If you've been with me this long, you'll remember that in the first tutorial I promised to show you an easy way to get letters from alphas onto your layout. Usually letters and elements are packaged separately, so you just need to click and drag them onto your layout. But sometimes, especially with freebies, there are a bunch of them on one sheet. You can use the recangular marquee tool to select them, then copy and paste onto your layout. This is especially helpful if an element is touching the edge of the page, like our ribbon was in the first tutorial. But the lasso tool can be even easier to use. Here's how.

First, bring up the capital alpha page that I gave you, or any other page with multiple elements on it. Choose the lasso tool from the menu at the left side of the screen, then choose the first of the three lassos at the top of the screen (see illustration below). Once you've chosen the correct lasso, use it to draw a rough circle around the letter or element you want to use. To do this, make sure that you hold down the mouse button the entire time you're drawing the circle, then let go of the button when you've closed your circle. You'll know you did it right if you end up with 'running ants' around your letter or element. For you visual people, here's what it all looks like.

Now all you have to do is change to your move tool, click on the letter or element you selected, and drag it onto your layout. There, wasn't that easier than copying and pasting? Now you can very easily give your layout a title! Maybe we'll work with words a little more in our next tutorial. I have some really fun tricks for making titles and journaling really pop.

If you've missed any of my previous tutorials, click here to go to the first one, where you will learn the bare basics for starting your first layout. Or click here to learn how to create depth on your layout. Click here to go to my blog and find links to tons of freebies!

~Steph