Threading an Element

and making the digital shadow look real!

It’s time for a tutorial! Have you ever had a tag element and a loop element, and wanted to make the tag look like it was hanging from the loop? Or how about threading an element on a string? And maybe you figured out how to make it look that way, only to have your shadow layer point out your illusion? Then this tutorial is for you. I used PSCS4 for this tutorial, but most of the steps will be similar in PSE.

I always leave threading/looping until close to the end, when I’m sure I have everything on my layout the way I want it. But for the sake of simplicity, I’ve just put a background paper and my two elements on the layout. (Everything is from my Journey 365 Jumbo.) I’m using a tag and a loop of string in this example, but you can use this technique with just about anything you want to thread onto a string or something similar.

Threading an Element on Your Digital Scrapbook Layout

1. Arranged your tag and the loop so that the tag looks like it’s hanging from the loop. Make sure the STRING layer is ABOVE the tag.

2. With the string layer active (highlighted), CTRL+click on the thumbnail of the tag– this will put “marching ants” around your tag. But you want the string layer active, ’cause this is the item we’ll be changing.

3. Choose your Eraser tool, and select a small hard round brush. (I like to zoom in at this point.) Brush over the part of the string you want to erase. (You can go “outside the lines” — the marching ants tell Photoshop to only erase what you brush inside them. If you brush outside them, nothing will happen.)

4. Hit CTRL+D to deselect. Your tag should now look like it’s hanging from the loop of string.

Now for the shadows — if you’re using Photoshop, follow steps 5a- 5c. If you’re using Elements, skip to steps 6a – 6g.

PHOTOSHOP
5a. Add a shadow style to both the string and the tag. The shadows will look a bit funny where we erased, but we’re going to fix that.

5b. Right-click on the fx icon for your string and choose create layer — this will put your shadow on a separate layer.

5c. Make sure your shadow layer is active. Select your Eraser tool and choose a small brush with 0% hardness. Now erase the shadow bits that shouldn’t be showing on the tag. Skip to step 7.

ELEMENTS
6a. Elements doesn’t allow you to put your shadow on its own layer, so we’re going to have to do a couple of tricks. (These screen shots are actually from PSCS4, but the steps are the same in Elements — I haven’t loaded Elements on my new computer yet.) Apply a shadow style to your tag. Make sure you’re string layer is active. Now CTRL+click on the thumbnail of your string so you get marching ants.

6b. Hit “D” on your keyboard so that your foreground/background color chips are set to the Default — black for foreground and white for background. Hold CTRL and click on the new layer icon so that you add a new layer BELOW your string. Now hit ALT+BACKSPACE to fill the selection with black. Hit CTRL+D to deselect and then hide the string layer.

6c. With the “shadow” layer active, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Choose a value between 2 and 5 — with 2 being less blurry and 5 being more blurry. For a string shadow, you’ll want a smaller number. I chose 2 for this string.

6d. Turn the string layer back on — you’ll see that we’re starting to get a shadow, but we need to manipulate the “shadow” layer we created a bit more.

6e. Make sure the “shadow” layer is still active. We’ll use the distort tool to adjust the shadow layer so it looks more real. In Elements, you’ll find this tool by going to Image > Transform > Distort. Then use your cursor to move the edges and corners of the boxes until you like the look of the shadow. Click on the green checkmark to confirm.

6f. Change the blend mode to Linear Burn and adjust the opacity to your liking.

6g. We need to clean up our shadow just a bit so grab your Eraser tool with a small brush and 0% hardness.

7. As a final step, I would link my tag, string, and shadow layer together, just in case I need to move or resize them.

And there you go. You can use this technique to thread simple elements, like I showed you. Or if you want to spend more time and play a bit more with shadows, you can do something like I’ve shown below, wrapping a string in and out of letters of your title, in just a few minutes.

If you use this trick on layouts, link me up! I’d love to see your creations. If you have any questions, please leave a comment and I’ll try to answer them. Or contact me using the link in the menu bar above.

Have a happy Tuesday!