#template tutorial

I'm doing this in Photoshop CC 2019 but this can be done in any version ⭑.ᐟ also mine is in spanish but I'll translate any option used, let's begin!

step 1: first of all, make you sure to be in timeline mode. once you do, open your template and "create a video timeline"

step 2: get the gif you wanna use ready: apply coloring, sharpening and make sure is also in timeline mode.

step 3: duplicate your gif into the template by right click on the layer and "duplicate layer"

now there are two ways you can do this and I'm going to explain both:

step 4: option a) make sure your gif is above the boxes of the template (or whichever shape you're using), right click and then "create clipping mask"

this will generate your gif being "boxed" on the shape...

and from here you can adjust it how you want!

to add multiple gifs, just repeat the process of duplicating and creating clipping masks, but pay attention that your gifs are all the same amount of frames

step 4: option b) another way to do this is creating a group of the box and your gif (selecting both layers and either ctrl/cmd + g or by clicking the little folder icon)

once you have this, right click on the shape but on its preview, not just the layer, like:

and then "select pixels"

once you have that, now select the group you previously made and creat a clipping mask clicking this icon:

as you can see, it's the same process but more organized:

all you have to do is adjust your gif (again) as you want and that's pretty much it!

the template psd I shared a couple days ago that I personally made for the gf edit already has the clipping masks separated by groups, so all you have to do is make some gifs and duplicate them into the canvas!

If you want to actually learn how to make a template like this from scratch, keep reading. Otherwise you can just download the template I created here and skip to step 3, or download this anyway for a visual and follow along.

(STEP 1): HOW DO I GET STARTED?

Create a new blank document with the dimensions of the entire size of the canvas (file > new) and change the highlighted settings to match these (with your own choice of dimensions of course):

Before you do anything else, make sure your timeline is visible (window > timeline) and select “create video timeline” from the drop down.

(STEP 2): MAPPING IT OUT AND CREATING THE TEMPLATE

With your blank canvas is where you have to use a little imagination to create your layout to fill in the space and where you start is up to you.

I started at the top of the canvas in the left corner and decided my first gif was gonna be 268 x 340. Why these dimensions? 268 is tumblr’s standard width for (2) side-by-side gifs and I want the gutter alignment at the top of this canvas to be centered. The height of the block just felt right. As you drag the tool, photoshop will tell you what the dimensions are.

Now I have this:

Our second shape will also have a width of 268px to ensure the transparent space between them is perfectly centered. My second block ended up being 268 x 260.

Make sure there is a gutter of 4px between all of the squares you create. This is important because tumblr’s standard gutter size between gifs is 4px, and this means you need to subtract 4px from your squares on all sides that face each other.

The easiest method to make and align the squares without spending too much time on it is to click off the canvas in the corner and drag the shape inward. Then click on the shape you’ve just created and align it with its designated 90 degree corner of the canvas first. [Edit > free transform] the sides until they align correctly by holding shift + control while dragging. Zoom in to a microscopic level to make sure the gutter is right if you have to 📐🔬🔎👀

If you’re not using weird shapes in your template, do the same thing with all the blocks until you get your desired outcome.

Otherwise, you’ll have to deal with this:

(STEP 2.1): THE ANGLE

In order to create a template like this, you will need to delete the corner of your shape. Create your rectangle like normal as you did with the others, but this one is going to overlay the layer on the top left.

To make sure everything will be even, I used the rectangle tool again to measure and with a new square (in yellow for visibility), I determined that this corner overlay is 75x75, so I fixed the alignment of the red rectangle to make it even.

(STEP 2.2): DELETING THE CORNER OUT OF THE SHAPE

Using the yellow square as your new guide, extend its edges to cover the gutter on the two sides while maintaining its 1x1 proportion.

Keyboard command + click on your yellow square layer and once the “ants” dance around the square, hide the layer so it’s invisible on the canvas.

