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Default user guide for designandeasy Page Layouts Vol 2

ContentsRequirements and description 1First thing first 2Step 1 Display Actions panel 2Step 2 Load Page Layouts Vol 2 actions 2Step 3 Expand Page Layouts set 2Step 4 Use Quick Reference guide 2Step 5 Select and run action 3Step 6 Setup document 3Step 7 Choose file for Placeholder 1 4Step 8 Transform placed object 4Step 9 Choose files for other placeholders 4Step 10 Set stroke width 5Step 11 Change Stroke color 5Step 12 Replace images 5Step 13 Make adjustments or apply filter 6Step 14 Save composition on hard drive 6

Customization tips 7Tip 1 Transform or move image (object) 7Tip 2 Fix anti-aliased edges 7Tip 3 Nudge and customize stroke segments 7Tip 4 Modify placeholders in template 8

Troubleshooting tips 9Troubleshooting 1 Layer image_1-13 is not available 9Troubleshooting 2 The command is not available 9Troubleshooting 3 I do not see handles to scale image 9Troubleshooting 4 After replacing image I do not see it 9

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Requirements and descriptionActions are tested on Mac and Windows and works perfectly. Although we can recommend you to use actions with Photoshop CS4-6 there is no reason to not use them with any CS version of Photoshop.

This set of actions is created mainly to help you in creations of compositions or layouts from continuous tone images. You are not limited in any way since actions are extremely flexible and can be used for any purpose even to create thumbnails or to design business cards. Although there isn’t any limitation in size I do not recommend you to use actions for layouts smaller then 300x300px.

Every action have 3 parts or steps which will run continuously without interruptions with pop-up messages be-tween each part to explain you what is the next task to accomplish. In first part you will define document dimen-sions, resolution, color mode, bit depth and color profile. After that action will create template with placeholders which you need to populate with images or other documents. Second part in action will open Place dialogs for each placeholder in created template where you can choose images or documents to use. You can use any type of docu-ment that Photoshop supports including JPEG, PNG, PSD, Ai, PDF... formats. Third part is to choose stroke width. In each action stroke is included as a part of layout and you need to type number in pixels for stroke width. Later you can change you mind and re-run that part of action. You can also modify stroke using layer effects or to alter it using filters and third party plugins.

Part 1In first part you will define document dimensions, Resolution, Color Mode, Bit Depth and Color Profile.

Part 2In second part Photoshop will open several

Place dialogs in which you must navigate and choose images or documents to populate

placeholders in layout.

Part 3Third part is finishing touch to add stroke. Photoshop will open several Stroke dialogs and all you have to do is to type number of pixels for stroke width.

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First thing firstAfter purchasing our product, you will need to extract or unzip package. Package contains folder Page Layouts Vol 2 with 2 sub-folders: Actions and Help. Actions folder contains Page Layouts Vol 2.atn file with all actions included in set. Folder Help contains Page Layouts Vol 2 User Guide, Quick Reference Page Layouts Vol 2 with small thumb-nails and preview of all layouts. To get started I strongly recommend you to read this PDF file: Page Layouts Vol 2 User Guide.

Using actionsActions are quite easy to use but anyway you must be familiar with very basics in Photoshop in order to start using them. The very basic requirements are that you know how to create new document, place images and save them on your hard drive in appropriate format. Even if you are not familiar with Photoshop actions you can get started by following this step by step tutorial. Actions are one of most powerful features of Photoshop and it is quite easy to use them especially with guided instructions like this one. Using actions one can record specific operations (not all available in Photoshop) and play them at any time. Recorded operations will be performed in a seconds or minutes depend on number of steps and save you tons of times. Photoshop does not make mistakes and always delivers exactly what is recorded.

Step 1 Display Actions panelStart Photoshop and go to Window > Actions.

Step 2 Load Page Layouts Vol 2 actionsNext task is to load actions in Photoshop. Click on Actions panel menu then click on Load Actions. Navigate to Page Layouts Vol 2 > Actions folder, select Page Layouts Vol 2.atn file then click Load button at the bottom of Load dialog.

Step 3 Expand Page Layouts setAfter loading actions click on triangle on the right side of Page Layouts Vol 2 set to ex-pand it in order to see all actions listed.

Step 4 Use Quick Reference guideBefore running action use Quick Reference to preview layouts and decide which one you want to use. You can quickly preview reference files either from Adobe Bridge or Mini

Navigate to folder with actions, select .atn file then click Load button.

Click on Actions panel menu then choose Load Actions... from the list.

Page Layouts set expanded.Click triangle on the right side of Page Layouts set to expand it and see all actions included.

