How to Make a Torn Edge Digital Scrapbook
Make digital scrapbook pages for free with no-cost graphic design programs. GIMP and Paint.NET are both advanced editors that can produce professional-looking results. Download either program for free, and begin creating effects such as a torn edge. With a few clicks of the mouse, otherwise ordinary digital scrapbook papers can be transformed into polished productions right from the convenience of your own computer.
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Instructions
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GIMP
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Launch the software and open the image file you want to use as your background paper for your scrapbook by clicking "File" and "Open."
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Click "Layer," "Transparency" and "Add Alpha Channel."
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Click within the main toolbox on the "Free Select Tool." Double-click and drag your cursor around the perimeter of one edge that you would like to delete, moving your cursor back and forth to make a jagged selection. To surround the area, click back on the original point you clicked on. Click on the "Select" tab and "Distort." Insert a Threshold of 100 or higher, and click "OK" to replace the jagged edge with a more torn look. Press "Delete" on the keyboard.
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Click the "Select" tab once again and click "Grow" to highlight the border of your torn look. Select a pixel size of around 5 and click "OK." Click "Edit" and "Copy," and then click "Edit" and "Paste." Click "Layer" and "New Layer" to make the pasted border its own layer, which can be edited without affecting the original layer.
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Select "Colors" and "Brightness-Contrast," which will prompt a pop-up box to appear. Increase the brightness by double-clicking and dragging the corresponding tab to the right. Click "OK" to implement the change. Select "Filters" and "Render," choosing "Clouds" and then "Difference Clouds" to add noise to the border of the torn edge. Increase the X and Y size, and click "OK."
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Click "Layer" and "Merge Down" to merge the border layer with your original background. Click on the "Eraser" tool in the main toolbox and select a brush type of "Circle Fuzzy." Drag the tab of the "Scale" to the right to increase the size of the brush, as needed. Click sporadically along the torn edge to soften the border, completing the background file for your scrapbook pages.
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Select "File" and "Open as Layer" to insert scrapbook photos and other digital embellishments. Click on the "Move Tool." Double-click with it and drag the photos to re-position them within the scrapbook page. Click on the "Text Tool" and double-click on your page to insert a text box. Click "File" and "Save As" to save the page as a PNG file with a title such as "Page1." Click on the "Eye" icon in the Layers dialog to the left of each photo and embellishment related to your first scrapbook page to hide those layers, but keep the background file with the torn edge visible if you want the entire scrapbook to have the same torn paper. Insert and organize the photos and files you want to appear on the second page, saving the file as a PNG with a name such as "Page2." Continue to create more pages to complete your scrapbook as desired.
Paint.NET
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Launch the free software and open a background paper file by clicking "File" and "Open."
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Click the "Lasso Select" tool. Double-click and drag your cursor with jagged motions, encircling one edge that you would like to remove from the background. Click the "Delete" key when satisfied to eliminate the selected area.
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Click "Layer" and "Duplicate Layer." Make sure the Lasso Select tool is still selected and click at the top of the workbook "Selection Mode," choosing "Add (Union)" as the command. Double-click and drag your cursor to follow the basic outline of the torn edge you previously created, but this time select an enlarged area to include a thin border around the existing background layer.
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Select "Adjustments" and "Brightness-Contrast." Drag the accompanying tab to the right to increase the brightness, and click "OK." Click "Effects," "Noise" and "Add Noise." Decrease the Intensity and Coverage to add only a subtle effect, and click "OK."
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Select "Effects," "Blur" and "Gaussian Blur." Increase the Radius, and click "OK" to soften the edges of the torn paper. Click on the thumbnail of the copied layer in the Layers dialog and then click the "Properties" icon at the bottom. Decrease the opacity to further soften the border and click "OK." Click the "Layer" tab and click "Merge Down Layer" to merge the original and copied layers into a single layer. Click "File" and "Save As" to save this scrapbook background page as a PNG file with a name such as "Background", which can be used as the basis for your entire scrapbook.
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Select the "Text" tool and click on the background to insert a text box. Click "File" and "Acquire" to capture photos from a scanner or camera. Embellish the scrapbook page until desired, and save as a PNG file with a title such as "Page1." To begin creating your second scrapbook page using the same torn page background, click in the History dialog on the last action you took to complete the creation of the background torn page. Every action you took after this step will be removed and you can begin creating your next scrapbook page, saving it as "Page2" when finished. Continue to create multiple scrapbook pages by repeating these steps.
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Tips & Warnings
To print out your scrapbook, consider using the services of a local photo counter to upload all of the individual scrapbook pages you made and order a bound book.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images
