to zoom in close to your document. Using the Move tool, drag the strip 1 1/2 inches from the top of the document. Use the rulers on the left to position the grid strip.

With the grid strip selected, press Ctrl J (Mac: Cmd J) on your keyboard. This duplicates the grid strip. Get the Move tool and select the new (duplicate) layer. Drag the duplicate grid downward and position it at the 2 1/2 inch mark. Repeat the process, placing grid strips at the 3 1/2, 4 1/2, 5 1/2 and 6 1/2 inch marks.

Next, select one of the grid lines and duplicate it. Choose Image > Rotate > Layer 90 degrees left from the menu bar. This turns the grid line vertical. Use the Move tool to drag the new vertical bar into place, 1 inch from the left of the page. Drag it downward so that it rests between the top and bottom bar.

Duplicate the new vertical line and position the duplicate 2 inches from the left edge of the document. Repeat the process, placing lines at the 3 and 4-inch positions.

Step 3: Outline the card

Select the Background layer at the bottom of the Layers Panel. Press Ctrl J (Mac: Cmd J) to duplicate the background. Place an outline around the duplicate by selecting Edit > Stroke (Outline) Selection. Use the following settings in the Stroke dialog box and click OK.

Width: 10 pixels
Color: Black
Location: Inside
Blending Mode: Normal
Opacity: 100%

Step 4: Type title and numbers

Now that the Bingo grid is complete, it’s time to have some fun customizing your card. Either use the traditional BINGO or choose a 5 letter title that matches the theme of your page. Consider a 5 letter name or descriptive words like PROUD, EIGHT, SWEET, MANLY, GIDDY, HONOR, MARCH, LOVED, LUCKY, JOLLY, HEART, SILLY, CHUMS, HANDY, GROUP, GIFTS, PARTY, GIRLY, ENJOY, GAMES, or BRAVO.

Select the top layer in the Layers Panel and get the Type tool. Position your cursor at the left side of the open space across the top of the card and begin typing. For the sample I used the free Playbill font downloaded from: http://www.fontspace.com/hank-gillette/playbill at 130 pt.

After you finish typing your title, press Ctrl T (Mac: Cmd T) on your keyboard to activate the Transform controls. Get the Move tool and drag out the right and left sides of the title box to make it fill the entire title space. Click the green checkmark to confirm the size change.

Next, type numbers in each square, leaving the center square empty. For the sample, I used the Playbill font at 72 pt for the numbers. If you are going to use the Bingo board to mark the date of the event you are scrapbooking, be sure to use the numbers of the month, day and year on your board so that you can circle, highlight or design a semi-transparent Bingo chip on the numbers to highlight them.

Type the word “FREE” in the center square. For the sample, I used Playbill font at 36 pt.

Step 5: Place a shape in the center square

Select the layer containing the word “Free” on your Bingo board. Ctrl click (Mac: Cmd click) the Create a New Layer icon in the Layers Panel. This creates a new layer underneath the “Free” layer.

To select a color for your center shape, click the Foreground color chip and choose a color from the Color Picker. Click OK .

Choose the Custom Shape tool by clicking and holding the Rectangle tool. Scroll down the flyout menu to select the Custom Shape tool. In the Options Bar, choose a shape from the Shape Picker. A star is the traditional shape, but you can choose a heart, leaf, or any other shape that works with your theme. Click the Create a New Shape Layer icon. Click, press the Shift key and then drag out the shape on your scrapbook page.

Create a merged copy of your Bingo board by pressing Ctrl Alt Shift E (Mac: Cmd Opt Shift E) on the keyboard. Select this new layer in the Layers Panel.

Step 6: Create a background

Create a new white 6×8-inch document at 300 pixels/inch and RGB color mode. Use the Move tool to drag the new merged Bingo board layer onto this new document. Holding the Shift key as you drag will center the Bingo board onto the new document.

Finally, get the Custom Shape Tool and choose a decorative border from the Shape Picker in the Options bar. Click and drag out the shape around the Bingo board.

Using these steps, you can create a basic Bingo board that can be personalized with patterned paper, digital stickers, creative titles and journaling in the section at the bottom of the board. These boards are as versatile as your scrapbook pages.

If you are inspired to create your own game pieces this week, you can post them in the gallery. I always enjoy seeing your creative “take” on the Tip of the Week!

Credits:

Scrapbook page by Sara Horton
A Checkered Past Alpha by Pattie Knox at Designer Digitals
Having Fun Papers and Having Fun Solids by Jesse Edwards at Designer Digitals
DIY Game Spinners by Pattie Knox at Designer Digitals
Playground Layered Template by Katie Pertiet at Designer Digitals
Wooden Game Tile Alpha by Pattie Knox at Designer Digitals

Download a PDF version of this “Bingo” tutorial.

Windows: Right click on the link and choose “Save Target As” or a similar command.
Mac: Click on the link to download the file.

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