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Bridge if you are Photoshop CS5/6 user. In this example I am using Mini Bridge but ev-erything is exactly the same and in Adobe Bridge. First you will need to navigate to folder Page Layouts Vol 2 > Help. Select Quick Reference Page Layouts Vol 2.pdf and tap Space bar. Next you will see PDF file in full screen view where you can examine all layouts and choose which one you want to use. Since quick reference contains 2 pages in order to see all available layouts use left and right arrow keys on your keyboard to cycle through pages.

Remember number of layout before taping Space bar or Esc to close full screen and return to Photoshop. When using Mini Bridge you will be returned directly to Photoshop window, from Adobe Bridge you can press Alt/Opt + Ctrl/Cmd + O to quickly switch between two applications.

Step 5 Select and run actionNow that you know which layout to use click on action name (eg Layout 18) then click Play button. Pop up message will appear. Read message then click Continue.

Step 6 Setup documentIn this step you need to setup document settings in New dialog which will appear. Since actions are extremely flexible and resolution independent you can type whatever size, res-olution and bit dept you need. The only limitation in this dialog is that you can not run ac-tion successfully in Bitmap color mode. When you finish with settings in New dialog click OK button in top right corner and wait couple of second for Photoshop to do its part.

In full screen mode use left and right arrow keys to cycle through pages 1 and 2.

Navigate to folder with Help files in Mini Bridge, click on Quick Reference to select it.and hit Space bar

When pop-up message appear, read it then click on Continue button.

First click on action name to highlight it then click Play button at the bottom of Actions panel.

Specify settings in New dialog.

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Step 7 Choose file for Placeholder 1After creating template with placeholders Photoshop will display new message with ex-planation of next part in this process: it is time to choose images or documents for created placeholders starting with placeholder number 1. Read message and click Continue. Next you will see Place dialog in which you must navigate to file on your hard drive, to select it and to click Place button at the bottom of Place dialog. When placing common formats like JPEG. PNG, TIFF and PSD it will took one moment to see it in your document while placing PDF and Ai files with PDF settings will open additional Place PDF dialog. When placing entire single PDF page just accept default settings confirming on OK button. If you have multipage PDF document select page to place then click OK. Another option is to use only one image from PDF document: first check Image checkbox in Select section of Place PDF dialog then choose image to use by clicking on it and lastly confirm on OK button at the bottom of dialog. Note that placing EPS file format wont display any dialog and Photoshop will rasterize document before placing it.

Step 8 Transform placed objectNow that you have object placed and clipped to placeholder 1, it is time to transform and move it around if desired. By default object will be placed at 100% of its size. What you will see on your screen depend on document and placed file resolution too (Read more). Immediately after placing file Photoshop will display new message with explanation. Read it then click Continue. Note that this pop-up message appears only once during action regardless of numbers of files to be placed. Basically you can use percentage numbers in options bar to scale image or to drag handles. If you do not see handles that’s because image is too big, try using percentages either in Width or Height fields in options bar or press Ctrl/Cmd + 0 (zero) and handles will appear on your screen. After transforming and moving object confirm on checkmark in options bar or by pressing Enter/Return.

Step 9 Choose files for other placeholdersNext steps are to choose files for the rest of placeholders. Depend on layout you will pass exact same process several times as described to place file for placeholder 1.

Step 10 Set stroke widthAfter placing all files needed for layout it is time to add stroke. Again on the beginning of this process you will see pop-up message which explains what is task and what you

In Place dialog navigate to image you want to use, click on it to select it then click Place button.

Scale image if needed immediately after it is placed by dragging handles.

Pop-up message after image is placed but before transformation appears only once during entire action.

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need to do. Explanation is to type odd numbers because stroke command from Edit menu which is used to record this steps will always produce odd number for inside stroke segments. So you need to type in several Stroke dialogs odd numbers like 1, 3, 5, 15... If you need stroke in width with even number of pixels like 2, 4, 6... type that number in all Stroke dialogs then resize inside stroke components manually as will be described later in this guide. When you finish with strokes Photoshop will create group: “custom stroke” with several layers. Each layer contains different component of entire stroke effect. Layers are always named very easy to understand: frame for the outside stroke, horizontal line 1, 2, 3 for stroke components which are horizontal, and vertical line 1,2, 3 for stroke compo-nents with vertical orientation.

Step 11 Change Stroke colorAfter adding stroke you may want to change its color. In Photoshop CS6 you can ad layer effect directly to entire group. Right/Command + click on group and choose Blending Options. Layer Style dialog will appear. Select Color Overlay and choose color by click-ing on Set color of overlay rectangle. When Color Picker (Overlay Color) dialog appear select, type numerical values or sample color from image. If you are working in previous versions of Photoshop you can set Color Overlay for each component of stroke by select-ing its layer in Layers panel then visiting Layer Style dialog or to merge all components in group and to change color for all components from once. Right/Cmd + click on custom stroke group then choose Merge Group. After merging layers in group set color overlay and you are done.