Right click on the red rectangle layer and select “rasterize” from the drop down menu, then you can hit “delete” or “backspace” on your keyboard which will remove the selected portion only to reveal the gutter. command + D will make the 🐜s go away. Then the yellow square layer can be deleted.

Once this is complete, you can finish up your template by adding your small rectangle in the left bottom corner in the space that remains and VOILA! You have a template!

3. REPLACING THE SHAPES WITH GIFS USING LAYER MASKS ETC

When you make your gifs, remember that they will need to be in timeline form in order to drag them onto the template. You can resize them to match the dimensions of the shapes, or you could just drag your gif—whatever be the size—directly onto the canvas, and “free transform” them to fit inside each space.

Create a group for each shape and create a layer mask for each group, containing it’s designated shape. I’ve colorized this visual to make it make sense.

Now you can finally drag your gifs onto the template. The coloring can be added before or after, it doesn’t matter as long as you place your gifs and the colorings inside the groups with the layer masks to contain the effects of the color adjustments.

And the best thing about putting gifs in a template in timeline is you can move the groups containing the gifs from left to right to get your desired part of the clip.

Once you’re finished with this, hide the original shape layers, as they were just guides and we no longer need them, but also if you don’t do this, you may be able to see them on the sides rather than transparency once you upload to tumblr. And AT LAST you can convert everything into frames as you normally would and save.

the first way:

each template has the size indication;

so just cut / resize your image to the exact size indicated;

and position it on the part of the template you want it to be, one by one:

the second way:

drag the photo you want to the template;

and clicking with the right mouse button create a clipping mask;

that will look like this:

then you resize your image (ctrl + t) and posicone where you want in the template:

You can edit the template with static images and texts, both before or after adding the GIF.

Let’s begin!!

STEP ONE

First of all go to window > timeline to open the timeline window. We are going to need this to use the GIF.

STEP TWO Open the GIF you want to use and if you want to can change the frame delay.

In the top right of the timeline window click on the icon with three lines and it will appear a menu. Click on “convert to timeline”.

In the layer window select all the layers, right click and choose “convert to smar object”.

Now you GIF is ready. In the layer window you should have just one layer and the timeline window should look like this.

STEP THREE

Now it time to use the template.

Open the template you want to use and in the timeline window click on “create video timeline”.

STEP FOUR Drag the layer of the GIF in the template window.

In the layer window of the template look for the layer of the ‘box’ you want to place your GIF in the place the GIF layer above it.

Then right click on the GIF layer and then click on “create a clipping mask”.

Now let’s go back to the timeline window.

You have to find the frame of the GIF. In my case the frame is shorter than the other, so you have to drag the little frey rectangle on top till the end of the GIF frame. (It’s hard to explain).

Repeat steps 2 and 4 to add more GIFS.

STEP FIVE

Oncec you finished editing your template it’s time to save your file. It’s ythe same method to save a normal GIF.

Go to file > export > save for web

VERY IMPORTANT: make sure the looping options are set on forever. Otherwise your GIF won’t move.

And then click on save.

Here’s the result.

First, when making your gif, I recommend using the dimensions of the element you’re trying to put it in. That way you can see what you’re working with and what parts will be cut out.

To figure out the dimensions of an element, open your template, select the element layer, use the select tool and select the element on the document, go to edit>copy, then go to file>new, preset: clipboard, and it should show you the dimension, and click cancel (since we’re not actually making a new document).

For example, I’ll use this template. I will be putting my gif in this element:

That element is the layer titled “7″ in the template.

So, I would click that layer, select around the element with one of the selecting tools, go to edit>copy, go to file>new, preset: clipboard, and it will say the dimensions. Like so:

The dimensions of the element I want to put it in is 116px by 220px. So I would adjust the cropping settings to 116x220 and resize to that same amount.

Now as for putting the gif into the element; select all the frames of the gif and convert to video timeline, then select all the layers and convert to smart object, as you usually would with a gif.

At this point, you can also sharpen and do some touch-ups for your gif before putting it in.

