Welcome to DAY 8 in our 12 Days of Christmas Projects Series!!
Today I’ll show you a basic tutorial for creating a simple digital layout using a quickpage. When you are finished you can then print and send as a Christmas card!
If you’re already a digi pro, feel free to skip the tutorial and go download your 8th day of Christmas projects treat!
When we’re done, here’s what our final product will look like (with your photo of course!):
1. Start by downloading your {FREE} quickpage.
2. Unzip the folder. Inside you will find two quickpage sizes: a 5×7 card and a 4×8 card. (I’ve included these standard sizes based on popular printing preferences. At the end of this post I’ll give tips on printing.) Choose the size that works best for you and open the quickpage file in your photo editing program. (If you don’t have Photoshop, you can download a free 30 day trial.)
3. Notice that the quickpage has flattened patterned papers and elements and then a transparent space. This space is for you to slide your photo into. Open your photo and drag it into the card document.
4. In the layers palette, drag your photo to the layer below the quickcard. Resize your photo by holding down the shift key and dragging a corner of the photo. Adjust until you like the way the photo fits.
5. Add text. I used a free scrapbooking font called My Own Topher.
6. Open the doodled heart element file (included in the download) and drag it into your card document. Place the heart and add more text for your signature, if desired.
7. At this point you are finished, but feel free to add other embellishments if you want to fancy your card up a bit. I added a glitter border from All I Want, my kit included in the 12 Days of Christmas grab bag.
8. Save your quickcard. I always save my files as a PSD file, AND a JPEG file. The PSD saves your document in layers so you can go back and edit if needed. The JPEG file is the flattened file which you will use to upload for printing, to your blog, Facebook, etc.
8. When saving your file as a JPEG, a box will come up asking about the quality you want to save in. If you plan to print this document, save it at a high resolution–I usually leave it on 10. If you are just e-mailing it or uploading online a lower resolution is standard.
9. Now you can upload your JPEG image to your e-mail, blog, Facebook, etc. OR, if you’re ready to print, you have a few options.
- Print at home on your printer. Photo paper looks best, but cardstock works too.
- Upload to a photo lab.
- Have your card printed as a Christmas card.
You may want to run straight to Vistaprint when you hear about this AMAZING deal they have going on.
Order (50) 4×8 cards for $12.99 with FREE 7-day shipping!!
PLENTY of time to get these babies out by Christmas, and that is a SERIOUSLY AMAZING deal.
Don’t want 50 cards? Another deal I love is this:
Order (10) 5×7 cards FREE (just pay shipping).
I recently ordered some notecards using this 10 FREE deal and they turned out awesome. I opted for the linen finish which cost a couple of dollars more plus the shipping, but they turned out so cute and will make a super fun gift.
Enjoy your cards!!
Coming tomorrow. . .
Thank you, thank you, thank you! You have helped to simplify one of my major chirstmas chores! : )
[Reply]