Step 12 Replace imagesAt the end of Page Layouts Vol 2 set of actions you will see 13 additional actions: Replace image_1, 2, 3, 4 ...13. This actions are there in case you changed your mind and want to replace any image in composition with some other on your hard drive. Here comes in handy image_placement_map layer. Click on empty square on the left side of layer to show eye and content of that layer in order to determine which number is associated with image you want to replace. Click on eyeball to close the eye and to hide image_placement_map layer. Next is to click on Replace image_1 to 13 action in Actions panel to select it then to click Play button at the bottom of Actions panel. First you will see pop-up message, read it then click Continue. When Place dialog opens navigate to image you want to use, select it and click Place button at the bottom of Place dialog. After that

Type same number for stroke width in all Stroke dialogs which will appear.

Pop-up after all images are placed informs about stroke part of action.

To change stroke color in earlier versions right click on custom stroke group and choose Merge Group.

To change stroke color in CS6 right click on custom stroke group and choose Blending Options.

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new pop-up message will appear which informs you that next step is to transform or in particular to resize and move image if needed. Click Continue then scale and move image, and lastly confirm transformation on checkmark in options bar or by pressing Enter/Re-turn key on your keyboard. Although you can use Replace Contents command to change or replace image I recommend you to always use action instead. Action have recorded step in which layer will be renamed again to the original name eg image_1 so you can reuse action in the feature to replace that image. When using Replace Contents command layer may pick the name of imported file and if you want to use Replace image action later it will fail to play. Reason for action to fail is because action will look at Layers panel for image_1 layer (for example) which won’t exist.

Step 13 Make adjustments or apply filterAfter your composition is created you can further enhance images using adjustments and fil-ters. When using non-destructive adjustments click on top most (image_1) image then click on any adjustments icon in Adjustments panel. In this way applied adjustment will affect all images beneath it. If you want to limit adjustment to only one image (image_2 for example) first select it in Layers panel then click on adjustment icon in Adjustments panel. To limit adjustment to only layer directly beneath it click on clip icon at the bottom of Properties (CS6) or Adjustments panel. Alternatively you can use Create Clipping Mask command from Layers panel and Layer menu. To use filters first select layer with image to which you want to apply filter (image_3 layer for example) then choose filter from Filter menu.

Step 14 Save composition on hard driveLast step in this process is to save or export image on your hard drive. If you plan to reuse same composition with small changes then always save image in PSD format from File > Save or Save As.

Click on Replace image_number action name then click Play button.

Click on square in front of image placement map layer to see placement map.

Clip adjustment to image directly beneath it.To apply adjustment to all images in composition first select top most image then click on adjustment icon.

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Customization tipsTip 1 Transform or move image (object)You can transform and move image or object clipped to placeholder at any time without run-ning action. First select layer with image/object in Layers panel (image_1 for example) then enter free transform mode from Edit > Transform or using Ctrl/Cmd + T keyboard shortcut.

Tip 2 Fix anti-aliased edgesSometimes edges between images may appear anti-aliased or semi transparent. When using stroke effect there is nothing to worry about, stroke will always cover soft or anti-aliased edges. Hoewer here is explanation in case you want to use layout without stroke. Reason for soft or anti-aliased edges can be number of pixels specified for document size at the beginning of action (Step 6). For example: you are using layout 21 which have 3 placehold-ers at bottom. Each placeholder at bottom in this layout occupies 33.3% percent of docu-ment width. Number of total document pixels divided with 33.3 will produce sometimes placeholders width with decimal number like 266.56 px. This will cause edges between images to appear anti-aliased or semi transparent. To fix this first click on placeholder which have anti-aliased edges (image_2_placeholder for example) then enter free trans-form mode from Edit > Transform or using Ctrl/Cmd + T keyboard shortcut. Right/Cmd click inside W (Width) or H (Height) field in options bar and choose pixels. Next step is to set reference point. When you have anti-aliased edges on the right side of placeholder click and set reference point to the left edge to freeze it for transformation. Select in W or H field last number and decimals. For example: when you have in W field number 266.56 px, select only 6.56 and re-type with number 7 followed with px so your W length is 267 px . Confirm on check-mark in options bar or using Enter/Return on your keyboard. Problem is fixed, edges will be sharp. When anti-aliased edges appears caused with decimal number for Width or Height of placeholder you almost always want to expand W or H to first next whole number like 266.56 px to 267 px or 478.28 px to 479 px.

