Note: Screenshots taken from Adobe Photoshop CS on a PC.

By combining a variety of ScrapSimple Paper Templates set at different Blend Modes with the Mosaics 1 Paper, you can create beautiful custom backgrounds easily.

 

1. Open the Mosaics 1 Paper background of your choice and move it onto a new 12x12 300 dpi document. I used Mosaics 1 Large Tiles Grey.

 

2. Open the ScrapSimple Paper Template of your choice and drag and drop it onto the new document. Here I used ScrapSimple Paper Template Crazy for Paisley 7.

 

3. In the Layers Palette, Ctrl+Click on the thumbnail of the Paper Template. This will select all of the non-transparent pixels on that layer and marching ants will appear around the selection.

 

4. Next, go to Edit> Fill>Use: Color. Clicking on Color will bring up the Color Picker. Pick a color that coordinates with your background paper. The actual color you pick doesn’t really matter, however, because next we will be applying Blend Modes and that color will change.

5. To change the Blend Mode, make sure the Paper Template Layer is active. Then click on the down arrow next to the box that reads “Normal” right under the Layer tab in the Layers Palette. Click on the Blend Mode under "Normal," which is "Dissolve." Now that you have one selected, you can use your up and down arrows to quickly move through the list of Blend Modes, watching how each one changes your Paper Template Layer. You may also want to change the Opacity of that layer for a different look. This is the time to play around a bit to get the look you like.

 

In this sample, I changed the Blend Mode to "Overlay." I liked the look, but decided I wanted it a little darker. To do this, I duplicated the layer by right-clicking on the layer, and choosing "Duplicate Layer" from the drop-down menu.

 

6. I left the lower layer set on "Overlay," and changed the new, duplicate layer to "Luminosity," giving more depth and variations to my Paper Template.

7. I wanted to add even more depth to my background paper, however, so I repeated the above steps with two other ScrapSimple Paper Templates. Don’t be afraid to layer many different templates to create your own custom look.

 

Here, I added the ScrapSimple Paper Template: Calligraphy 6 and filled it with orange. After I changed the Blend Mode to "Screen," you can see the writing now glows in the background.

 

8. The final Paper Template I added was ScrapSimple Paper Template: Grungy Diamonds 4. For this one, the original color was a light grayish-green. Changing the Blend Mode to "Linear Burn" really makes the diamonds pop without overwhelming the rest of the background.

9. To finish the layout, I kept it fairly simple, since the background is rather intricate.

Layout by Jan Hicks

	Note: Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Calligraphy, ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Crazy For Paisley Biggie, ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Grungy Diamonds, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Grunged Metals Super Biggie 4102 and ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Inked Edges Neutrals 4102 are also available.

Tutorial Written by Jan Hicks