Digital Scrapbooking Tips

My favorite foodie shows are the cake decorating reality television shows. The multi-layer confections the pastry chefs create just amaze me. I’ve noticed that the chefs design each layer and embellishment separately and then stack them on a new platform. This is not so different from the way the Layers Palette works in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, but the cool thing you can do with a virtual layer cake is drag a layer from one “cake” to another!

To try this, open two documents in Photoshop or PSElements. If you are working in Photoshop Elements, you will not need the Project Bin for this technique, so close it by dragging the arrow on the Bin Title Bar downward or selecting Window and un-checking Project Bin.

You’ll need to see both documents at one time, so choose Window > Images > Cascade (Photoshop: Window > Arrange > Cascade) from the Menu Bar.

Using the Move tool, you can move the documents in the editing window by dragging the title bar.

Making sure that you have the Move Tool selected, locate the layer in the Layers Palette you’d like to move to the other document. Drag the layer from the Layers Palette and drop it on the other document. Photoshop and PSE will copy it as a new layer. This is especially helpful when you want to use one element from a Layered template on another scrapbook page.

If you hold the Shift key as you drag, the layer will be centered on the new document.

You can do this with any document, even it if has only one layer. Just click and drag the only layer to the new document – it’s a piece of cake!