One of the neatest things about digital scrapbooking is the
ability to create your own background papers. This tutorial will show you how
you can get the look of paper that’s been stamped over and over with an inked
rubber stamp.
First, open up a new image in the size paper you prefer
(8x10, 8.5x11, or 12x12), and fill with your color of choice. I also like to
add a little noise to the paper as well to give it a bit of a textured look,
choose Effect/Noise/Add Noise and select the amount of noise you want to add in
the command box. I’ve included my settings in the example graphic below.
Then you’ll need to choose the shape you want to stamp onto
your paper. I use the shape tool, and with the settings as shown in the sample
below, chose a custom shape from your collection. You can chose one of the
shapes that comes with the program, or a shape that you have altered and added
to the gallery. I’m going to chose this star.
Now zoom up on your paper so that you can see what you’re
doing, and add the shape
Now you want to make your shape appear broken, as if it was
stamped on. To achieve this, you open the Easy Palette, choose the Gallery
Icon, and scroll down to Type Gallery as shown below.
In the Type Gallery, scroll down until you get to the Seal
option. Then right click your mouse on one of the settings and choose Modify
Properties and Apply.
It doesn’t really matter which of the seals you choose, as
it will open up a window in which you can adjust the color and pressure to where
you want them.
As you can see in the graphic above, you will be able to
set your color, and using the slider on the pressure setting, add as much “ink”
as you want. The higher the pressure, the more “solid” the stamp will be. When
you get the effect you want, select OK.
I like to adjust the transparency as well, to fade out the
ink look a little. To do this, make sure the stamp is selected with the pick
tool, and add some transparency.
Add more stamps by either repeating the steps above, or
using Edit/Copy, Edit/Paste under pointer, and then flipping, resizing, or
rotating until you have the desired result.
And here is the finished paper!
