Most digital scrapbookers, at some point, want to try their hand at making their own paper. This can be a fun venture, and there are probably hundreds of different ways to accomplish it.
If you’ve never made plaid, I suggest you give it a try. I think you’ll be surprised at how easy it is! Plus, this is one of those tutorials that will give you different results every time you try it. So if it doesn’t work well for you the first time, try it again. And if it does work well for you the first time, I’ll almost bet you’ll try it again because you had so much fun!
Step 1) Find the right photo
First, let me say, the photo has nothing to do with the plaid paper other than it will give us the colors (and stripes) for the plaid. So don’t struggle too much over which photo to choose. After you do this once or twice, you will have a better idea of what kind of photos work best with this method. I typically try to find photos that have a lot of similar colors in small “blotches”, but no big areas of color in any given spot. I have chosen this photo of the ocean.
Step 2) Get the selection
- Choose the Rectangular Marquee tool in the Tool Bar to the left. In the Options Bar above, make sure the Feathering is set to 0, and for Mode, choose Fixed Size from the drop-down menu. For the dimensions, type in 3600px for the width and 1px for the height. (NOTE: the width is in PIXELS, not INCHES. Don’t miss that–it is IMPORTANT!) We are going to take a sample of this photo from one side to the other. If you’d like your sample to go from top to bottom, you’ll need to switch these two dimensions.
- Click somewhere on your photo to create a selection that goes the width of it. Since we already set the dimensions of the selection, you do not need to click and drag, but just click. You can click and hold, and drag the selection around to place it exactly where you want it, but it won’t change the dimensions. And if you don’t like where you placed it, just press Ctrl D (Mac: Cmd D) to deselect, and try again. (Remember, this selection is only 1 pixel tall, so you may not even be able to see both the top and bottom border of the selection.)
- Once you have your selection, choose Edit>Copy, or you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl C (Mac: Cmd C.)
Step 3) Paste the selection into a new document
- Choose File>New>Blank File, and create a new document that is 12 inches wide and 12 inches tall, with a resolution of 300 and a white background. Click OK once you have entered these values.
- Choose Edit>Paste, or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl V (Mac: Cmd V) to paste the selection from the photo into this document. Again, this selection is only 1 pixel tall, so it may be difficult to see.
Step 4) Stretch the pasted piece to cover the page
- Press Ctrl T (Mac: Cmd T) to get a transform outline.
- Using a center handle, click and drag so that the pasted piece is stretched all the way to the top of the page. Then click and drag the other center handle down until it stretches to the bottom of the page.
- Now it should cover the whole page. (If your selection did not cover the entire width of the page, just use a side handle and stretch it out the same as we just did.) Once it covers the whole page, you can double click on it to accept the transformation. This will also make it darker. Mine looks like this:
Step 5) Create the plaid
- Press Ctrl J (Mac: Cmd J) to duplicate this striped layer.
- Choose Image>Rotate>Layer 90° Left.
- Reduce the Opacity of this layer to 50% by using the slider at the top of the Layers panel.
- Press Ctrl E (Mac: Cmd E) to merge these two striped layers together, and now you have your plaid paper! Did you ever imagine we’d get this from a photo of the ocean?
Step 6) Adjust the colors
If you’d like to change the colors of your plaid, just press Ctrl U (Mac: Cmd U) to open the Hue Saturation dialog box, and adjust the sliders to your liking. For a monochromatic look, check the Colorize box in the lower right hand corner before adjusting the sliders. Once your adjustments are done, click OK.
Here are several different versions of my plaid paper.
This paper doesn’t have any texture at this point, but we’ll have to save adding texture for another tip! Be sure to post your plaid paper creations in the Tip of the Week gallery! And have a great week!
Credits: Tutorial by Jenny Binder, www.HeirloomScrapbooks.com.
Download a PDF version of this “Pretty Plaids” 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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{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
Who would have thought! I’m going to have fun with this technique. Thank you!
Thanks for the tip. This is really cool. I will definitely try this.
You weren’t kidding when you said this would be fun and we’d want to many time because it was so fun, and might I add simple, given your instructions! Very cool!!
