Diane,
Hopefully I have understood your intention correctly…
* Drag out your custom shape, it will appear on a new layer at the top of the stack in the Layers Palette.
* go to Layer>Group with Previous
* Crtl/click that layer so that the marching ants selection line surrounds the shape * go to Select>Inverse, now everything except the shape is selected * click on the layer below in the palette
* tap the delete key on the keyboard
If you didn’t have a layer under these, the backgrouond will be transparent. Add another layer if you desire at the bottom of the stack. This would show surrounding the shape.
Another way to do it:
* Drag out your custom shape, creating a new layer
* Drag the shape layer so it’s directly underneath your image layer (this assumes your image is all in one layer)
* Click on your original image layer so it’s selected in the Layers palette * Go to Layer–>Group with Previous
Voila–it’s cropped to the shape.
Thanks for your replies. I’m going to try this tonight. In a roundabout way, that is what I was trying to do but was obviously getting in wrong. Thanks again!
Diane,
If what was posted here doesn’t accomplish your goal, post back.
You might also try experimenting with layer styles. A bevel could look good for some things. Try adding different textures to portions of the image or some of the filters too. Experimenting with a Hue/Sat adjustment for different elements might give interesting results also.
Nancy
