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!

Parks and Recreation

I have a brand new, bright and sunshiny park themed kit available this week! Parks and Recreation includes 24 papers, over 65 unique elements, full alpha and a 35 piece Word Art Pack that is free with purchase of the kit! You can check out the kit HERE in my After Five Designs shoppe. I also created a fun messy painted brush alpha, that coordinates well with the kit. It is also available this week HERE at A5D.

Both the Parks and Recreation Kit and Brush Alpha are 20% off through Friday, Midnight for Happy Hour at A5D. You can take an additional 15% off your price of  the Parks and Recreation items with this coupon code: KA_PARK_15


























I wanted to say a big thanks to all of the people on Facebook who gave me so many helpful suggestions for items to include in the kit. I have a little “thank you” gift available on my Facebook page for you to grab! It is a Facebook Timeline Cover QP using the Parks and Recreation kit. You can swing by my Facebook page HERE and pick it up.

I also wanted to say thank you to the many people who left suggestions for kit names here on my blog a couple of weeks ago. You all had some really great suggestions. In fact, there were so many suggestions, that it was really difficult to pick one name. In the end, I chose the very first suggestion “Parks and Recreation” which was first mentioned by Slextrom. Thank you so much for the great name! I have a free copy of the new kit waiting for you Slextrom!! Shoot me an email so that I can send it to you!! kristin.aagard@gmail.com

One of the posters on Facebook mentioned that they would like to see a grass alpha included in the kit. I thought that would make a fun little freebie. You can pick Grassy Alpha free here in my store. Enjoy!! Now I hope you will all head out to the park and take some fun pics to scrap!! Have a great week!!

A Short Time Saving Text Tutorial for Photoshop

I have a new kit coming to you very soon. I had expected to release it on April 12^th. But instead of working this week, I’m hanging out and lazing about at Havasupai. I thought it would be better to wait to release the new kit until next week. So make sure to look for a new kit April 19^th.

I use a lot of text in my designs and on my scrapbook pages. One of my favorite Photoshop time savers is Type Tool Preset option. This is a handy little thing, that can save you some time if you are a heavy journaler like I am! Because I frequently use a handful of the same fonts, sizing, tracking, spacing, justification, etc., I use the Type Tool Preset to save those settings. Then when I want to use them, instead of resetting all of the type options, I just click the preset I’ve saved and all of my text is instantly formatted the way I like it.

When I scrap, I tend to use one of about five different fonts. Since I don’t like to have to reset my preferences on every page, I have created several type tool presets. You can create them too in just a few simple and easy steps.

The first step is to select the Type tool.




One of the fonts I frequently use is, “The Future Freaks Me Out” (font by Heather Hess) sized at 14 pts. I also like to have my text set to left justify, anti-alias strong, tracking at -10. With the Type tool selected, click the little type formatting box on the option bar to toggle between the character and paragraph options.



Set your character preferences then toggle to the paragraph tab, and set your paragraph preferences.



If you would like to learn more about text formatting, and exactly what each character and paragraph option does, Adobe has a Text Formatting guide that you can follow HERE.

Once you have all of your type settings formatted the way you want them, it is time to save your type parameters. Click the Type Tool Preset Icon in the upper left corner. Remember that the Type Tool Preset Icon is only visible when you have selected the Type tool in Photoshop.



Click the small icon that looks like a circle with a triangle inside to access the Tool Preset menu.



Click on the option, “New Tool Preset…”



Type a name for your new Type preset. Click “OK.”



Now when you click your Type Tool Preset Icon, you will see the option for the new preset you have created.



In the future, whenever you want to use this specific text format, simply open the Type tool, click on the Type Tool Preset Icon and choose your Type Tool preset. Drag a Text Box on your page and start typing!



You can create as many Type Presets as you would like. I have several saved in my presets. This is another example of a Type Preset that I frequently use in my design work.



You can actually save tool presets for all of the tools in Photoshop using this same method. You can read more about creating and using tool presets HERE on Adobe’s website.

I hope that this little tutorial is helpful to you! Now, go create and use some Type Tool presets today!

April Showers and Sunshine Through the Rain

I’ve been working this week on a brand new kit. I’m almost finished with it and I hope I’ll have it all zipped up time to put it in the shoppe before I leave for a little trip next week!! I’ll give you a little hint, the theme is parks and playgrounds. I haven’t chosen a name for it yet. I’d love for you to help me choose a name! Leave a comment with your name suggestion here on my blog, and I’ll gift a copy of the kit to one of you if I choose your name suggestion for it! Thanks in advance for the naming help, and good luck!!

After Five Designs has a brand new 5-5-5 Collab kit available today! The 5-5-5 is one HUGE kit, for $5, for 5 days, on the 5^th.  I was super excited to participate in this month’s kit, April Showers. With over 140 elements and 40 papers, this kit has everything you need to scrap a beautiful rainy day page! April Showers is available HERE at A5D only during the month of April!

If you missed my KsQuared collab with K Studio, Sunshine Through the Rain, while it was a part of The Digi Files last month, this is your second chance to pick it up! Sunshine Through the Rain is now available HERE in my shoppe at A5D. It is 20% off through Happy Hour (midnight, Friday). You can take an additional 10% off through the weekend using this coupon code: KA_SSTR_10

I was feeling like it was time for me to refresh my desktop wallpaper. So I made a desktop quick page using my part of the Sunshine Through the Rain kit. I have uploaded it in several sizes and I’ve placed it in my store as a little freebie you! Hope you enjoy it!

I wish you all a very special, happy and fun Easter weekend!

Download Sunshine Through the Rain Desktop QP HERE.