From Realistic to Ridiculous: Using Extractions in Digital Scrapbook Layouts

Using Extraction in Digital Layouts: Background Changes

©Bonnie Covel, created in Photoshop 7

1. Extract the subject.
2. On a new layer, make your frame shape and fill with your chosen background color or pattern. Choose Select > Deselect to get rid of the marching ants.
3. Click on the frame layer in the layers palette and drag it below the extraction layer.
4. Place the extraction subject into the frame where you want it to go.
5. In the above example, I wanted parts of the subject to stick out of the frame (heads and arms) and parts to look as if they are inside or behind the frame (lower bodies). To achieve this, hold down the "Ctrl" key and click the bottom (frame) layer in the layers palette. You should now have the marching ants around your frame. Choose Select > Inverse.
6. Click on the extraction layer in the layers palette and select the eraser tool from the Toolbox. Adjust the size of the eraser and run it over the parts of the extraction that you do not wish to be outside of the frame. Because of the marching ants, the eraser will only erase the parts of the extraction that are outside the frame, giving you a clean line at the frame's edge. Choose Select > Deselect to get rid of the marching ants.
7. Optional: To add a stroke to the frame layer, choose Layer > Layer Style > Stroke. In almost all cases you will want to use an outside stroke, as an inside or center stroke will be partly hidden by your extraction layer.

• Digital Scrapbooking: Fun with Extractions
• Using Extractions in Digital Layouts: Single Extraction
• Using Extractions in Digital Layouts: Multiple Extractions
• Using Extractions in Digital Layouts: Overlap
• Using Extraction in Digital Layouts: Background Changes
• Using Extractions in Digital Layouts: Improvements
• Using Extractions in Digital Layouts: Colorization
• Using Extractions in Digital Layouts: More Colorization