Sharing a little something – Storyboard template

What is the best way to create a storyboard? Well, as is always the case with Photoshop there are any number of ways to go about the same thing. It’s a matter of finding what works for you. You can buy templates on the web, you can borrow this one I’m about to share, you can even learn to create you’re own templates. They’re not all that hard once you get the knack. This is how I do it, and saved as a template it’s a quick and easy job to put three new images in and come up with an instant masterpiece!

This particular storyboard format I use a lot. Two verticals and a horizontal. It is very versatile. It is designed as a 10″x20″ @300dpi, but I promise it prints beautifully at 15″x30″ also.

So, lets learn how to do it!

1. Download the template -LISA’S 10″X20″ STORYBOARD TEMPLATE    , unzip it and open in Photoshop.

2. You will note when looking at the layers palette that there are five layers. These are:
a. Background – you may change the colour of this layer if desired.
b. A separate layer for each image
c. A text layer

3. Open the three images you have selected for your storyboard

4. Click on the image you want on the left side of your storyboard…click Ctrl A to select all & Ctrl C to copy

5. Go back to the storyboard…click on the layer in the layers palette showing the left black square….choose your magic wand & use it to select the left black square on the storyboard….click Ctrl Shift V to paste it into that layer.

6.. You will probably need to resize the image….use Ctrl T & drag edges making sure to hold down shift key to maintain correct proportions. Click anywhere on the image to move it around. Make sure all of the black square is covered by the image. Click on the tick up top right to confirm changes.

7. Follow steps 5-7 for the next two images

8. Select the text tool & select the text layer in the layers palette to change the text. If you don’t want text simply delete or turn off this layer.

9. When all is finished flatten & you have a ready to print 10×20 @ 300dpi.

10. Many changes can be made to the original template, these are a few:

a. Try adding a picture above the background layer at 50% opacity
b. Add a stroke (box) around the pictures
c. Change the colour of the background layer

Enjoy! Watch this space and I’ll teach you how to create your own template…………

35 Comments

Filed under Photography, Photoshop

35 Responses to Sharing a little something – Storyboard template

  1. Siobhan

    Thank you for sharing this Lisa, it took me ages to do a storyboard! It didn’t look anywhere near as good as this either :)

  2. onemomentintime

    Thank-you so much for being so kind. :-)

  3. thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!! I am currently trying to find one that has 4 or 5 places, any ideas?

  4. Byrena, I’ll be putting up a tutorial on how to build your own this week, so you’ll be able to do as many spaces as you like :)

  5. Thanks! I was about to buy one, but I’ll wait. Your instructions were great!

  6. lissame

    Thank you for sharing. I’ve made my first storyboard and it looks great!

  7. Pingback: A Thousand Words

  8. just found your blog & love this tutorial! i needed a refresher on how to do storyboards and love how you said it simply & clearly. thanks!

  9. Sarah

    What fun! I’m not great with photoshop (yet!) but I managed to follow your instructions. It looks great. What next? What do I do with it now? Is there anyway to make is smaller and put it on a 4×6 as a birth announcement? I’d love your thoughts.

  10. Michelle

    Thanks so much for showing and sharing this. It is certainly a lovely way to display photos and looks fantastic.

  11. achallphotography

    Wow. I was about to buy a storyboard template and I thought, “Gee, I think I’ll google for instructions first.” What a treasure to have found you! I have just made my first ever storyboard, thanks completely to you!

    I’m looking forward to checking through your entire blog when I put my children to bed. I think I’m your newest blog stalker!

    Thanks so much for sharing your talent.

  12. brandi

    Thanks so much, I have been trying to figure out how to insert pics for hours without resizing, ect…!

  13. Siddharth

    Thank you for the template and these instructions! Worked wonderfully well! :)

  14. Beth

    Thanks for the template and instructions. I am very new to all of this, and had a question about the guides. I can get my pictures into the black placeholders, but am having trouble sizing them without distorting them. I know you have to fill in all the black area, but can you go over the black and have the part of the picture outside of the guides (parts of the pic that don’t matter)? Or am I supposed to resize my pictures before I do the copy and paste? Any help you can give would be great (even if you have to point me to some sort of web tutorial…I couldn’t find one).
    Thanks!

  15. Bedie

    Thank you so much. I can’t wait to play with it.

  16. Sarah

    Hi I can’t seem to get to your template as it won’t load up wondered if you could email it
    Thanks

  17. Hi, everything was peaches until I tried to copy my image in. It keeps creating a new layer for the image even though I select the box in layer 1. Any thoughts or fixes you could email me?

    Thanks so much either way!

  18. tinkk

    Hi,
    Thanks for sharing you wonderful knowlegde, one ? though the markers you showed us how to use to line everything up with still appear after I have flattend the image, will they appear when printed?? Do I have to remove them?
    Thanks again
    Tinkk

  19. Gena

    This has been the most helpful tutorial I’ve found! Thank you very much! I had no luck at all until I found your posting! My only question is….how do I change background color? I am brand new to cs3, and when I finally got black as a background, it totally covered over my photos as well! Help! .lol.

  20. Thank you so much for this template, I just made two beautiful images, and I can’t wait to see what they look like printed. I had no problems using your instructions, but I am a seasoned PSPX2 and CS3 user ;)

    Thanks again!

  21. Michelle

    I love your template, but I’m having trouble using it. When I try to paste the image inside the photo layer box, it creates a new layer. Any suggestions on how to fix this?

    Thanks,
    Michelle

  22. Pingback: Making storyboards in PS « Kelly Loves Photography

  23. Thank you! That was so much fun!!!

  24. BeeBee

    Just wondering, when copying your photos to put into the storyboard layer, should it automatically change size to fit the layer, or do i need to change the size of my picture first to match the size of the layer???
    Hope this isn’t too confussing for you

  25. This template looks beautiful, nice and simple and clean. I am new to the storyboard templates and was excited to try this out, but am experiencing the same difficulties as others above mentioned about getting the images to occupy only the black area and instead they are creating new layers…..they are not pasted into the black areas……..frustration is getting the better of me. I would love someone to enlighten me. I am obviously missing some step of bit of info. I could resize beforehand, but the template doesn’t tell you what size/ dimensions the images need to be.
    Thanks in advance for any help you can offer. Happy New Year!

  26. Stacie Kwacala

    Help! I downloaded your template but cant get the pic to paste into the layer! Any help would be appreciated!!

  27. Hi Lisa, sorry , I haven’t checked back here , but hopefully it is not to late :0) This is what I did.
    Open the template
    open an image
    click the “move tool” from the tool menu
    click the photo and drag onto template
    go to layers and drag the photo layer right above the layer you want the photo in.
    right click the photo layer and click “create clipping mask
    now go back to template with photo and make sure the free transform is checked (there should be a check box below , where is says file, edit , etc. If not you can find it under Edit too)
    Make sure you select the move tool again
    grab one corner of your photo while holding the shift key down and drag it larger or smaller to be just right in space where your photo will be. Repeat for the other two…

    I am not the best at giving verbal direction, but I hope it helped anyone , who couldn’t figure it out.

  28. The instructions on your other thread on how to create a storyboard are fab! But i dont know how to drop in the pics from this thread as I have a
    Mac, so your control keys are not the same. Any chance you (or any other readers!) could let me know what to do on a Mac -that would be so great.
    Thanks again for sharing!

  29. Tessie

    Thanks so much!

  30. Fabulous instructions. I have been breaking my head to create my own story boards. I am very happy to stumble upon your wonderful blog. By following your simplistic instructions I could create my own story board. Once I have a complete story I will share it with you. Thanks a lot for the instrctions.

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