Spook Night


Supplies:

Tube: sybileart-78-1
Scrap: scrapaork_spookier-mini
Font: hallooweek
Mask: 173 from Package 4, and 763 from package 16

Please do not use any of the licensed supplies without purchasing them first.


First off, unzip all supplies.

Open the mask(s) you would like to use.  You don’t have to use the ones I have chosen.

Select > All
Edit > Copy

This will save a “selection” of the white areas in the mask.

You can now close that mask.

Open a new 800 x 800 pixel canvas. Be sure it is set to 72ppi resolution. You can always resize later.

I usually add a color fill layer to the tag so it is easily changed should I use it on a different color website.  Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color…
White usually works with most websites.

Place the paper on the canvas that you would like to use. You can either drag and drop it onto the canvas from your file browser, or you can use the File > Place… method. Just browse to the folder with the kit when prompted.

With the paper layer highlighted in the layers panel…

Select > Edit in Quick Mask Mode.
Edit > Paste

This will leave parts of the paper in red. This is good! If it doesn’t, then you will need to open and copy the mask again.

It seems that our mask was too big for the tag. Let’s fix that.

With the red “quick mask” still in effect, go to Edit > Free Transform

Fit the red mask inside your tag.

Select > Uncheck the Edit in Quick Mask Mode.
Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal Selection

Magic, right?? now you don’t have to worry about having an extra clipped layer.

Instead, you have a mask thumbnail attached to your paper layer.

Place another paper on your canvas and repeat the process with any other masks you want to use.

That’s it! How easy is that?

Sometimes, this method will leave a dark line around your tag. You can take a very small round eraser and click in the very corner of the mask. Hold shift, and then click on the next corner. This will erase in a straight line. Repeat this until you have gone all the way around your tag, ending in the corner you started. You will need to do this for all masks. It only takes a couple of minutes, but it makes a big difference. This is optional. Sometimes I just leave it there because I can’t be bothered

Now, time for the elements! This is where the real magic begins.

You can drag and drop items straight from your file browser into the canvas. This makes it faster to place items.

Instead of telling you exactly where to put what and what size to use, I am just going to show you a animated image of what I did. This way, you can create your own version of the tag without doing exactly what I have done.

When placing your elements, you can transform them again by going to Edit > Free Transform. Just be sure you hold the shift key to constrain the proportions.

Actually… Maybe this time, I will tell you the settings I used on each element.

The two masks have been explained, so I will begin with the haunted house element. I will list them by number.

When you place an element, go to Edit > Free Transform… and use the settings I have below each element number

ScrapAoRK_Spookier-ele16

ScrapAoRK_Spookier-ele14

ScrapAoRK_Spookier-ele28

ScrapAoRK_Spookier-ele21

ScrapAoRK_Spookier-fra4

ScrapAoRK_Spookier-ele6

ScrapAoRK_Spookier-ele18

ScrapAoRK_Spookier-ele25

ScrapAoRK_Spookier-ele27

ScrapAoRK_Spookier-ele13

ScrapAoRK_Spookier-ele29

ScrapAoRK_Spookier-ele1

ScrapAoRK_Spookier-ele24

ScrapAoRK_Spookier-ele19

*phew* that was a lot of screenshooting!

Now, back to the frame element layer. You have a frame, right? If not, you can skip this part.  We need to add a fill layer to the picture frame.

Highlight the layer UNDER the frame in your layers panel.  Now drop the paper you would like to use onto the canvas.

Grab your selection wand from the tools panel.  If you can’t find it, check out the basics page for a better understanding of the tools layout.

The Selection Wand options should look like this at the top of your window:

Click on the center portion of the frame.
In the upper menu of Photoshop, click on Selection > Modify > Expand…
Expand your selection by 2px.
Now highlight your paper layer. 

Go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal Selection.

Now you have a fill to your frame. Easy Peasy!


We definitely want to add some shadows to our elements.  Without shadowing, the tag will just look flat. The secret to a good tag, is a good shadow effect.

Right click (or ctrl+click) a layer and choose “Blending Options.”
I add a drop shadow and an outer glow.  The glow enhances the effect a bit.

Now after you have hit OK, right click the layer again and choose “Copy Layer Style.”
Highlight all of your element layers (click the top one, then shift + click the bottom one) and right click again.  This time, choose “Paste Layer Style.”

It makes a HUGE difference to add shadows:


Now that we have all of that done, time to add the next details.  Tube and text.  Fun!

Choose where you want your main tube to be placed.

Now drag and drop your tube onto the canvas. Resize and adjust it to your liking. Always make sure you constrain your proportions while resizing.  Hold the Shift key while you drag the corners.

Add the same drop shadow you did before. 

If you would like to remove the excess shadows from around your tag, I have explained how to do that HERE. I always do this to my tags, since the shadows seem to always hang over where I don’t want them.

Resize before adding copyrights!


Highlight the top layer of the layers panel.

Grab your text tool and add the name you would like.  Position it just where you want it and add a layer style.  This is mine:

Now for a little text fun.

Type out your secondary text you’d like to have. Now, if you look at the top of your screen, you will see a button like this:

Click that button and a popup will come up.

But that’s not all!

Next we want to transform this layer.

And of course, we can’t live without layer styles!

Before saving, you can hide the background layer for a nice transparent PNG.

And here we have our completed tag! You can now save it as a PNG or a JPG file. I prefer using the Export feature, so I know it is at the proper resolution for web-display.

Here are the settings I used:


flyinghearts My “Forever List” can find their tags in their Fotki Folders. flyinghearts