Alpha & Font Makeovers with Styles | Summer School 2021: Week 1 LANGUAGE ARTS CLASS

Welcome to our Summer School Series and this week our class focus is Language Arts!
This week we will talk about Alphas, Fonts, Papers, and Styles - using all of these for titles and journaling - and I hope you'll also join me for a challenge where we use alphas as an element in page design later this week.
Plus all of these are 30% off this week!​

Everybody's scrapping process is different and even for me, each page can be different. Sometimes I can start with a title in mind, sometimes I see wordart that I instantly want as a title and sometimes I'm getting to the end of my page and then realise I haven't even thought about a title.

The range of alphas in the store is pretty amazing, check them out here - from flat and stampy to eye-popping 3D and everything in between. The Alpha category is also helpfully sorted into several sub-categories if you are not quite sure what alpha you are looking for.
There are really versatile alphas that could work with every subject you scrap and more specific themed ones.
And of course if like me your titles tend to be unique, weird or just use different spelling to traditional wordart, it's great to be able to have an original, custom title with the spelling I want using the alpha of my choice or if i'm feeling a bit lazier, using one of the basic fonts in my program that can be given a quick makeover with Photoshop/ PhotoShop Elements Styles.

What are Styles?

• Basically they are preset visual effects that can transform text, shapes, whatever shape or layer they are applied to and they are used in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.
• There are styles for every colour and finish you can imagine!
• My favourites are usually metallic or glittery, give layers a textured imperfect stamped effect or a wood finish.
  
• They're a little bit hidden in the store, under Photoshop Tools where the asterisk is, but you can go straight to the Styles section by clicking here.

Styles are a great investment because they can make stretch your alpha and font stash and give some old ones a fresh new look and new lease on life with just a single click! It doesn't get much easier than that!

Below is a quick how-to guide with screenshots for loading and using Styles. (I'm using Photoshop CS6. Exact steps & my workspace may be a little different to yours or other versions of Photoshop or Photoshop Elements).​

This is the before and after of the alpha I want to use for my page today. The original alpha has a light woodgrain finish from a retired kit by Mommyish called Spice Spice Baby that you might have in your stash. I love the chunky style of the letters but I wanted it to be a bit more sparkly and less wooden to fit my page, just a bit different and used Mommyish's Holographic Stickers Style Pack that I was very excited to see released to make that alpha just how I want!



CU - Stylin' 323 - Holographic Sticker Styles

The pink versions use different coordinating styles included in a BYOC pack from May 2020, also by Mommyish and show how styles can really give any alpha, font or layer a real make over!

May 2020 BYOC Layer Styles

So here is how to load & use styles that you may have bought if you are new to them.













It's one of those things that looks complicated in many steps, but is quite quick after the first or second times and when you are comfortable with your PS/PSE workspace
And here's my finished page. I used the same Holographic Stickers Style over the dreamcatcher element from Allison Pennington's Dreamweaver collab after making a white base for it to give it the sparkly sticker treatment like the alpha.
TIP: Using the same style over pieces from different kits can give them a more cohesive look and the viewer will just think those pieces are meant to go together! Styles are definitely a way to stretch your stash!


credits: Scrapping With Liz: https://the-lilypad.com/store/Magical-Word-Digital-Scrapbook-Templates.html
Allison Pennington & Studio Basic: https://the-lilypad.com/store/Dreamweaver.html
Mommyish : https://the-lilypad.com/store/Stylin-323-holographic-stickers.html
with Spice, Spice Baby (elements & alpha - retired)
Paula Kesselring: https://the-lilypad.com/store/Bliss-Gesso.html
Designs by Soco & Anita Designs: https://the-lilypad.com/store/One-More-Chapter-Elements.html
Valorie Wibbens: https://the-lilypad.com/store/Bibliophile.html

• Do you have a favourite versatile 'go-to' alpha or a favourite themed alpha from TLP?
• Do you have a favourite way to change up the look alphas?
• Do you use Styles much and have a fave? (or any questions about them?)

Link us up so we can see and feel free to ask any related questions in this thread! If I'm not sure of the answer, I'll try to find out for you.

See you again soon for this week's challenge!

 

that sounds so much easier! i think the newer Photoshop CC has the ability to 'stack styles' as well and apply a few presets at once which is something that for now, i'm fine with not being able to do but it might come in handy more for designers

 

i love the multiple variations Allison and some of the other designers include so words with repeat letters in stampy alphas like this don't look identical and that outline-y bit gives this such a cool 'i really stamped it and i pushed too hard because that's totally how my single letter stamping comes out in real life' stamp effect!

 

that bent and stitched look is so cool and i love how many 'extras' Kim always includes (and half the extra letters i have no idea what they are but i imagine they are quite useful for international scrappers)

 

wow i didn't realise you weren't a native english speaker, you communicate perfectly to me! can i ask what your native language is? i imagine it would be difficult to find some wordart in other languages - I'm pretty sure NBK Designs has German and French versions regularly in some of her wordart packs and Soco also has the French sometimes