Photoshop Elements Tips: Using PNG Alphas

[1gr8muggle]

When you purchase a kit that has an alpha set, it often comes as a png file with all the letters on one sheet (or 2 or 3).

Here are some simple steps for using these alphas on your layout:

1. Open the png Alpha file.
2. Select your Marquee OR Lasso tool (whichever you prefer).
3. Click & drag your marquee (or draw your lasso) around the letter you wish to use. It should now be an active selection (marching ants around it.)
4. Position the cursor over your letter and hold down the Control (PC) or Command (Mac) key. Your cursor will get a pair of scissors under it. While holding the Ctrl/Cmd key, click and drag the letter onto your layout. It will be added on its own layer.
5. Repeat the steps for additional letters.

Tips:

• If you accidentally select part of a neighboring letter on the page, simply hold down the Alt (PC) or Option (Mac) key and draw a new marquee/lasso around the part you want to subtract it from the selection.
• If you need to add more to your selection, hold down the Shift key and marquee/lasso the additional part of the image to add it to your existing selection.
• If you want your letters to be centered on your layout, hold down the Shift key as you drag it from the png file to your layout.

[BonnieD]

I can move my letters into my document, but this letter is white. How do I use this letter and cut it out of a patterned paper like in a recent layout shared?
BonnieD

[1gr8muggle]

If I hear you right, you want to make a letter out of a piece of paper. If that's correct, you would ctrl-click on the thumbnail of your letter in the Layers palette to make a selection of it (marching ants around it.) Then target your patterned paper layer and type Ctrl-J (PC) or Cmd-J (Mac) and it will create a new layer of paper shaped like your selection.

Is that what you wanted to do?

[BonnieD]

Thats it, thank you.
Bonnie

[farabee]

[QUOTE=1gr8muggle;28658]When you purchase a kit that has an alpha set, it often comes as a png file with all the letters on one sheet (or 2 or 3).

Here are some simple steps for using these alphas on your layout:

1. Open the png Alpha file.
2. Select your Marquee OR Lasso tool (whichever you prefer).
3. Click & drag your marquee (or draw your lasso) around the letter you wish to use. It should now be an active selection (marching ants around it.)
4. Position the cursor over your letter and hold down the Control (PC) or Command (Mac) key. Your cursor will get a pair of scissors under it. While holding the Ctrl/Cmd key, click and drag the letter onto your layout. It will be added on its own layer.
5. Repeat the steps for additional letters.

Is the resolution of these "sheets" of png alphas as good as each individual letter. When a download comes with both the sheet and individual letters, why keep the individual letters, then? (does that make sense)

[1gr8muggle]

The resolution of all the DesignerDigitals products is 300 dpi. There is no loss of quality with the full sheet of png alphas. Some people prefer to open the full sheet so they can quickly select various letters and drag them to their layout without having to open multiple files.

There are some software packages (not Adobe) that make this more difficult, so the individual alpha files work better for those customers.