How to Create a Photo Album Template in Photoshop CS4

Creating photo album page templates in Photoshop CS4 isn't as difficult as it may seem. You can quickly and easily create any size album page you like that can be sent to any photo lab that constructs albums for printing and binding.

The first step in creating a photo album page template in Photoshop CS4 is to open a new document to the size and specifications you wish to use. I'm going to create a 10"x10" album page, so I will change the specifications to those dimensions and make sure that the resolution is 300 pixels per inch.

Now you should have a blank document opened in Photoshop CS4. I like for my photo album pages to have a pretty background that relates to the theme of the photo album. To get the background, open a photo that relates to the theme of the photo album, click on the "move" tool, and drag the photo onto the top of your work space. You will need to grab the corner of the photo to resize it to fit over the whole page. It doesn't matter if your photo is larger than your workspace, any part of the photo that isn't right over the work space will be deleted. Once you've resized the photo, click on it to move it to where you would like it on the page. Make sure the photo covers the entire workspace, then double-click it to lock in the transformation.

Next, you need to reduce the opacity of this layer. Somewhere in the range of 25-35% is a good range. Anything darker than this will distract from the main point of the album, and that's the photos that you will be putting in place later.

Now it's time to start creating the frames for the photos. Open a new layer, then click on the "rectangular marquee tool" for a square or rectangular frame or the "elliptical marquee tool" for a round or oval-shaped frame. Draw a shape that is approximately equal to the proportions of one of the photos that you will be using. If you want your shape to be equal in proportions (square or circle), hold down the "shift" key while you drag the mouse using one of these selection tools.

After your shape is drawn, click on the "edit" menu, and choose "fill." You will fill the space with 50% gray (blending mode: normal, 100% opacity), then deselect the frame. You can add a drop shadow to this frame to give it a 3-D effect by clicking the "fx" (layer style) selection at the bottom of your layers menu. The layer style option has many effects that you can use to make your frame look more professional, but don't overdo it. I usually add a drop shadow and a 2 or 3 pixel stroke to the inside of the frame. Keep track of the settings you use for these effects so you can use them on all the frames that you create.

To make more frames, you will need to create a new layer for each frame you need. A shortcut to doing this is to hold down the "alt" key ("option" key on Mac), click on the frame that you've already created and drag it into place. You can also hold down the "shift key" to keep your new frame in alignment with the old one. Now you have two identical frames in separate layers on your album page. You can resize the new frame by clicking and dragging the corners of the frames. If you want to move your frames around, click on the layer of each frame you would like to move and use the "move" tool to put it where you would like it.

You can create more pages quickly and easily by replacing the background photo with another one and resizing/rearranging the frames on the page. Save each file separately (as a .psd file), and you can build your own library of templates that you can use time and again to make albums for friends, family, clients, or any other occasion that you need.