
Digital Supplies: Holiday Album No. 1, ArtPlay Palette Sweet Christmas, Celebrate WordTransfers No. 1 (share), Descriptives WordTransfers No. 1 (perfect), MagicFlares No. 1, DifferentStrokes No. 8
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New to the Holiday Album? Please see the previous posts to this series here.
I'm continuing to progress through the album in order and this week I tackled pages 4 and 5 of the The Holiday Album entitled *Deliciousness*.
I took on the most obvious meaning of this title but feel free to get creative, think laterally or change the editable title text as you see fit. Note that you are also not bound by the font, size or color of text in each template and can make adjustments as desired. I recommend you pick a font, size and color for your titles and stick with it throughout the album in order to establish a sense of continuity.
The techniques. The following techniques are employed in addition to the repetition of the suggestions provided in The Holiday Album | Page 1 and 2.
Photo placement. How do you decide which photo should be clipped to which mask? There is no right or wrong answer ans is largely dependent on your preference, as well as much trial and error. I like a mix of black and white photos, as explained in last weeks post, but heere are a few more techniques to try:
1. Attention to color. Consider the complexity of colors in each photo as you place your photos. Does your photo have a few colors or many competing colors? Use this information to place your photos. Ideally you want to mix the color-complex photos, with black and white, or images with fewer colors. This prevents visually overstimulating the eye.
My first attempt at the second page of this layout had 2 very *busy* photos together which visually does not work. The large size of each photo, the competing bright colors and the sheer amount of visual information in each image creates an obvious design conflict.

I switched the cookie photo above with an image sporting fewer colors which, with the support of the black and image, returns to the focus to the complexities of the gingerbread house.

2. Resize your photos. Try varying the size or scale of your images so you have masks that sport macro-style shots as well as those images that tell a much bigger story. Creating a mix between close-ups which focus on a small part of an image, as well as a complete photo, creates visual interest and works in your favor to build a more complete story.
Macro-images also make a great substitute for digital patterned paper. Notice that I have used all my masks in these templates for photos only.
I moved the cookie image to the first page of the spread where it still proves to conflict with the neighboring photos. This is in part due to the colors being completely different from those in the other photos but it is also placed right next to another complex photo in terms of color and pictoral information.

I could have moved the photos around but chose instead to change the scale of the photo.

One if the advantages of using clipping masks is that you can move your image around after it has been clipped to the mask to find your best fit. I finally settled on the area of the image that shows just one cookie in the photo. This minimizes the color misfit while still allowing me to include the photo. I also know I have more photos of these cookie in a different setting with a differing story intended to appear on other pages in this album. The beauty of pre-planning!

3. Adjust the template. Sometimes your photos will not fit the template and you will need to make adjustments to meet your photo requirements. I make adjustments when I'm not willing to compromise in terms of the color, size or orientation of a specific photo. For example, clip a portrait photo to a square mask and you are going to lose information.

This problem can be fixed by adding or substracting masks from a template. In this case I replaced 2 square masks and created one portrait style mask to better accommodate the image.

Use the Rounded Rectangle tool located in the Tools Palette in Photoshop and Elements to create a portrait style mask with a radius of 150 pixels. I recommend you use your rulers and/or guides to ensure maximum accuracy. You can also use a mask of the same size from one of the other Holiday Album templates and rotate accordingly to position as needed. Make sure the drop shadow on the new mask is the same as the others to provide continuity.
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Digital supplies. The colors in my photos and the number of photos I want to use in a page determine the selection of digital supplies.
1. Color Selection. Choose supplies that support the colors in your images and use these colors to create balance or guide the eye from one area of the layout to another.

Two examples:
- Notice how the yellow spraypaint on the edge of the first page and the button on the second page coordinate and support the color of the roast potatoes and the candy on the gingerbread house allowing the eye to be guided from one page to the next.
- The red stripes and button work in a similar fashion to create continuity between the red candy on the gingerbread house and further incorporates the *problem* cookie photo.
Photo-Supply Ratio. Generally the more photos you have, the fewer supplies you need. If you find you have no remaining masks after adding your images, consider adding transfers, masks and/or overlays behind or on top of your images to add a little arsty flair.
Memory keeping is a matter of working with what you have and preserving it in a way that is functional and pleasing to you. I often think of photos as puzzle pieces. You would never dream of altering the pieces to make them fit the puzzle. There is always a way to put them together. You just have to use a little trial and error combined with a few tricks to figure out how.
Please post your pages in the AnnaGallery.
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Next Tuesday: The Magic (Pages 6 and 7)