PROJECT: USING ELEMENTS TO CREATE YOUR “SEASONS GREETINGS” LETTER INCLUDING PHOTOS

Bill Popejoy, Jan. 2005

Choose your layout and photos. Determine the size of each photo.

1. Open Elements.

2. Open each photo, one-by-one, edit and size each and store in the “Photo Bin”.

3. In Elements, create a new blank file, size it to 8.5 by 11 inches. “Background Contents” may be blank or white, makes no difference.

4. Activate your rulers.

5. The next and succeeding steps depend on whether your printer prints “edge-to-edge. If it does you may place the photos closer to the edge.

6. Now we are going to repeat several steps over and over:

Open the first photo, do “Select All”, put the photo on the “Clip Board”. Minimize the photo. Paste the photo on the blank layer. With the “Move Tool” move the photo into its place. Use the rulers to determine placement. Do the same for each of the other photos. You may make minor changes in size by grabbing a corner and, while holding down the “Shift’ key, move the corner in or out. After all photos are in place, “Flatten” the image.

7. Now after all the photos are in place we have two options for the text: (1) We may activate the “Text Tool” in Elements and type the text or we may (2) measure the space left for text and after setting the margins in our word processor type the text. I prefer the latter. I always print one copy of the photos on “plain” paper and then print the text. Usually I have to make small adjustments in the margins of the text before I print the final pages.

8. Assuming the latter, we now put the text on the clipboard and paste it onto elements.

9. Now print the number of copies you want to mail and then make a version of it with image resolution of 90 and E-Mail it.

Aren’t computers wonderful!