Does anyone know if you can "cut-out" letters in PSP8.1? I've seen some layouts with cut out letters so you see the background underneath but they were in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. I also have Photoshop Elements but am not too familiar with it yet. But if someone could give me precise instructions, I could probably figure it out.

Thanks!

Debbie57

__________________
Crazy about Scrapbooking

Hi Debbie,

I have PSP8 and yes, you can cutout letters. Try this:

1. Create your bottom (or background) layer. This is the layer that you will see once the cutout is done.

2. Create a second layer over the first one.

3. Choose your font. Pick something that's pretty wide (like Arial Black or Cherub). Be sure to experiement with thinner fonts too.

4. Create as "selection" (rather than vector or floating).

5. On your top layer, type and apply your text. Your text should now be "marching ants."

6. Hit delete then apply your cutout shadows: Effects>3D Effects>Cutout. Experiment with how you want your shadow to appear on the bottom layer.

Here are two of my layouts that have cutout letters (both done completely in PSP8):

http://www.scrapbook-bytes.com/galle...cat=500&page=7

http://www.scrapbook-bytes.com/galle...cat=500&page=7

Good luck! (PM me if you have more questions.)

Zee

Zeelv,

Thanks for the step by step instruction. I'm a Newbie and step by steps are wonderful!! Your cut outs that I went out to view were wonderful and that's exactly what I was wanting. I"ll give it a try this evening when I get home and will let you know what happens. Again, thank you so much--it's most appreciated!

Debbie57

__________________
Crazy about Scrapbooking

Debbie,

Hope this helps:

Vertical Pink:

1. Create a background layer and fill it with the color, pattern or texture of your choice. This will be your bottom-most layer, the one that will peek through your cutout letters.
2. Create a second layer and fill it with a contrasting color.
3. Choose your font tool, choose the font type and make sure you've selected "selection" (rather than "vector" or "floating.")
4. On the second layer, type your text (the entire word) and apply it. You should have "marching ants" in the shape of your text. At this point, your text will still be horizontal.
5. Hit delete to cutout your text. You should see the background layer peeking through.
6. Choose your Deform Tool and either manually rotate this layer or enter a value in the Angle field (I entered 90 degrees to get this position.)
7. Click on Effects and apply a Cutout filter.
8. It might be necessary to recrop the image (sometimes the rotation will cause the layer to not fit the rest of the image.)

Vertical Blue (edited to include CORRECT steps on 9/6/04):

1. Create a background layer and fill it with the color, pattern or texture of your choice. This will be your bottom-most layer, the one that will peek through your cutout letters.
2. Create a second layer and fill it with a contrasting color.
3. Choose your font tool, choose the font type and this time, make sure you've selected "floating" (rather than "vector" or "selection.") Choose black for both your stroke and fill colors.
4. Here's where it gets tedious...For ease in placement of the letters, make sure your gridlines are showing so you can line up each letter precisely.
5. Your best bet is to create each letter on its own separate layer. For instance, if your name is "Debbie" it would be made up of six separate layers. Once you have all the letters typed up on their own layer, you can move each letter individually where you want it to be on your layout (again, use the grid...try zooming in so you can see better.)
6. Once the letters are all aligned and exactly where you want them, right-click on the topmost layer, click Merge, then click Merge Down. That should merge the layer you were on down to the next layer (what used to be the second layer from the top...which should now show up as the top layer.) Right-click on your top layer again, click Merge, then click Merge Down. Continue until your entire word has been merged down to one layer.
7. At this point, you should have three layers: the top layer is your text, the second layer is your "paper" color, the bottom layer is the background color (the color that peeks through your cutouts.)
8. Make sure you are working on your text layer (the top one). Using your magic wand tool, click on each letter. Once all the letters have been selected, hit delete. The black text should disappear and you should still have the text selected. Go to your layers and click once on the next layer down (your paper color). Hit delete. You should now have your background color peeking through. Keep the text selected and apply your cutout filter (Effects>3D Effects>Cutout.)

My apologies to anyone who may have tried the "Blue Vertical" instructions and ended up tearing their hair out. Apparently I had written them incorrectly and it wasn't working for some. DOH!!

Attached Images

	vertical pink.jpg (6.3 KB, 58 views)
	vertical blue.jpg (5.2 KB, 42 views)