TIP: As a designer I, am used to making my background layer transparent, with my background paper as layer 2. That way I can always save any elements as a PNG file. It is probably not a bad habit to get into when you are learning new techniques (rather than working on your scrapbook page). For this exercise you will need to have space around your photograph, so why not start with a blank file the size of your LO. I also like to add a white border around the photograph as it helps to emphasise the edges of the curl.
•Select the merged photo layer & mat, use the Rectangular Marquee tool to draw a selection outline that leaves about an inch of space on all sides of the photo. (marching ants appear around the photo. (NOTE: if you don’t do this, your entire page will be affected by the shear effect.
•Choose “Filter > Distort > Shear.”
•When the shear dialog box comes up, click on the center of the line and drag it slightly to the right or the left, depending on which way you want your photo to curl.
•Click okay, and deselect (Ctrl+ D). to get rid of the marching ants
Now to create a realistic shadow
• Press “Ctrl + J” to duplicate the curled photo layer.
•Click on the original photo layer to select it
Make sure your colour chips are set to black & white (pressing the letter D returns them to the default setting)
• Press “Alt + Shift + Backspace” to fill the photo on this layer with black.
• Choose “Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur.”
• Enter a value of 2 to 4 pixels, (I used 4 in my example) and click okay.
• Choose “Image > Rotate > Flip Layer Horizontal.”
• Select the Move tool (V) and use your arrow keys to move the shadow slightly to one side and down.
• Lower the opacity of the shadow layer until the shadow looks realistic
•If you want to rotate the photo slightly, select the photo and shadow layers by clicking on one layer and Ctrl clicking on the other layer.
•Press “Ctrl+ T” to access the Transform tool.
•Click outside the boundary and drag in the direction you want the photo to go.
•Double click inside the boundary to accept it.
You can now move your finished photo on to your layout or delete the paper layout to reveal the transparent layer, crop and save as a PNG file for kater use.
2. Curling a Photo
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