Creating a Photo Ornament in Photoshop Elements 6

Just in time for the holidays!

By Kelley Kuhlman

I love to create unusual ornaments especially paper items.  The following project is a folded photo ornament and contains a foam core square in which the middle is cut out and a pocket adhered where notes or money can be enclosed.  It can be printed small enough to hang on a Christmas tree or used as a greeting card.
 
The supplies you will need are:

• Photoshop Elements
• A background image
• At least two digital or printed photos
• Black or dark colored foam core - at least 4x4 inches
• Embroidery thread, Rattail or Ribbon
• Miniature Metal Lock or beads for the closure
• Jewel Glue  - found in your local bead, fabric or craft store
• High resolution Digital Cardstock or Heavy Presentation Paper - found at your local Office Max or similar
• Any other embellishment you want to add

First we will build a template. I like to use Page Plus X2 but for this one, I want to show that Photoshop Elements is capable of multiple page projects.
 
Open Photoshop Elements and choose new. The following is the dialog that pops up when you start. I have named it Photo Ornament and typed 10 in the Width and 4.5 as the Height. You can see the other settings as well:

 

 
 

Now, draw a square onto the left of the image by choosing the Rectangle tool shown below. I have the Foreground Color set at White. You can see that I have the rulers viewable. You should do likewise, it is done from the View menu; I also made the grid visible by clicking on it in the same menu. The size of the rectangle you create should be 4.75 x 4.5.
 

Next, right mouse click on the layer which says Shape 1, Simplify it and rename it Square 1 - you can rename by double clicking on the words in the layer or the layer itself.
 

While holding down CTRL, click directly on the image in the Layers Palette. This puts a marquee around the square only.
 

Now, go up to the Edit Menu and choose Stroke Selection. When the popup appears, choose Outside/2px and a dark gray color. 

Right mouse click on the layer again and this time choose duplicate layer.
 

Name that layer Square 2.
 

Click on the new layer then choose the Move tool at the top left of the Toolbar and drag the square over to the edge of the image so that it looks like this:

The reason we stroked the shapes is because they will serve as a guide and it is easier to see.  We will now add a page to make up the front this is done because the project needs some stiffness to it and the two will be glued together to make up for the possibility of "floppiness."
 
Go up to Edit and choose Add Page Using Current Layout.
 

You will get a popup that says this:
 

Click OK. It is helpful to remember this notice if you are not accustomed to creating project folders it makes them easier to find. This is how everything looks now, you will notice that I have a green square at the bottom in the Project Bin as well; this is an image that I previously opened which will become the background.

 

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