When I first got into this whole stamping/card making thing, oh… what was it now… FIVE months ago, I knew I wanted to be more like Jennifer McGuire with my levels of organization, because let’s face it: the woman has got it down cold.
Her ink swatch system is fantastic and I knew I wanted to use her approach, but my only problem was that I had so few inks at the start, I decided to mimic her design and create my own template, and that template I’m sharing with you today (and will be sharing with Jennifer for her site, too!)
I created a simple layered PSD file and I’ve got a short tutorial if you’re new to Photoshop Elements (or Photoshop) but like the idea of creating custom ink swatch sheets with the inks you have on hand. The other fun thing is that you can pick a font you love and apply it to all of the text blocks.
The font I’m using in the template is free and it’s called Open Sans. But you can change it to anything you like!
Download the digital package here:
Included in the package is a brief How-To PDF file to help you with the document.
To purchase the swatch stamp I used, click here.
To learn all about Jennifer’s system, plus the tools she uses (and because of her, I use too!) to create her swatch books, click on the image below!
Lisa Wright says
Thank You for making this template! I love tools that make organizing so professional
Lisa
Cathy Zielske says
You are welcome!
Adelina says
Thanks for this template! It’s perfect for the small WRM 4×4 albums with the 2×2 pockets!
Cathy Zielske says
You’re welcome! And yes! It will work in those. I use the coin pockets like jennifer, but I’ve seen other crafters using the small pages like those, too! Super fun idea!
Melissa Miller says
Awesome! Thanks so much for sharing this template with us, Cathy! I’ve had “swatch my inks” on my to do list for far too long. This may motivate me to actually do it. 🙂
Nolwenn says
Thank you SO much for sharing the template you created ! I love swatches but suck at creating the proper template-s for them. You make it easier for us <3
Cathy Zielske says
You’re welcome! I thank Jennifer for figuring out the math! I just added the Photoshop. 😉
Jessica says
Love how organized you are! I just started before you did, and had to laugh because we had the same response. Get it all, get it now 😉
Kind regards,
Jessica
Cathy Zielske says
Right? All the things. I swear! 🙂
Sue Smith says
What did you use to stamp the nice clean rectangle of each color? Do you have a rectangle stamp?
Sue Smith says
Me again. I went to Jennifer’s site and found the post about the swatches and under supplies I found the link to the Simon Say swatch stamp set.
Cathy Zielske says
Oh, I forgot to include the link to the swatch stamp! Will do that for anyone else going forward. Sorry to send you on a wild goose chase!
Mary Guikema says
I loved this idea so much when I saw it on Jennifer’s site that I expanded it to include using this system to swatch my embossing powders, copic color combinations, Nuvo drop colors and anything else I want to keep track of and see samples of. Great idea and a huge time saver when looking for color combinations.
Cathy Zielske says
Oh that’s so smart! I could do that too, because I’m starting to amass many other things and it would be fun to add more swatch cards! I did do it with my set of watercolors, which was very helpful, but… Tonic Studio drops… that is something I should swatch!
Amanda says
I was thrilled to see this when you posted it months ago, but I hadn’t had time to play with any of this. It’s fantastic – the template and all. My favorite was the instructional video – so good! Could you teach me how to do all the things with Photoshop Elements? I might get 1/100th of the value out of it finally!
Cathy Zielske says
Yay! I do need to get more videos out about PSE. 🙂