quick and easy recoloring

I had a customer ask for the easiest way to recolor the 3x4" and 6x4" monthly calendar pockets so I thought I'd share a quick tutorial. I know I've done recoloring tutorials before but this one is specific to those kits (though the same principal would apply to recoloring almost any png file - even those that are already colored.) You could just use the paint bucket tool but you'll get some ragged edges that way (that may or may not bother you.)

Once you've opened your file, create a new layer by either clicking the new layer icon in the layers palette or the key combo ctrl+shift+n.

You may need to make sure you have the correct color mode selected. To do that, Image>Mode>RGB Color.

Choose the color you'd like the design to print by clicking the foreground color box.

Activate the paint bucket tool by clicking on it in the tool palette or by just hitting "k" on your keyboard.

Click anywhere on your canvas to fill the layer with color.

Ctrl + G will clip the color layer to your design layer. To permanently merge the color, click ctrl + E.

As with anything in Photoshop/PSE, there are a number of ways to accomplish any given task. This is simply my preferred method. If you have any questions, just ask!

I did some painting + digital fiddling and this is what I came up with. A new reminder for me. And my kids. And maybe download for my next newsletter :)

Sochi: 2014

I finally got around to updating the 2012 Olympic cards to a 2014 version. I've changed the date and city on the cards that included that information. For the London card, I loved using the iconic bus imagery to include the logo colors but I struggled with how to interpret Sochi in the same way and in the end, went with the incorporating the Kremlin icon (Kremlin designed by Chris McDonnell from the Noun Project) Hopefully some of you will be able to incorporate them into your projects! Download HERE.