Number Brushes, Parks & Recreation QPs & Move Tool Tricks

I have two small new additions in my store today at 20% off during Happy Hour, through Friday. For an extra 15% discount (on products new this week), use coupon code: KA_EXTRA15

I received a request from a Facebook last week to create a number set to use with Project Life pages. I have been enjoying playing with Photoshop brushes lately, so I created a hand-painted brush number set for her. Number Brushes 1 is available HERE in my shoppe.

I have been using Number Brushes 1 on my Snapbook pages and I am planning to use them in a Project Life style Alphabet album that I have just started with my 4 year old. I’m hoping to help her learn her ABC’s and introduce her memory keeping at a young age. I’ll be sure and show some examples of that soon. It’s turning out really cute so far!!




I also have completed a four-pack of 12x12 quick pages and they are on sale as well! Pick up Park’s and Recreation Quick Pages HERE in my shoppe.





I received a lot of really nice emailed and Facebook responses to the short tutorial about text options that I wrote up last month. I love Photoshop, and I enjoy sharing Photoshop tips with you. I hope that they are helpful to you.

Today, I thought I’d share a little bit of info about the Move Tool with you. The move tool is likely one of the Photoshop tools that is used the most commonly used by digital scrapbookers. You probably already know that the move tool allows you to move a layer or a selection around the document window. But did you know that there are a few handy tricks you can use to get more use from the move tool?





I have compiled a short list of a few of tips and hints that might help make the move tool even more useful to you as a scrapper. If you have five minutes, give these tricks a try. You might learn something you didn't know!

• Hit “V” on your keyboard to quickly select the move tool.
  
• To move a layer, hold down the left mouse button, drag and drop it (release the button).
  
• To move a selection on a layer, put the move tool inside the selection, then drag and drop.
  
• Hold down “control” (“command” for Mac) and click on an element or paper on your layout to select that layer without searching for it on the layer menu. This is temporary activation of the Auto-Select option. This is super helpful for those pages with lots of layers on them. No more searching for an element in your layers panel. Just “control” and click, and you move it where you want it!
  
• Check the Show Transform Controls box on the Move Tool Option Bar to show the center of any layer, and to have Transform options automatically selected on the active layer. I like to click this option sometimes when I’m at the point in a layout where I’m adding and resizing my elements. This allows for quick and easy resizing.
  
• Check the Auto-Select box on the Move Tool Option Bar to automatically select any object you click on on the document window. I don’t usually keep this option checked because it is so easy to use the “control” click method. But if you have a lot of layers to adjust, checking this box may speed things up for you.
  
• When using almost any other tool, hold down “control” (“command” for Mac) and you will activate the move tool on the current layer.
  
• Use the arrow keys to move in smaller more precise increments. Hold down the shift key to move in larger increments.
  
• Hold down the “alt” key and click on an element or other item in a layer to duplicate the layer and move the new duplicated copy. This is helpful if you have a element like a button or a flower that you want to duplicate on your page.
  
• With an area selected, hold down the “alt” key, click inside the selection and drag to duplicate the selection on the same layer.
  
• Right click on your document to see a list of layers that are not empty in the clicked area.
  
• To quickly and evenly align and distribute text, alphas, elements and other objects, use the Alignment and Distribute options located on the Move Tool Option Bar which appears at the top of the screen when the move tool is selected.
  

I have not gone into great detail about the align and distribute text options because, though they are very easy to use, a detailed explanation of those options would take a bit more time. But they are such a nice and useful option for scrappers! Especially for those of us who like to use alphas on our pages. So I will be back soon with a little tutorial on those options.


Have a happy and fun weekend!