Tip 3 Nudge and customize stroke segmentsIf you want to nudge or customize stroke segment using filters or plugins, it is quite easy to do since all segments are on their own layers. All stroke segments are grouped into group named “custom stroke”. Expand group to see all layers which are named logically and very easy to understand. Frame layer is always on top and refers to stroke around

Use options bar or click directly on image with Move tool and move it to desired position.

To transform and move placed image/object first select layer with image in Layers palette.

To fix soft edges select layer with placeholder, set reference point then change value to whole number.

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entire composition, next is horizontal or vertical_line_1, 2, 3 and so on. To nudge stroke first click on layer with that particular segment (horizontal_line_1 for example), select Move tool, then use arrow keys to nudge segment to the left or right. To distort stroke using filter or plugin merge group or select every individual segment or component in Layers panel then apply filter. In case you want even stroke (2, 4, 6, 22 px) first hide custom stroke group and expand action in Actions panel (Layout 18 for example). Find step: Select layer “image_placement_map” Without Make Visible then click Play button at the bottom of Actions panel. Action will play starting from that step. Specify desired even number in all Stroke dialogs which will appear. After stroke is created, leave frame segment as it is and select one by one layers with other segments. After selecting layer with segment enter free transform mode (Ctrl/Cmd + T) and change W or H field in options bar to desired even number.

Tip 4 Modify placeholders in templateIf you want to modify template, for example to change boundaries of placeholders, to expand them or contract so some images will get more or less space in template, you can do that after running entire action. 1. After action finish running first hide custom stroke group in Layers panel. 2. Click on placeholder vector mask in CS5 and earlier versions to select it (image_1_

placeholder for example). Photoshop CS6 does not have vector masks for shape layers and you must click on shape layer thumbnail.

3. Press Ctrl/Cmd + T to enter free transform mode then drag handles to expand or contract vector mask

4. Confirm on checkmark in Options bar or using Enter/Return. Depend on position of placeholder you might need to change placeholder for image next to it or above it. Note that after modifying template or placeholders which defines what is visible from image layer you must nudge and Stroke segments.

In case you want to modify template before placing images pause action in between steps. When pop-up message “This action will guide you through steps to place all images in template. Click Continue then navigate and select image you want to use to replace place-holder number 1.” appears on your screen click Stop instead of Continue. Photoshop will stop playing action and expand action with next step immediatelly after Stop highlighted.

Hide custom stroke, expand action and find step Select layer “image_placement_map”, select it and click Play. button.

Steps to modify placeholders in template after action finished playing in Photoshop CS6.

Steps to modify placeholders in template after action finished playing in CS5 and earlier versions..

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Modify any image placeholders you want to change (image_placeholder_1, image_placeholder_2...). You can skip modifying layers for images (image_1, image_2...) because when replacing dummy content on image layers import-ed images will be placed in 100% of their size and immediatelly after that action will evoke free transform mode so you can resize and move image around. To continue playing action just click Play button in Actions panel.

Troubleshooting tipsTroubleshooting 1 Layer image_1-13 is not availableWhen you run action Replace image_1-13 you get error message: The object “layer “image_1(-5)” is not currently available. Message appears because layer image_1(-13) is renamed or missing. In order to run Replace image_1-13 action successfully you must have layer with matching name from this part in action name: image_1(-13) in Layers panel. Expand images and placeholders group and rename particular layer or use Replace Contents command avail-able from right click (Cmd + click) on Smart Object.

Troubleshooting 2 The command is not availableSometimes can happen that some particular step in action is selected then action collapsed. When you try to run it you get error message: The command “Set” is not available. This is an example, error message can be different. Click Cancel and Photoshop will expand action with that particular step from which you tried to run action highlighted. Click on name of action (not step in action) then click Play button at the bottom of Layers panel. Example name of action: Layout 1, Layout 17, Layout 23... Example of step in action: Make layer, Make fill layer, Set selection, Set current layer...

Troubleshooting 3 I do not see handles to scale imageIf you do not see handles to scale image after placing it, reason is because image is too big. type percentages in op-tions bar or press Ctrl/Cmd + 0 (zero) to see handles.

Troubleshooting 4 After replacing image I do not see itPhotoshop always remembers last scaling percentage and position of Smart Object layers. All image layers are converted to Smart Objects by default. It can happen that you scaled and moved big image then you try to replace it with small one. In that case may happen that image does not appear at all on your screen. select layer which con-tains that particular image, enter free transform mode (Ctrl/Cmd + T) and if you do not see handles anywhere on screen press Ctrl/Cmd + 0 (zero) in order to see them. Click inside handles and drag image to desired position.

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Quick Reference Page Layouts Vol 2