How to Create a Quick Page–tutorial and freebie!
Thursday, July 24th, 2008
Hi everyone, Andrea here. The end of the month is approaching, man the days are just flying by! The quick page kit of the month for this month is “My Independence,” by SHARIng Creations. It is on sale for $3.85. You still have time to create a quick page and get in on the exchange. For more information on the quick page exchange please check out this thread in the forum.
Today’s little lesson is going to teach you how to turn the below layout into a quick page. It is so easy, you might want to create two quick pages for the exchange!
I did the following tutorial in PSE6 but the concept should work in almost any image editing software.
Start with your layered, completed layout. Rename it to “layout name quick-page.”
Copy your background layer because you will not be able to erase it, since it is locked.
First hide your pictures (click on the little eye)
Using your magic wand, select the first area to erase. I selected the inside of the small frame. Then using a large eraser start erasing the first layer. Do not deselect the inside area of your frame.
Make sure you hide/uncheck your background layer (turn off the little eye) or you won’t be able to tell which areas you have erased.
Continue erasing each layer of your layout until you are left with a transparent opening–you can tell it is transparent because of the checkerboard pattern.
Continue selecting frames and then erasing all layers for all of your picture spots.
Once all of your picture frames are erased you need to decide which of your elements and that you want to keep intact on your quick page.
Remember that quick pages shouldn’t have any text on them at all, so that they can be customized by the recipient. Hide the layers that you don’t want to show up in your completed quick page (turn off the little eye). This is why I think it is easier to use a layered file for a quick page. You can also use a print quality flattened layout for a quick page, but it can’t have any words on it when you start out, because you can’t erase them as easily as you can just hide them.
Eventually you will have your layered quick page how you want it to be for the exchange. I chose to leave the flowers and the blue circle on for the quick page I am giving to you today. Now you need to save it twice—once as a layered file (I usually save as tiff/psd files) and as a flattened, transparent png file. The png is what you upload/send to Shari for the quick page exchange. You will also need to save it for web to place in the SM gallery so that everyone can see your terrific quick page.
You can download my completed quick page from 4shared here or from the store here–Sorry links expired.
Hope this was helpful to all of you. Let me know if you have questions.
