Making an A4 Photo Album Page

Making an A4 Photo Album Page

These notes by Judy Alcock are designed to be used in conjunction with a demonstration, so they presume some familiarity with Adobe Photoshop Elements V2.

Step 1. Choose the Photos

Open Windows Explorer
Navigate to the folder e.g. My Documents\My Pictures\2005 02 Perth

Click the Views button and choose Filmstrip or Thumbnails to see pictures.

Choose 4-8 photos. To help you choose: Double click the photo to see it full-screen size in the Picture & Fax Viewer (OR right click the photo / Open With / Windows Picture & Fax Viewer).
Jot down the names of the photo files e.g. Dscn35.jpg, Dscn42.jpg, Dscn43.jpg, Dscn44.jpg, Dscn51.jpg (pen and paper job!)

Step 2. Open Adobe Photoshop Elements V2
Click the sunflower icon in the Quick Launch Toolbar OR
Start button / All Programs / Adobe Photoshop Elements V2

Judy likes to work with Navigator and the Layers palette open at the right hand side of the desk space. Collect them from the Windows menu if needed.

Step 3. Open a blank A4 page
Click the New button OR File menu / New …
Size: A4 Mode: RGB Color Contents: White
Resolution: 300 pixels per inch
Ctrl+zero makes the page full size for the desk space.
Click and drag in the blue Untitled1 line to move the page over to the right.

Step 4. Open Your Photos
Click the Open button OR File menu / New
Navigate to the folder e.g. My Documents\My Pictures\2005 02 Perth
Ctrl+click to highlight the chosen photos.
Click Open

Step 5. Fix and Plunk the Photos
Work one photo at a time.

Make any changes needed to fix or improve the photo …
* rotate – Image menu / Rotate (* more information in Details, below)
* red eye – zoom in and use the Red Eye Brush Tool. (* more in Details)

* crop – click the Crop Tool, click and drag, starting at a corner of the
   area you want, click and drag a side to fine-tune the crop.
   Press Enter to commit the change.
* round crop: use the elliptical Marquee Tool, click and drag to get
the shape you want, Ctrl+C to copy, click the A4 page to make it active,
   Ctrl+V to paste the round shape into the middle of the A4 page.
* brightness and contrast   (* more information in Details)
   Enhance menu / Adjust Brightness-Contrast / Brightness-Contrast
* lighten an area – Dodge Tool
* darken an area – Burn Tool

When a photo is ready, plunk it on the A4 page: click and drag the thumbnail over to the A4 page and when the edge of the page shows a black line, this indicates that it is ready to receive the photo.

Click the photo again to make it active.
Close the photo (red cross x)
Say NO to saving changes

Step 6. Arrange the Photos on the Page

Move or Resize. Click the Move Tool.
Click a photo to make it active
Click and drag to move a photo
Shift + click and drag-on-a-corner to resize a photo.

Overlap photos the way you want them, use the Layers palette to help you.
Click Photo A = Layer 6 (currently on top)
Click Photo B = Layer 3 (currently under Photo A)
In the Layers palette, click and drag Layer 3 above Layer 6 in the palette so the Photo B is now on top.

Step 7. Text
Click the Horizontal Type Tool .
Font: Comic Sans Font size: 12 pt for text, 18 pt for a heading.
Click in the color patch on the toolbar to open the Color Picker Window.
Choose a color for your text.
Type in your words.
Press the Enter key on the number pad to commit the text layer.
Click the Move Tool so you can move the text around, use the arrow keys to fine tune where the text is.
Remember you have buttons for left, centre and right justified

Proof read the text: Ctrl + tap-the-plus-key-three-times to zoom in.
Use Navigator and the scroll bars to move around the page to check that all typewriting is correct.

Step 8. Save
Click the Save button OR File menu / Save
Give the A4 page a name e.g. 2005 02 Perth 1,
the file will be 2005 02 Perth 1.psd when you look for it later.
Save in: navigate to the folder where your album pages will be.

Step 9. Print
Click the Print button OR File menu / Print
This is the process for my Canon i865 Printer …

If the Print Clipping Warning comes up, click to tick Scale to fit media, OK.
In the Print window, click the Properties button.
Choose the media type: e.g. High Resolution Paper OR whatever your photo paper is (read the packet!)
I’m happy with Standard, click High if that’s what you prefer (it takes longer - is there a noticeable improvement in quality of printout?)
Check it’s set for color printing.

Get to know how to adjust the settings for YOUR printer.

Ink

It’s a good idea to have a complete spare set of the ink cartridges appropriate for your printer.

When a colour runs out, replace just that one cartridge and take the empty to your re-inking shop and get them to refill it.

We have been totally happy with the quality of photos printed using re-inked cartridges.

Details

Rotate. When it’s a bit off vertical, Image menu / Rotate / Custom
Then it’s a case of trial and error – e.g. 1 degree right.
If it’s not correct, click undo and try 1.5 degrees right, or whatever you think.

Red Eye. Ctrl + plus, plus, plus ... to zoom in on the eye.
Eyedropper Tool / click on the iris to pick up its colour.
Redeye Brush Tool / set the size (up in the tool line) to a bit smaller than the size of the iris (about 7 pixels?) / click on or near some of the red pixels.
Two to three clicks - if there's still red after 3 clicks do 3 undos and try clicking in slightly different spots.
Ctrl + 0 (zero) to return to the complete photo.

Brightness and Contrast.
To lighten a picture …
Enhance menu / Adjust Brightness-Contrast / Brightness-Contrast
e.g. Brightness +20 to +30, Contrast +4 to +15

To lighten an area, e.g. a face, use the Dodge Tool