Comments on: Text Mats (Photoshop Elements)

By: Linda Sattgast

Linda Sattgast — Mon, 31 May 2010 16:19:14 +0000

Hi JulieS—if you want to save just the template, try this:
• Hide all the other layers (like you did before)
• Ctrl click (Mac: Cmd click) on the thumbnail of the template later to get a selection outline.
• Choose Image > Crop to crop away everything but the template.
• Choose Select > Deselect to get rid of the selection outline.
• Choose File > Save As and choose png as the format.

Now you can open this up and use it on a scrapbook page over and over again.

Regarding anti-aliasing, it’s usually a good thing when you’re creating type. It keeps the type from being jaggy.

By: JulieS

JulieS — Mon, 31 May 2010 02:07:17 +0000

Hello again! Okay, I think I figured out what to do: I turned off all the other layers and then “saved as”. I made sure I saved it as a .png file. It did save the mask on the 8.5×11 page, however. I wasn’t sure how to change that so that the .png file was so large. But hey, it worked! And I can use it again.

The only thing I was not sure about was whether or not to click on the Antialiasing button or not that PSE8 gave me a choice with.

By: JulieS

JulieS — Mon, 31 May 2010 01:59:12 +0000

Hi Sara,
I realize it’s been 8 months since you posted this wonderful tutorial (it worked the first time for me! I’m jumping with joy!), and that you’ve answered the question I was going to ask–how do you save your mask?

I have PSE8, but I can’t seem to be able to save the mask I created. At all! I clicked on the eyeball both ways, to turn the mask on and off, but PSE8 wouldn’t let me save. Help?

(I’m a different Julie than the woman you answered the first time.)

Thank you so much. Your tutorials on this site have been incredibly helpful.

Julie

By: Photo Text Mats 1 « LS Cottage Designs

Photo Text Mats 1 « LS Cottage Designs — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:53:23 +0000

[...] PSE Tutorial [...]

By: Rose Mary

Rose Mary — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 01:40:14 +0000

I did it! Thanks so much!

By: Linda Sattgast

Linda Sattgast — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:29:33 +0000

Are you in the Maximize Mode? You will only be able to see one photo at a time in the Maximize mode. To see both documents at once, choose Window > Cascade.

If you’ve already moved your photo onto the mat document, you may just have a very large photo, or it could mean that the original document you made was at a very low resolution. Try creating a new document that is 12 x 12 inches at 300 ppi and trying it again. Very few photos would be larger than that.

Even if your photo covers everything up you can still go on to the next step, which is to group the photo with the word frame by pressing Ctrl G (Mac: Cmd G). If your photo is large, though, you will need to resize it. Get the Move tool and make sure Show Bounding Box is checked in the Options Bar. If you can’t see the outline of the photo choose View > Fit on Screen. Click and drag from a corner handle to resize the photo. Click on the green check mark to confirm the change.

By: Rose Mary

Rose Mary — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:09:22 +0000

I really want to do this, but I must be missing something. I can get to the part where you open the picture, but when I open the picture it covers everything and becomes the background and nothing else is visible on the left. What am I doing wrong?
Thanks so much for the great tutorials.

By: Janine

Janine — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:30:01 +0000

I just love to get the TOTW. They are all so good. Thank you for such creative and innovative ideas.

By: Mandee

Mandee — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:02:08 +0000

Thanks so much for this tip. I did this a different way, but I think this is simpler.

By: Sara Horton

Sara Horton — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:04:47 +0000

Hi Julie!
If you save it as a .psd file, you’ll have the layers so you can go back and use it as a mask again.
If you want JUST the mask on a transparent background, click the layer visibility icon (looks like an eyeball) on the left side of the background layer.
It will look like the mask on a grey/white checkerboard background. Save this as a .png file to preserve the transparent section.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions,

Sara