How to Make Ribbons in Photoshop Elements for Digital Scrapping

Scrapbooking has its roots in the tradition of cutting, pasting and arranging on actual pages, but digital scrapping takes the artistic hobby to new elements, literally. Make use of Adobe’s Photoshop Elements software to create e-scrapbook designs such as ribbons to embellish your digital pages with awards and honors. Photoshop Elements includes a set of ribbon templates you can customize for each page or book, or use you can built-in drawing tools to paint your own personalized ribbons from scratch.

Instructions

1. • 1
     Start Adobe Photoshop Elements. Click “File.” Click “New.” Enter the ribbon file name such as “MyRibbon.” Type dimensions for the digital ribbon in the “Width” and “Height” boxes, such as “3” and “5” for a vertical ribbon. Click the dimension menu drop-downs and choose “inches.” Click the “Background Contents” menu and choose “Transparent” so your ribbon can be displayed on any digital background. Click the “OK” button to open the canvas.
   • 2
     Click into the small colored box on the bottom of the “Tools” pane to access the “Color Picker.” Select a color for the ribbon and click “OK.”
   • 3
     Right-click the gray “star” icon on the bottom of the Tools pane. If you don’t see this icon, right-click a line, gray circle or gray square. Choose “Custom Shape Tool” from the fly-out menu.
   • 4
     Click the “Shape” menu on the toolbar that just appeared at the top of the Elements work desk. Scroll to a ribbon shape and click it. If you don’t see these shapes, click the icon that looks like a small arrow in a circle. Scroll to “Banners and Awards,” select “Append,” then re-scroll through the list and click a ribbon.
   • 5
     Hover your cursor, which now looks like a “+” symbol, over the canvas. Click the top left corner, hold down the left mouse key and drag to the bottom right corner. Release the mouse and the ribbon appears.
   • 6
     Select a new color in the “Color Picker” to use for ribbon decoration. Click the “Paintbrush” icon on the Tools pane and draw designs such as swirls, stripes or ruffles to dress up the ribbon or match the scrapping page where you intend to place it.
   • 7
     Click the “T” tool on the Tools pane. From the new toolbar at the top of the Elements screen, choose a font, size and color that will stand out on the ribbon. Click the ribbon and type your information, such as “Best Day at the Beach” or “#1 Granddaughter.”
   • 8
     Click the “File” menu and select “Save As.” Click the “Format” menu and select either “GIF” or “PNG” as the file format to preserve the ribbon’s transparent background so you can upload or add it to any scrapbook page. Click the “Save” button.