Fact; I love word strips. Fact #2; scrapbooking kits don’t always include all the word strips that match the words in my head. Photoshop to the rescue!

Did you know you can create your own word strips? It’s super quick & easy in Photoshop, and because it is super quick & easy it’s possible in almost every photo editing program out there. Follow along, you may need to make some changes depending on your software, but the basics will be the same.

You will need a shape or cutting tool to make the word strip. I’m choosing to use the Rectangle Tool to draw a quick word strip shape. I could also cut one out from a paper.

My background paper is from our Day 01 FREE mini of the LAD: Haunted Mansion. There’s still time to join in & get this free on one of our Make-Up Sundays through October.

Photoshop has many built-in free tools. One of my favorites is the Pattern tool. It’s a quick & easy way to add texture to an element. You can apply Patterns using the Effects Panel (fx).

  • Make sure you are on your new Rectangle Layer, aka your word strip
  • Click on the tiny fx on the bottom of your Layers Panel
  • Choose the Pattern Overlay
  • Click on the tiny dropdown arrow on the Pattern option
  • Choose a built-in Pattern
  • I choose the Kraft Paper

Note: I set my Blend Mode on Multiply to give it a more “kraft paper” look. The majority of the patterns are gray scale. Blend Modes are a great way to add color to the built-in Patterns.

Alternatively, you can skip this step completely and simply clip a paper from your stash over your Rectangle Shape.

I like to add an “edge” to my word strips. I think it helps set it apart from the background a little more. I do this by adding an Inner Shadow, again using the fx pop-up.

  • Again make sure you are on your word strip layer
  • Click the tiny fx in the bottom panel
  • Choose Inner Shadow
  • I choose a darker shade of my word strip layer
  • I set mine to:
    • Blend Mode: Color Burn
    • Size: 35%
  • Important, I changed the contour to the built in Gaussian curve.

Finally I added a quick drop shadow, again using the fx pop-up. My settings:

  • Blend Mode: Linear Burn
  • Opacity: 24
  • Angle: 51
  • Distance: 6 px
  • Size: 13 px

I am very happy with how my word strip looks. Now I just need to add some words. And pick a font. Picking a font is hard!

I use a font color in the same shade as my word strip. Sometimes I use a bright, contrasting color, this time I’m keeping it all in the same color tone. That is one of the benefits of creating my own word strips. Picking the color. And the font. Picking a font is hard!

I’ve done four word strip options, with four of my favorite fonts:

I haven’t decided which one to go with yet. Picking a font is hard!
Note: I’ve sent my font Blend Modes to Multiply it lets a little bit of the word strip pattern texture blend into my words.

Now I can easily change the words and easily change the size of my word strip to fit my word or words. Easily changing the size of my word strip is why I use the Rectangle Tool to draw my word strips.

Now it’s your turn! Create some word strips and join us in our LAD: Haunted Mansion. Get some layouts done, make some friends, get a FREE mini a day. Play every day to get the entire Haunted Mansion Mega FREE!

  • Digital Scrapbooking Studio Layout-a-Day: Haunted Mansion