Once you’re ready, drag the smart object layer over to the template document. Place that layer right above the element layer, like so:

Right-click on the gif layer and select “create clipping mask.” It should now have an arrow pointing towards the element layer, indicating it’s been put inside, like so:

You can then rearrange the gif so it fits inside perfectly.

Now open the video timeline. 

You’ll have to rearrange the other layers to align with the gif layer. To do so, go to the end point of the timeline–it looks like this:

–and drag it to the end point of the gif layer.

If you don’t do that, the document will add more layers to the gif and make it longer than the actual gif itself.

& that is all for the tutorial.

If you wish to add more gifs into different elements, you repeat the same steps as before.

However, you should keep the gifs to be the same amount of layers at the same speed. It’s also important to keep in mind that whatever point you set the end point of the timeline to, is where the gif ends. If you add another gif longer than the layers from your previous gif, it will be cut off. That is why I recommend using the same amount of layers, at the same speed for all of the gifs you use.

Edit any other parts of your template (such as adding pictures, changing text, etc.), add a coloring if you want, and when you’re done, go to file>save for web.. and save your gif. (Remember to set the looping option on “forever”!)

Here is the end result of the edit I was doing:

If you have any further questions, or you got lost at some step, don’t hesitate to send me another message!

I hope you (and anyone else who clicked on this tutorial) found this helpful.

These steps should be the same for all templates, and any other elements you want to put a gif in.

Part One - Opening:

Right-click the template and save the image or download them from here* as a .psd (neither have layers but hopefully this tutorial will help you). Then open it up in your prefered image editing software. Any software will be usable so long as you can open layers. MAKE SURE TO UNLOCK THE IMAGE BY DOUBLE CLICKING IT ON THE LAYER PANEL.

*If you’re downloading it will come as a .zip folder so you will have to unzip it before you can use it. There are many tutorials online on how to do this.

Part Two - Text:

Step One: In Arial Nova, bold, 30pt type out the username and line it up with the “n” in namegoeshere. Select the colour #fafafa, go to layer one (the only layer that isn’t the text one), and paint out namegoeshere. As you can see, mine is a bit to long. 

So I’m going to use the selection tool (on layer one) to move the follow button over a bit, holding down shift to keep it steady. It’s important not to move your username over to get it to fit, this will unalign it. Everything should be aligned with whatever text you’re replacing.

Step Two:

In Arial Nova, bold, 16pt type out the post count, follower count, and following count. Align them and paint over the hashes like in the previous step. This time though, align it with the last hash not the first so that a two or one digit number still looks good. 

Step Three:

In Arial Nova, bold, 20pt type out the name, line it up, paint over the text (name here and bio here).

Step Four:

Then in Arial Nova, #8a8a8a, 16pt, regular type out the bio. It may be too long

In that case find where it ends (after “normal” before “husband” for me), press enter, and then line it up with the start of the name

Then go to the start of your bio and press space until the first line is at the end of your name.

Step Five: Because I had put an @______ in my bio I will need to change the colour of that into #597a9c. In Photoshop this is easy, you just need to highlight and change the colour. On my clone I need to actually delete it and create it in new layer.

At the end your layers should look something like this: 

I am going to flatten all of my text but you can just put them into a layer folder if you still want them to be separate 

Part Three - Profile:

Use the Magic Wand/Quick Selection tool to select the round profile picture space and press delete.

Then open a new layer by pressing the “new layer” button on the layer panel and put it below layer one. Name this as Profile

In this layer paste the image you want to use as your profile picture. You can do this by copying and pasting the image or opening it and dragging it over. You might need to use ctrl+t to resize the image (right click+lasso tool if you’re using what I am for this tutorial)

My layers now look like this

Part Four - Posts:

Select one of the post boxes and delete, I delete them all first before putting the images in.

Open a new layer underneath layer one (before or after Profile, it doesn’t matter) and put the image there. Then you can move it to where you want.

Then just keep adding images until you’re done