How to Separate Items on One Page in Photoshop or PSE

How to Separate Items on One Page in Photoshop or PSE - from the Designer Digitals newsletter

You can also watch this tip on video on their blog: How to Separate Items on One Page in Photoshop or PSE [Video]

Designers sometimes group alphabets or elements on one page for your convenience. I like pages of grouped elements because it means I only have to open one file, but I have all of the letters or elements available to use on my digital project.

When you download a file with elements that are grouped together in one .png image, here's how to use them:

Open your digital project and the .png image in Photoshop or Elements.

Click on the .png image to select it.

Get the Rectangular Marquee tool and draw a rectangle around the item on the page that you want to use.

Switch to the Move tool.

Make sure that the .png image layer is selected in the Layers Panel. Drag the item you have selected over to your digital project.

Switching to the Move tool is an important step because neglecting to do this moves the selection, not the part of the image you want to move.

Go back to the .png image and select Ctrl D (Mac: Cmd D) on your keyboard to remove the selection. Use the Marquee tool to get another item, if desired.

This also works with other selection tools like the Elliptical Marquee tool and the Lasso tools. To use the Lasso tool, click on the .png image and draw a selection around the part of the image you want to use. The selection will close and you will see marching ants when you reach the spot where you started drawing the selection.

Next, switch to the Move tool and check to make sure the image is highlighted in the Layers Panel. Then drag the item over to your digital project.

If you are not using Photoshop or Elements, you might need to make a copy of the sheet and use your software's Crop tool to crop away the part of the image you are not using. Drag the item to your scrapbook page and then undo your crop.