That is amazing! Thank you for sharing!
OOH, THANK YOU!!!! Love it! Where do I start? HMMM so many photos!
this was a ton of fun. I made 10 different ones. 3 from just one photo.
Oh how beautiful! This is going to be really fun. Thanks. You always give such clear tutorials and to think something so easy can make such nice results.
This technique is so fun…and addictive! Thank you, Jenny! I will have lots of new backgrounds for my pictures from Scotland.
When I duplicate the layer and try to rotate it, both layers rotate and I don’t get the plaid effect.
I am using PSE 7. Help?
Make sure you only have the top layer selected in the Layers panel when you rotate. Also, be sure to lower the opacity of the layer you rotate or you won’t see any difference.
I did that but the layers still rotate together. I found my own solution by grabbing the corner handle and rotating the top layer manually. Then I got the desired result. Thanks
Here is a mistake I’m finding some are making. When you go to rotate the layer, make SURE you choose Image>Rotate>LAYER 90 degrees Left (or Right). That option is about half-way down the fly-out menu, not at the top. If you choose Image>Rotate>90 degrees Left (at the top of the fly-out menu), it will rotate the entire image–ALL LAYERS. This is why both layers are rotating. Although I’m not sure if that is what you were doing Barb, hopefully this can help someone who is making this mistake. It is an easy one to make.
I have been interested in knowing how to make my own papers, all I can say is holy cow!!!! How easy was that???? Now to sign up……
As I am new to Digital scrapbooking and my Elements program has been just a storage area for my photos, I figured out how to make the plaid papers, but to change colors, etc. do I need to create a new blank file or just continue to add layers, and then what about saving them to use on pages for myself or to show others on the web, I’m not sure what to do to save, I’m sure it is simple but us middle agers are not quite as computer savvy as our kids are….
As long as you “Save As” each time, you can just keep modifying the same layer, no need to create a new blank file or add new layers unless you want to use a new “sample”. To save, just click File>Save As, then save the paper as a .jpg in a place where you can find the file again. Then change the colors as described in the tutorial and save again, being sure to again choose Save AS, not just Save. Repeat as many times as you would like.
I’m amazed! You just seem to make learning so easy for me! This is a super great tutorial, and I’m hopping right into my program to give it a try immediately! Can’t wait to select m photo and get going on this! Thanks so much!!
wow that was easy and super cool! I just made the most beautiful green plaid paper from a trip to the Hoh Rain Forest this past summer.
Thank you Jenny!
This is amazing! Thank you!
This is just fantastic! Can’t wait to get started. My copy of Elements 8 for MAC arrived in the mail yesterday so look out I’m off and running. Your tutorials are ALWAYS so easy to follow – thank you VERY much!
This is really fun, Jenny! I made a cool one with pictures I took in a cave recently. Great idea! Thanks!
I really liked this idea and I tried to do it. When I got to step five I couldn’t get the two layers to rotate different directions. When I rotated one, the other one rotated at the same time. Therefore, I couldn’t get the plaid effect. I am kind of new to all of this, but I think I did it correctly. What did I do wrong? Please help. from anyone.
I found the answer to my own question by reading the previous comments. I am sorry I did notread them before writing my own comment. I have to admit that I found some consolation in that others had the same problem as me. Thanks for the explanations. They are very clear.
Now I know how to do this – thanks for sharing! Going to be fun to use it.
I am using Photoshop Elements 6 when I follow the directions for making the paper I have trouble with the rotating of the layer copy. When I rotate the Layer 1 (Copy) it also rotates the Layer 1. Therefore the merge does not give me a plaid design. Can you help me? Thanks!
Sorry, I did the same thing as Julie. Pays to read all of the directions before asking. Thanks, to Julie I read where I was making the mistake.
Thank You very much for your great tutorials.
This one ISSSSS so much fun.
May I add I’ve experimented a little and found that you can even
change one of the layers(or both) in the layers bin to multiply or another
great effect and it changes the pattern yet again.
Thanks again.
Monique
Ah, this brings back memories of the cat!