Is it possible that the last day of school is just around the corner? It doesn’t seem like that long ago that I was running around gathering school supplies with excited kids in tow. Now, my kids are anxiously awaiting the arrival of summer vacation and all the fun that comes with it. I can’t help but look back at the school year and marvel at how much my kids have grown.
We like to document the first and last day of school in one photo to see that growth.
For those parents that are on the ball and have a printed copy of the first day of school, throw the picture in a frame and take a picture of your child holding the frame. For those of us who always say we’re going to print the picture only to realize we haven’t printed a picture since 2004 – here’s a photoshop tutorial for you!
Take a picture on the last day of school of your child holding a frame, open the picture in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. (I used Photoshop CS6, but the steps will work on any version just fine.)
In the layers palette, create a copy of the photo layer by dragging the layer down to new layer icon:
Using the polygon lasso tool, draw a rectangle around the inside edge of the frame:
Uncheck the “eye” icon so you hide the bottom layer. Make sure the background copy layer is selected and push the delete key. This will erase the inner content of the frame:
Place the first day of school photo in the document, using File > Place:
Resize it using the corner transform arrows (holding shift to ensure the right proportions) and rotate it so it sits at the same angle as the frame your child is holding:
Drag the first day of school photo layer so that it sits below your background copy:
Save your file as a jpeg and just like that you’ve created a quick and easy first and last day of school photo:
This tutorial can be used for a wide variety of photo projects. Head over to www.lifewithfingerprints.com to see how I used this tutorial to document “three white dresses”: a blessing and a baptism (and one day a wedding).
Bobbi says
LOVE this idea! It has so many uses. I can’t wait to try this with my girls.
Jenifer says
Thank you thank you thank you!!!
Especially for the instructions!
I love mine!
Jenifer
Kara says
I’m so glad you liked it! They’re fun to compare years down the road.
Dawn says
Hi! I love the sign she is holding, the colors, the font where did you get that? I’m not very good at making them, did you make it yourself or was it a printable? Thanks
Kara says
I bought a basic chalkboard from the teacher supply store and used some colored chalk to write the letters. It’s much easier than you might think, give it a try!