paper: Scrapbooking with Photoshop Brushes | pretty paper. true stories. {and scrapbooking classes with cupcakes.}

Digital brushes constantly amaze me: they can dress up a so-so photo and make it something extra special and they make it possible to do things like draw a perfectly straight line with a scalloped edge or repeat a handdrawn design exactly the same way but in another size or colour. It’s just like stamping and yet I never worry about making a mistake or dropping my inkpad, because the handy undo button saves all.

Rhonna constantly amazes and inspire me with what she does with brushes. Her digital pages are fabulous but I also love what she does to individual photos, like how she dressed up the pictures in this post with a little brushwork. Definitely check out her blog – she posts so many pretty things. And she’s going to send the winner of this challenge a prize! Thanks Rhonna!

If you have Photoshop Elements (or full Photoshop), then brushes are so easy once you get the hang of how to turn them on and make them go. This video tutorial by Sande Krieger shows exactly how to install and use brushes in Photoshop Elements. Or try this written tutorial from Rhonna if you find written instructions easier than the video. If you have full Photoshop, those tutorials will work too – it’s just that some of the menu options may be in a slightly different place.

If you don’t use any Photoshop software, not to worry! You can still use digital brushes as individual PNG images. Just open them in any image-editing software and you can copy and paste them onto an image. When you open a digital kit of brushes it will usually have a .ABR file (that’s the brush file) and a set of .PNG files (those are the individual pictures you can use in any image-editing suite).

Your 10am challenge is to create something with brushes, and you can download a free set of my hand-penned words brushes to get started. You can use any brushes (or other digital elements if your editing software of choice doesn’t include brushes) to complete the challenge so if you have a collection you can take your pick.

This challenge can be a digital or hybrid challenge. If you scrap digitally or want to give it a try, use the brushes on a digital page or element. If you are a strictly-paper scrapper, why not try adding a brush to a photograph and printing it out, then using the photo on a traditional paper page? If this is something you’ve never tried, then consider that the reason why it’s called a challenge and give it a whirl!

Whatever you make, post it to a gallery or your blog then leave a comment on this post with a link to your entry!

One project will be randomly chosen to win digital brushes from Rhonna Farrer. You can enter until 6am UK time on Monday 19th April.

Oh, and don’t think I forgot the tunes either!

xlovesx

Read more about: inspiration-party digital-scrapbooking-and-hybrid-scrapbooking

17 April 2010

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