Summer Punch (Photoshop Elements)

I was born and raised a city girl.
I’ve never had the privilege of watching a headless chicken running willy-nilly in the side yard.

Thanks to my personal flock of overly-descriptive girlfriends, however, I think I’ve got the idea. And the word picture that comes to mind bears a striking resemblance to me – in July!

Late summer can usually find me running in circles and constantly looking over my shoulder to proclaim, “What was I looking for?”

In retrospect, I can now understand why big ole circles keep popping up on all of my scrapbook pages! And this tutorial will reflect likewise…more circles. Ha!

Hope this Summer Punch tip finds you with your feet up, enjoying a slice of peace and quiet – with your head attached, of course. Ok, let’s get started.

Step 1: Prepare

• Create a new document (File > New > Blank File) that is 12×12 inches, 300 pixels/inch, RGB color, and has a white background.
• Press the letter D to set the Color Chips to the default of black and white. This way we will be at the same starting point.

Step 2: Draw

• Get the Ellipse tool – it is nested with the Rectangle tool.
• In Ellipse Options, choose Fixed Size and enter 8in x 8in.
• Check the box next to From Center.
• Press Enter to accept the changes.

• Place your cursor in the center of your document and click to place your circle.
• Holding down the Ctrl key (Mac: Cmd key), drag your circle so that it is approximately 1” from the left side of your document. See image below for placement.

Tip: If you need to turn on your Rulers, choose View > Rulers in the Menu Bar.

• In the Layers panel, double click on the name of the circle layer (Shape 1) and rename it “Circle 1.” Press Enter to accept the name.
  

Step 3: Duplicate

• Make sure layer “Circle 1” is active. Press Ctrl J (Mac: Cmd J) to duplicate the layer.
• In the Layers panel, double click on the name of the new layer (Circle 1 copy) and rename it “Circle 2.”
• In the Layers panel, double click on the thumbnail of layer “Circle 2”. (See Image 2.)
• The Color Picker will pop up. Choose a medium grey shade and click OK. You should now only see a grey circle – your black circle is directly beneath it.

• Make sure layer “Circle 2” is active in the Layers panel.
• Get the Move tool. You should see a bounding box around your circle.
• In the Options Bar, make sure Constrain Proportions is not checked.
• Holding down the Shift key, click on the top-left corner handle of the bounding box. Drag inward until the circle is approximately 6” across.

Hint: Let go of your mouse button before letting go of the Shift key.

• Press Enter to accept the changes.

Step 4: Punch

• In the Layers panel, Ctrl click (Mac: Cmd click) on the thumbnail of layer “Circle 2”. See Image 2. You should now have a selection outline around your gray circle. Selection outlines look like little marching ants.
• In the Menu Bar, choose Select > Modify > Expand. In the dialog box that pops up, enter 50 pixels. Click OK. Your selection outline should have just grown!
• In the Layers panel, activate layer “Circle 1”.
• In the Menu Bar, choose Layer > Simplify Layer. Your circle must be simplified in order to continue.
• Press the Delete key on your keyboard to punch a hole in the black circle.
• Press Ctrl D (Mac: Cmd D) to get rid of the selection outline.

Step 5: Paper Clip

• Make layer “Circle 1” active in the Layers panel.
• Open (File > Open) a piece of digi paper and drag it onto your document, using the Move tool.

Hint: Holding down the Shift key while you drag will place your paper in the center of your document.
Tip: When you drag a new image onto a document, it will always land on top of the active layer.

• With the paper layer active, choose Layer > Create Clipping Mask in the Menu Bar.
  Hint: In earlier versions of Elements, clipping is referred to as “grouping”.

Step 6: Photo Clip

• Make layer “Circle 2” active in the Layers panel.
• Open (File > Open) a photo and drag it onto your document.
• Get the Move tool and (in your document) move your photo over top of Circle 2.
• With the photo layer active, choose Layer > Create Clipping Mask in the Menu Bar.

Whew! Alright, now get busy and design the rest of your scrapbook page! I’m going to do the same.

Credits: Layout by Jen White created with Photoshop Elements 8.0. Supplies were “Seaside” kit by Digital Scrapper Designs and “Beach Bound” kit by Eva Kipler. Both of these kits are available at ScrappersGuide.com. Font is Brush Script MT.

Download a PDF version of this “Summer Punch” 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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