Image templates can be very useful for photographers. You can use a template to create a story board, album pages, image collages, scrapbook pages, etc. The size, number of images, placement of images, and any other design features are completely up to you. In this example, I’ll show you how to create a very basic template, but with what you learn here, you can go on to make any unlimited variations of your own.
Here we go… First, you’ll need to create a new image. Your size, dpi, color, etc is all up to you and what you want to do. For this example, I created a 5×5 album page with a 0.25 inch bleed edge on each side.
Now, this is where I choose to do a little work up front. I set up my guides.
Go to your toolbar: View -> New Guide
You’ll want to set up vertical and horizontal guides depending on what you’re trying to accomplish. For this one, I set up my bleed guides at 0.25 inches and 5.25 inches both vertically and horizontally.
I also wanted 0.25 inches from the edge of the page to any images and 0.25 inches between the images. This takes a little math sometimes. Here’s my guides set up.
Okay, now that my guides are set, it’s pretty easy from here. Go to your shape tool and choose your shape. I chose a rounded rectangle with a 40 pixel radius for this shape. Making sure my foreground color is black, I draw a shape in the top left hand corner using my guides to know where to begin and end the shape.
You can then draw the rest of your shapes. Here I drew three more so that I’d have an even page.
Okay, now your template is pretty much complete as far as the template goes. If you want, you can save it as a PSD now with template in the name.
The rest of it is using clipping masks to put your images in.
Select the Shape 1 layer. Drag and drop your image onto the layer and it will create a new layer right above the Shape 1 layer. I rename it Image 1.
Then you right-click the new layer with the image on it and select Create Clipping Mask.
That’s it. Now you can move the image, resize it, do whatever needs to be done to get it how you like it.
Continue to add images by selecting the next shape layer where you’ll want the image to show, drag and drop, create clipping mask, rinse and repeat as necessary.
You can also save your PSD here for the template and just add new images on the already clipped layers. Either way, that’s one way to create a template.
Thanks for this!! Very helpful!