Good morning,

I really did stumble across digital scrapbooking yesterday afternoon when I bought a DS magazine and was amazed. I have a Mac and a PC (I've taught computer courses since the '80s) so I understand computers, BUT I'm not an expert, by any means with my Photoshop Elements2 software - but I'm slowly learning.

I am astounded by the talent with the layouts I've seen on this site and in the mag. My question is: can some of these complete layouts be used as templates to "fill in the blanks" for those of us not yet up to speed? And objects/elements... can those be downloaded and used in my own layouts? Lastly, the background papers... is there a quick way to resize them to fit the 8.5 x 11 size of my Photoshop file page, or do you just drag to fit?

My own layouts, by the way, look pretty basic compared to some of yours!!!

thanks for any and all advice,
Tobi.

Welcome Tobi! It is awesome to have you onboard!

Put simply, it is a big yes in answer to your questions. I don't use Photoshop Elements, so someone who does will be along in just a moment to answer those questions.

I just wanted to welcome you and warn you - this is addictive! I can't wait to see your work!

__________________
Jacqueline
Kitty and Baby Mama
My Gallery

Hi Tobi! *wave* Welcome to our board!!

Here at SBB, we call templates 'pagebytes,' and our DTM Rhonna just made six abfab ones that can be dled FOR FREE in the Elements section. If you click on the 'Elements' link in the menu bar just above the banners that change every 30 seconds (while being logged in to the site), you will come across them. They should be in the 'DTM Exclusives' section.

We also have a monthly ezine (which will come out sometime next week for June) that always has a few pagebytes in it that you can purchase for $3/month or $30/year. You can preorder this by clicking on the 'Online Store' link at the very tippytop of the screen.

In Photoshop (so it might be slightly different in PSE), I can resize whatever I need by clicking on the 'Image' menu and letting go on the 'Image Size' option. Once that screen pops up, just type in 8.5 inches and 11 inches in the blanks, and your paper should resize. I would actually type in 8.6 and 11.1 so the paper would be slightly bigger than your page and you wouldn't have any white space on the outside.

HTH!

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><> LeeAndra <><
CREATING FOR
Miss Hunibuni :: Rachael Giallongo :: Mandabean
Two Little Pixels :: Chirpi Creative
April guest for Kelly Thompson and Scarletheels

Just a quick note on using 12 x 12 elements on a 8.5 x 11 page. Sometimes the proportions aren't right if you resize the whole thing. One trick I've used is to drag the layer to my new project. Then leave it in the 12 x 12 size or re-size to 11.5 x 11.5 and move it around until I like the look of the portion that fits on my page. However, this doesn't work with every template or background. Just experiment a little to see what look you like.