Using the free calendar templates

Hopefully you will have seen our calendar templates posted earlier today. In order to keep file sizes down, we have saved all calendar templates as a .png file. The marked areas can be easily selected for you to then import your images or flood with colour. To help you on your way we’ve created this short tutorial to show you how to add elements to the templates. Remember to label your layers as you go but if you forget and get in a pickle, Ctrl-click (Mac) or Cmd-click (PC) on an item to see what layer it sits on.

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Open the template

Once you have downloaded the template, open it in Photoshop. You’ll see a host of coloured shapes sat on a transparent background. We’ve coloured the shapes so they can easily be selected.

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Select an area

You control the template using the power of selections. And because the shapes are clear and simple, you only have to worry about using the Magic Wand. Bonus! Decide on the area you want to use and click on it with the aforementioned Magic Wand. You should see some marching ants dancing merrily around your selection.

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Pick an image

To place an element in your selection, open it up in Photoshop and select the area you want to feature. It’s worth checking the PPI of the image against that of the document. If they are different, it might import teeny tiny. The calendar template has a PPI of 300. Check your image by going to Image>Image Size and make any changes that are needed. Then pay a visit to the Edit menu and scroll down to Copy. Click back on the calendar template document.

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Paste Into

Head back up to the Edit menu and scroll down to Paste Into. Your image will appear in the selected area. If you need to make adjustments to the size, go to the Edit menu and pick one of the Transform options. I like Free Transform as you have all the commands available to you. If you want to scale proportionately, hold down Shift as you drag.

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Continue to build

Repeat this process for everything else you want to add to the template. Select the coloured areas from the main template and then use Paste Into to import the goodies. Name each layer as you go and play around with the layer order and also the opacity to get even more effects. Add some text, dab some brushes around and generally just have a good time!