Creating Custom Christmas Cards

Creating custom Christmas cards is a fast and fun way to add a little personality to you Christmas celebration.

Step 1 - Choosing a kit.

With so many great digital scrapbooking kits out there to choose from it can seem a bit overwhelming. Don't stress. Most kits are very affordable or even free and remember you can reuse your kits as many times as you like. Here is a link to our Digital Shopping Center. For this tutorial I am using the "Christmas Delight" Collection. Just add it to your cart and follow the directions to complete your purchase. If you need more help with downloading and un-zipping your kit please visit our tutorial, "Downloading Your First Kit"

Step 2 - Choosing a size

When choosing the size for your Christmas card keep in mind your printing options and the size of envelopes you have available. For this tutorial we will create a standard 4 x 6.

Step 3 - Creating a new document.

Open you photo editing software. I will be using Photoshop Elements 7. Make sure you are in Edit mode and go to File > New > Blank File (Ctrl + N). You can name it what ever you like, change the height and width to 4 x 6 inches, make sure your resolution is 300 dpi and I also like to change my background to transparent.

Step 4 - Opening your kits.

I like to start by looking at my kit and mentally deciding what papers and elements I plan to use. Once you've done that go ahead and open them. To do this your can go to File > Open (Ctrl + O) or you can open the folder and drag and drop them into your workspace. Hold down Ctrl to select multiple items.

Step 5 - Laying out your page.

Use the Move Tool to drag and drop your papers on to the new document. In this case my 12 x 12 papers seemed too big for the small card. I sized them down to 60%. To do this use your Move Tool to grab the corner. Drag it in until it looks right or type 60 in the the height and width boxes just below the menu bar.

Repeat that step for the red cardstock as well. Then use the Rectangular Marque Tool to select a section of the red cardstock and Copy (Crlt + C) and Paste (Ctrl + V) it down. Click the eyeball next to the old red cardstock layer to make it disappear.

Step 6 - Adding embellishments.

Once you have your basic layout done you can start adding your embellishments. I like to start at the bottom, with my frame, and then work my way up. Again I had to size down my embellishments.

Step 7 - Adding your photo.

Once you have your embellishments in place it is time you add your photo. Open it and drag and drop it into place. By selecting the layer directly below your frame (red cardstock) your picture will appear in right order (above the red cardstock below the frame). Then just rotate and size it fit the frame properly.

Step 8 - Printing your cards.

When it comes to printing your Christmas cards you have several options. You can print them out home, at your local photo lab or have them printed online.

If printing at home just buy 4 x 6 high gloss photo paper. When printing change your page setup to 4 x 6 landscape and your printer properties to Photo Paper Plus Glossy and High.

If printing locally you will need to either burn your card to CD or transfer it to a memory card. Flatting your layers will make the file size much smaller.

If ordering online there are a wide variety of places to choose from. In most cased you will just upload your card (as a flattened jpg) and then make your purchase. They will then ship out in one to two weeks. Here are some helpful links.

Shutterfly, Scrapblog, Picaboo, and Snapfish.com by HP