After two years of doing pocket style scrapbooking, and trying both digital and traditional paper, I have finally figured out that my heart is in hybrid scrapbooking. It truly is the best of both worlds to be able to combine digital techniques with traditional supplies.

I love how the digital designers have been including pdf files in their journal card sets. It makes it great for just printing and cutting them all out at once and storing for later. As you know, I like to mix things up and use more than one kit per week. Sometimes, I'll use a really huge kit and only need a few cards from that kit. I'm also a one time use person. It's very rare for me to use a kit after I've already used it. I'm sure that would be different if I wasn't on any creative teams.

Several months ago, one of my dear friends asked if I could put together all the different configurations I use for printing out my cards. I thought, wow, that would be great to have instead of re-creating it every week. I put together this freebie and posted in the blog for you. Feel free to pick it up if you haven't already.

Today I'm going to share how to use them for those who are new to Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Photoshop Elements, or are interested in giving hybrid a try. This will be the first of many Photoshop tutorials this month. I am using Just Jaimee's June 2014 Storyteller Collection. This is a MEGA collection and seriously my favorite of all her monthly Storyteller Collections. Be sure to sign up for her newsletters, because she has some really awesome deals, she practically gives them away to her newsletter subscribers (not really, but I've never seen a deal like it from anyone else).

FREEBIE

HOW TO USE THE TEMPLATES

After you've downloaded the freebie, you'll un-zip it and move your folder to where ever you want to save your folder to. In the folder you'll see four different PSD files. Each one describes how many of each size is in that template. Each layer is not technically 3"x4" or 6"x4"... they measure 2.9"x4" or 5.9"x4" to fit better in the pockets. 



NOTE: I am also using Photoshop CS5, but these can be used in Photoshop Elements also.

Choose the template that best suits what you want to print and open it (double-click on it).



Next, I will open up the folder with the journal cards I want to print up. I like to keep my screen minimized and have my Windows folder open next to it.



I'm going to click my mouse on the layer that I want to fill with my journal card.



Once, that layer is chosen, I'm going to click on and drag my journal card over to Photoshop. In the layers palette, you will see that your card is right above the layer you want to fill.



You will see it has a big x mark through it and a box around the card. I'm going to drag it over to the layer I want to fill.

Once it's centered over the top of that layer, you'll want to double click on it or click on the check mark in the upper right hand corner. You'll want to "clip" the card to the spot or "mask" to trim down the size of it to the size you'll want to cut it. There are three ways to clip the journal card to the spot in your template.

1. CTRL-ALT-G
2. Layer > Create Clipping Mask
3. ALT - click your mouse on the line between the two layers in the layers palette

That's the simplest most easy way to do it. Fill up the rest of your spaces with journal cards and you're all set. 

CREATE YOUR OWN JOURNAL CARDS

If you want to take it a step further, you can create your own cards by dragging over digital papers to fill a spot. I've done that here in these screenshots.





I also re-sized (CTRL-T) by clicking on the corner box and dragging to make it smaller. In order to not distort the paper, you need to press the SHIFT key in Photoshop while you're dragging it smaller. If you don't, it will not keep it's proportions and the pattern will become distorted.





I hope this has helped you see how easy it is to dive into hybrid scrapbooking. For more Photoshop Basics, be sure to check out the FREE class offered at Studio Calico and if you would like to learn a little bit more, I'm a contributor in the Beyond Basics class and am looking forward to sharing some fun techniques with you.

If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message and I'll be happy to answer them. I've been working in Photoshop for so long that sometimes I worry that I've missed something or something doesn't make sense. I want you to be able to give hybrid a try and learn some new techniques in your scrapbook journey.

Come back next Wednesday when we chat about printing thing out, the best papers and print settings!

Have you been using these free templates? If so, I'd love to know how you've used them!

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