Hi there! It’s Ann with another mobile scrapping post, and I’m back on iPhone again. This time, I used a built-in collage template in Pixelmator for iOS as a starting point for my page. There are scads of apps devoted just to collage-making out there, and, while I prefer traditional digital scrapbooking templates, these provide a way to make a page with a punch pretty quickly! And thankfully, adding digiscrapping elements are a terrific way to transform them from meh to marvelous!

For this layout, I used a single paper and some of some of Et Designs’ pre-made clusters from her True Story Collection. I couldn’t resist throwing in a clipping mask, too.

I created a new document in Pixelmator, and selected a template as my document type. I quickly added my photos, then swiped from the left edge of the screen to reveal the layers palette, deleting the white background layer.

using Pixelmator’s templates

Next, I exported a .png file to Procreate Pocket, which has selection tools I preferred for this project. Unfortunately, the template document is created at only 150 ppi. If you want to print your layout, you’ll want to adjust the resolution to 300 ppi in another app.

In Procreate, I added the digital scrapbooking elements and a paper to the document. To do this, Tap Modify > Actions (wrench icon) > Insert a photo (camera roll) / file (cloud).

I duplicated the collage layer, then tapped Select on the one of the collage layers, then Done. Back at the canvas, (which now shows you some funky, inverted coloring), I tapped Settings and inverted the selection.

Next, I opened the layers palette again and tapped on the clipping mask layer. Using the eraser brush, I erased portions of the clipping mask. To deselect, I tapped Modify and then hit the Selection tool again.

On one copy of the collage layer, I changed the blend mode to Overlay and placed the paper below. Leaving the top collage layer in Normal blend mode, I clipped it to the mask by tapping Clipping Mask from the menu.

Finally, I arranged the elements, and added some text. I was able to spruce up a plain, basic template using only my iPhone in just a few minutes!

If you’re scrapping on mobile – tablet or phone, come join in this month’s challenge in the forum! I’d love to see you there.