Striped scrapbook paper in 5 minutes
Here is a fast and easy way to create striped 12X12 paper in Adobe Photoshop or Photoshop Elements in less than 5 minutes.
This is a beginning Photoshop tutorial, but even experienced Photoshop scrappers may not know this one!
Use this technique to quickly make 12X12 scrapbook paper for backgrounds and coordinating embellishments for your digital, hybrid or printable scrapbook pages.
If you don't have access to Photoshop, visit a digital studio like the one at the fantastic new scrapbook shop, Green Tangerines, in Rocklin.
Step 1
Open Photoshop and select File>New>Custom to create a new document. For a standard scrapbook page that you will print, create a document 12X12 inches with a resolution of either 200 pixels/inch or 300 pixels/inch. I have found 200dpi (pixels/inch) to print well while using less valuable hard drive space than 300dpi. Experiment if printing at home, and see if you can tell the difference.
The Offset filter in Adobe Photoshop
Step 2
An existing digital print will form the basis for your stripes. Open any multi-colored digital graphic, or design a new one now. It's preferable to use the graphic that you want your stripes to coordinate with. I selected a print that I made previously in Photoshop.
Step 3
Drag and drop the print into the new document you just created. If you hold the shift key while dragging, your print will fall directly into the center of the page. Size it to fit the new document's dimensions if necessary. You can stretch it, as pixel quality won't be an issue for creating the stripes. This should now be your selected layer.
Photoshop Offset filter horizontal settings
Step 4
Click on "Filter" in the menu bar at the top of your window. Then scroll down to "other" and select "offset."
Step 5
For vertical stripes, move the top slider to the right (as shown in this screen shot), or to the left for a different look. For horizontal stripes, leave your top slider at zero, and move the bottom slider to the right or left and voila! You may actually be able to create four variations of striped paper by adjusting the top slider first to the right, saving the layer as a .jpg, copying the print layer again, and sliding the layer to the left and saving that as a .jpg. Do the same for horizontal stripes, and that's all there is to it!
Photoshop offset filter vertical settings
Once you have a striped pattern you like, you can also make a copy and experiment with additional filters, such as Filter>Distort>Wave. You should be able to come up with enough coordinating papers from your first print to make an entire digital scrapbook album.
And here's a tip for saving your individual layers quickly as .jpg files: First, make sure the "eyeball" is visible next to each layer you want to save in the layers palette. Click Files>Scripts>Export Layers to Files. In the dialog box that appears, choose the location where Photoshop should save your files by clicking the browse button, select a file name prefix, select, ".jpg" as the file type, and choose the quality number. In most cases, a number between 8 and 10 will work well, but if you plan to offer your designs for sale, it's probably best to select 12.
For even more fun and free digital scrapbooking elements, teach a friend or family member this technique, use coordinating or contrasting colors for your base prints, then exchange files. You'll both have twice the digital scrapbooking supplies for half the effort!
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