Note: PSPX was used to create this digital scrapbooking tutorial; there may be slight variations in other versions. In addition, depending on how you have your workspace set up, it may be in the default settings, your screens may look slightly different from mine.

Open both the template background and the frames, Copy the background and Paste As New Image. Clear clipboard by going to Edit> Empty Clipboard. Copy the frames and Paste As New Layer (Ctrl+L) over background. Close both original files. Clear clipboard. You may need to adjust the placement of the frames using the Pick Tool, making sure the Mode is set to "Scale." Turn off the frame layer by clicking the eye on the frame layer.

Adding paper to your background layer.

Option 1, Image 1

Image 1

1. Activate your Selection Tool's Magic Wand and select the background. You will have marching ants surrounding it. I used Match Mode: Hue, Tolerance: 0, Feather: 0 and Contiguous: unchecked.

2. Activate your Move Tool. Use the browser to find a background paper and drag it from the browser to your template. Make sure it is the layer just above the template and that it covers the entire template.

   You could also double-click the paper in your browser, and after it opens, Copy> Paste As New Layer (Ctrl+L) over your template. I find this method easier as it centers the paper for me. Write down the paper designer and close it. Clear clipboard by going to Edit> Empty Clipboard.

3. You should now see the marching ants on your paper layer. Go to Selections> Invert (Ctrl+Shift+I), and just the inside of the windows should have the marching ants. Delete, and your windows are now transparent. You should now have two layers that look the same, your template on the bottom and your paper on the top. Selections> Select None (Ctrl+D) to remove the marching ants. With the top layer (paper) active, Layers> Merge> Merge Down. Your paper is "pasted" to the template! Save your work!

Option 2, Image 2

Image 2

1. Activate your Selection Tool's Magic Wand and select the background. You will have marching ants surrounding it. I used Match Mode: Hue, Tolerance: 0, Feather: 0 and Contiguous: unchecked.

2. Open a paper you would like to use as your background and minimize it. Click your Materials Palette and go to the Patterns Tab by right-clicking the background properties box. Click on your paper in the tab and make sure your Scale is set to 100 and Angle is 0. Click "OK."

3. Activate your Flood Fill Tool (Paint Bucket) and pour your paper onto the template. Save your work!

Turn your frame layer back on by clicking the eye again. I rotated the layout to the right at this point.

Add your Photos

Image 3

Browse to your photos, and Copy> Paste them to your layout. Drag them below the template by dragging the layer with the photo below the template and resize as necessary. Use the Selection Tool on the photo layer to remove portions of the photo to fit the window.

Image 4

In the bottom left window, I placed the photo under the template, selected it with the Rectangle Selection Tool on the photo layer, and used Selections> Invert> Delete to remove the part of the photo I did not want. Continue this step until all windows are filled with photos, papers or whatever you wish to put in them.

Add embellishments, text and drop shadows. You can add a drop shadow to the white frame layer too! You can also change the color of the frames by selecting and adding a color with the Flood Fill Tool or a paper using the steps in Options One or Two.

Layout by Dee-Ann Decker

	Note: Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: All Stitched-Circles, Straight Biggie are also available.

Tutorial by Dee-Ann Decker