Adobe CC Libraries

I mentioned in another thread that I used Adobe Photoshop libraries religiously when scrapbooking, and there were a few people who were interested in how it worked or how it helps me. SO- here is how to set up and use libraries in Adobe Photoshop CC.

In Photoshop, go to the Windows menu and select "Libraries."

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At the top, you will see a drop-down. When selected, it will read "+Create New Library." Select this, then name your library. I name mine with kit or project abbreviation and then the type of items going in the library, so "FGNElements" are the Family Game Night Elements from Marisa's kit here on DigitalScrapbook.com.

Now you are ready to drop things into your library! At the bottom of the panel, you will notice a few different icons. The first one is "Create New Library From Document." If you have a layered Photoshop or TIFF file open and select this, it will save each layer as a separate library item.

The second icon is "Add Graphic." To add a graphic, open any document (jpg, png, etc.) and then click the icon. The graphic will show up in your library. To populate a library with items quickly, I open a folder and select 20 docs, open them all, then hover over the icon, press, then CTRL-W, and repeat until all are added. You can opt to click on each item and name it.

The third icon is "Add Text Style." This is useful if you are creating a scrapbook with a specific set of text styles you want to use. Get your text exactly how you like it, click on that layer, then click the icon! It will show up at the top of your libraries panel.

The same goes for the 4th and 5th icons, "Add Layer Style" and "Add Color."

So now that you have your libraries set up, how do you use them??

Open a document you want to place an image in, click the item in your library, and drag to your open document. It will create another layer, which will automatically be named the name it had in the library (so if you didn't rename, it will be "Layer 0."

Regarding dragging to document (important!):
If you only drag item in, it will become a "smart object" and therefore will get updated if you make any changes to the original file. This is an advantage in a few instances (like if you are doing logo design work) but not so much in scrapbooking.
To avoid this, hold down the ALT key while dragging.

Why do I like using them so much? Because I can set up all the papers and elements, text and layer styles, prior to starting a scrapbook, and then everything is right at my fingertips instead of having to do File>Open and search for stuff every time I want to add something to a page.

From a designer's standpoint, since I can access libraries across all Adobe CC, I can save colors, type styles, and access in Illustrator or Premier easily. I have also set up libraries that are full of template files (like grayscale buttons, etc.) and then I can add color styles from other libaries and voila- an easy way to create new colored elements.

For additional information, you can visit http://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/libraries.html?sdid=KKUCV&mv=search&s_kwcid=AL!3085!3!103323625120!e!!g!!adobe%20libraries&ef_id=V36AMgAAAL@CRnJI:20160805042226:s

I hope this was helpful to at least a few of you! Let me know if you have questions or need clarification!

Laurel