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This lesson demonstrates how to create a printable flower triptych. To work along
exactly, you are welcome to download the start image Here. Unzip the file and open the image onto Photoshop’s workspace.
Undo and Navigation Steps
Two ways of undoing steps are from the top menu, Edit then Step Backwards.
Alternatively, click a previous snapshot in the History Palette.
Navigate (zoom in and pan) your image using the Navigator Palette,
or the Zoom Tool. 
Activate The Hand Tool by tapping the Spacebar, keeping the Spacebar pressed, pan your image in the usual way. 
1/
Open your start image onto Photoshop’s workspace, and extend its grey workspace by dragging out one of its corners. Then open a New document and set the following (A4) settings.
Note
Because printable documents require a fairly high Resolution, even at this stage, your document’s size is large; to reduce the Image Size, lower the Resolution to perhaps 150.
2/
Now, activate the Move Tool  .
And drag the flower image onto your white document. Then to save PC resources, close the original flower image.
3/
Press Ctrl then T. And using the vector handles that surround the subsequent Free Transform bounding box, enlarge the daisy, so it fits the document as illustrated below.
Note
Pressing the Shift key as you enlarge the daisy enlarges it proportionally.
Press your Enter/Return key to commit the change.
 
4/
Working on the flower image’s layer, press Ctrl then A.
This surrounds your entire document with a selection marquee.
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Now, activate the Move Tool, and click the following Align vertical centres tab (from within its Options bar). This centralises your image, and keeps it to the left. Press Ctrl then D to remove the marquee.
6/
Press Ctrl then A. Then press Ctrl then J. This duplicates the flower.
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Working on the duplicated layer, (Layer 2), press Ctrl then T. This activates the Free Transform Command. From the Free Transform’s Options bar, clear both the Width and Height boxes, and type in 48 (%).
Then click the following Commit Transform tick - to finalise the change; or press Return/Enter
8/
Working on Layer 2, (the smaller flower), press Ctrl then A. Then press Ctrl then J. This duplicates the smaller flower.
 
9/
With the Move Tool, drag both smaller flowers to the right-side of your white document.
10/
Then activate the large flower’s layer, and using your keyboard’s Right Arrow key, slowly nudge the large flower towards the two smaller flowers. Then, using all of the arrow keys, (not at the same time, of course), carefully align your three images - as illustrated below.
Tip
For precision, press Ctrl then R to display your Rulers; and use them as a guide.
(Press Ctrl then R to remove the Rulers).
After you have nudged your three flower images into position, you are ready for the next step.
11/ Personalising your triptych
There are various steps you can take to personalise your flower images; perhaps applying a thin contrasting border around each image using the Canvas Size Command as described Here. Alternatively, activate each layer, and apply different effects to your flowers, perhaps creating vivid pop-art colours using the Hue/Saturation sliders, (Ctrl then U) - as described in Chapter 6 of my lesson Here. Or perhaps remove their colour, or create Duo Tones. Working with the individual layers, experiment with different filters, commands and Layer Styles, to create unique triptychs.
12/
When you are satisfied with your triptych frame, from the top menu, choose Layer then choose Flatten Image.
13/ Printing with Photoshop
To print your triptych, from the top menu of Photoshop (I am utilising CS3, however, instructions are similar for all CS versions), choose File then choose Page Setup. In the Page Setup dialogue box, ensure Orientation is set to Landscape, then personalise your print settings by clicking the Printer tab - and (for example), set the paper to High Quality Glossy Printing Paper; ensuring the Margins are correct for your printer. Then click OK.
14/
From the top menu, choose File then choose Print. Or choose Print one Copy - depending on your requirements. Screen Capture of Photoshop’s Print Dialogue Box.
If you see the following warning box, click OK to proceed, and Photoshop will resize your
image so it prints correctly.
Note
I do not print my work using Photoshop; I find it much easier to save my work as a
Jpeg, or PSD file, and open the file onto Paint Shop Pro’s workspace. I then utilise Paint Shop Pro’s versatile printing facility. Paint Shop Pro lets you drag multiple images onto the printing workspace, where they can be rearranged (and resized), exactly to your needs. My tutorial Here demonstrates how to prepare any version of Paint Shop Pro to open Photoshop files.
Wendi E M Scarth. Top of Page - Home.
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