Clipping Masks UNMASKED and free CoffeeShop Storyboard Templates!

I love writing and using storyboard actions because they are fast, easily edited, and don't take much room on my hard drive. However, there are times that you just want a storyboard template image file so that you don't have to worry about running an action. So for this reason I will try to make actual .psd templates for all of my storyboards so you can skip the action if you want! To use these templates it is helpful to understand clipping masks so your images will fit perfectly. Here is a quick tutorial on using them, and at the end of the tutorial you will find the links to download two CoffeeShop Storyboard templates.

BTW, I also wrote an action called CoffeeShop Group It, that will automatically load your images in storyboards with clipping masks.

Open the CoffeeShop Template and your image.
I am going to place this image on the left vertical image cutout (black clipping mask)in the storyboard. Drag the image just ABOVE the black box where that image will go using your move tool.


Now you can see your image on the storyboard, but it is not within the cutout. You have to group the black clipping mask with your image.
Go to your fly-out menu on your layer's pane (make sure your image layer is selected and it is just above the black clipping mask) and select "Create Clipping Mask" (Photoshop only) or just select the image and press Alt+Ctrl+G (Photoshop only) OR dangle your mouse between your image and clipping mask cutout while pressing Alt, and when you see the hand become another little B&W round symbol, click. In Photoshop Elements click on the image layer and press Ctrl-G or dangle your mouse while holding Alt and look for the little symbol as mentioned above.

You can see your image is grouped with your black clipping mask cutout. If you can't see your image because it is behind your background or a different clipping mask, when you do the next step (free transform) you will be able to see where it is and drag it to the proper place. Now free transform (Ctrl+T) your image to taste (changing the size or moving it around) and it won't affect any of the other layers. If you can't see the transform bars, just click Ctrl-0 (zero) and your storyboard will shrink.  Once you adjust the image size you can make the storyboard fill the screen once again by clicking Ctrl-0.

Ctrl-T and drag the bars (holding down shift to maintain aspect ratio in Photoshop, making sure constrain proportions is checked in PSE) and adjust your image to fit. Don't hold shift in Photoshop Elements or your image will distort!!!

Once your image looks the way you want, press the checkmark on the upper menu bar and add your next image. Wasn't that easy!
If you don't want to use clipping masks with these templates you can also just drag and drop your image and make it fit OVER the black box. Or you can select the black box layer with your magic wand and press delete and drag your image below that layer. I prefer the clipping mask technique, but do whatever you find the easiest!
To change the background color, just select the background layer and Edit, Fill with the color of your choice. And if you want to add text, just add after flattening the image. It is that easy!
If the CoffeeShop storyboard you download has clipping mask frames (they will be on their own layer, labeled frames, and under their individual clipping mask), you can change their color by selecting them with the magic wand) or even delete them. Just make sure you have the frame layer selected before making changes!
To download the templates below just click on the images and you will find the download link on the bottom of the posts. You can also download the action if you haven't already!





I have also uploaded a new version of CoffeeShop Pink Glow. I added a B&W layer above the background that is turned off. Just turn it on to get a pink-toned B&W image.