Pixlr Introduction--Getting Started with Digital Scrapbooking

Pixlr is an online photo editing program.  You don't have to download anything on to your hard drive.  You just open up this website, scrap and save your layouts.  Easy Peasy and FREE!

Now, I want you to have a template to work with, so click HERE to download the template I use below!

Go to http://pixlr.com/editor/

This is the screen you will see:

In using a template, choose the open image from computer option.  Then follow the browse prompts to where you have your template saved.  I like to open up the preview image of the template, so I know basically what I am creating:

This is a template I gave out a few weeks ago in my newsletter.  Be sure to subscribe HERE, if you haven't yet.  Also, in all of my templates, there are 3 saved file formats:  tiff/psd/png.  You will want to open up the png folder. The first image there will be a preview of the template.

Next, you will open up the png folder again and click on the bottom layer or the all grey one.  I believe with this template, that it is layer 22.

Now, we're going to pull in a paper, to cover that bottom layer.  To do this, go to the top menu and click on layers, then choose:

This will pull the image onto the document you are working with and create a layer on top of this bottom layer.  Layouts are created in layers-you'll have many layers by the end of this!

I used a paper from my kit "Simply Spring" at ScrapMatters to put as my layer.

In the screen shot above, I've also pulled in another layer.  So, using the layers>>open image as layers step from above, I pulled the next layer from my png template file onto the paper.  Notice that just to the right of my paper, there is a section that says layers.  This shows  how on bottom we have the grey template layer, then the paper we pulled in and then the yellow template piece.

Now we are going to follow the steps again to open a paper onto this layer:

First, notice on the far layer side that above the template piece, I have a grey paper, but the little box is unchecked which means the grey paper is hiding.  Then I highlighted the layer below it-the one with the yellow piece and now I'm going to go to edit from the top menu and choose:  select pixels.

This will put marching ants around the yellow piece.  Once the marching ants are there, I'm going to go back to the edit menu and then choose: invert.  This will put marching ants around the whole outside of my paper while still keeping them on the template piece.  This, in essence is making the area around the template piece-the active area.  Once I have done that, I will check the box on the paper layer above the yellow piece so that I have a grey paper covering the whole thing.  You will notice that the marching ants are still there, in the shape of the yellow piece.  Now, click delete. You should be left with this: