Alpha Question

[agarzaldynrd]

I bought an alpha set and all the letters are on one sheet. How do I use this if I want only certain letters?

Also, I purchased another alpha that looks purple on the store site. Do these turn the color of the background paper I am using?

[elenasworld]

All you do is use your selection tool and go around the shape/letter you want to use. Then you drag it onto your page or a new layer.

I use PS and I use the magic lasso tool, hold down the shift, and I can select a few letters at a time. Once they are on my page, I select each one separately, copy it to its own later, and then just delete the layer that has a few letters on it.

Hope this helps

[michellemomof3]

I use ps7 & I personally am not so good with the cutting tools so I erase the letters I don't need, erase the background, then use the rectangle selector to box around the letters I need & paste them onto my LO.

[Dani Alencar]

You have many ways to do it and Michelle and Elena already told you 2 of the ways you can do it.

Elena, isn't it too much work erasing? And well, Aren't you afraid of messing your original file?

I use PS-CS3 and I use the Rectangle Lasso Tool, I think it's the easiest way. Since I don't like to cut and then take then to another file and then come back to do another, I do this:

- select the letter I want with the Rectangle Lasso Tool
- CTRL+J click (with the alpha sheet layer selected) This duplicates what is in the selection.

I repeat until I have all the letters I need. Then I select their layers and then I take to my layout file, they go all together.

Hope it helps.

[uinthas]

Dani, I use PSE5 & I just tried your way of doing this & it works perfectly! That will save me so much time! :) (How I was doing this before was just cropping out the letter I need & then undo it to get the full alpha back & repeat that for each letter). I'm glad I read this!

[scramper75]

thanks for the tips on how to do this. So much to still learn.

[OneMemory]

Even easier is to use the marque tool to select the letter, then just switch to the move tool and drag it on to our layout and it cuts it automatically and moves just that part over ;)

[scramper75]

great, i love quick

[lizziej]

I always use the selection tool, and I used to do it one at a time. What a great thread - I've learned some quicker ways! Thanks!

Anna, if the alpha is purple, then it should be purple when you place it on the background paper. I think the only way they would turn the color of your background paper is if the alpha was clear. However, if they are not clear and you want them to match your background paper, you can recolor them. You can also use the alpha as a mask and clip another "sheet" of background paper to them and then you will have an alpha made out of the same paper as your background.

[Dani Alencar]

It's so nice to exchange our knowlegde... learning never ends.