Tutorial: Using Digital Stamps!

Hi everyone! Danielle here...

So, the first challenge here at Little Tangles started yesterday, and I provided some free digital stamps in case you haven't had a chance to get some from the store yet.   I know that up until a few weeks ago I had no idea how to use digi stamps! lol  I asked the amazing Jean Manis to put together a little tutorial for you to learn how to put those cute digi stamps to work!

Using digital Neat & Tangled Stamps

Jean here to give you a quick tutorial on using the digital Neat & Tangled stamps.

The first thing needed is to save the digital images onto your computer. Right-click the image and do a “save as” to save the images into a directory.

While it is possible to work with the images in Microsoft Word, this tutorial shows using the files in Photoshop (directions for Photoshop Elements would be similar).

1) Create a new file, and choose letter-size.

2) I like to create grid lines at the center breaking the letter-size page into four sections. A typical card front would be 4 ¼” x 8 ½”, so this division provides four fronts.

3) The next step is to open the digital file.

4) Select the digital image and drag in onto the empty canvas. There is now a layer on the page with the digital file.

5) Open the sentiment digital file and drag it onto the page as well. It sits on its own layer.

6) Select both layers and duplicate.

7) Drag the two new layers into another 4 ¼” x 8 ½” part of the paper. This enables easy sizing of the components for the physical card.

8) With both layers selected, pull on one of the corners while holding the shift key to scale the images

larger. By holding the shift key, the image is equally enlarged in both the horizontal and vertical directions.

In a similar fashion, you can scale the bird smaller and duplicate it several times for printing. Before printing, fill the page with additional options

Print the file to a laser writer if you’re using Copic markers to color the image. The inks from other printers may react with your markers. Print onto cardstock and set your printer to handle the heavier paper. Another option is to take the printed page to a copy shop if you don’t have access to a laser writer.

After you've printed your images you can color, and fussy cut them just as you would a stamped image!

Using a digital image is so simple and allows for a lot of options in sizing and orientation!