Pixlr Reference Sheet

How to get started

When you go to pixlr.com you should see this screen. Be sure you have made an
account with your student email.

1. Click on Pixlr Editor.

2. A new menu will pop up. Click on “create new”

 3. A new menu will pop up.
a. Click on “name” and type in [First Name][Last Name]_[MovieTitle]_[NewGenre]
i. Example: SaraCampbell_Cinderella_Horror
b. Change the Width to 1080
c. Change the Height to 1920

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Inside Pixlr
Here is an image of the layout.

Vocabulary:
● Canvas: The space where the project will be created
● Toolbar: The menu in Pixlr to the left side of the screen. This menu holds the different
tools that can be used to draw, erase, and manipulate the canvas.
● Layers: The menu in Pixlr to the right side of the screen. This menu allows for multiple
images, text, and color to exist on the same canvas project.
 Vocabulary in the Toolbar
● Arrange: This tool allows you to
move images, text, and colors around the canvas
● Mask: This tool allows you to erase,
and un-erase an image from your canvas
● Gradient: This tool allows you to
input a smooth gradient
○ Linear- Color starts at one
end of the point, and gradually ends at another
color
○ Radial- color starts at the
center, and gradually ends at another color

● Text: This tool allows you to add text

to the canvas.
● Color Select: This tool allows you to
change what color you want to use for drawing

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Uploading Images to Pixlr
In this project, you WILL need to find images from Google to use for your poster. Here is
a quick guide on what to use, and what NOT to use

Watermark
DO NOT use a photo with a watermark. A watermark is the text on an image. Many
companies and artist will use watermark so people can not use it without their
permission/ without paying for the image. For copyright reasons, do NOT use these
photos. Instead, find a similar photo without the watermark. Below is an example of this.

No watermark Watermark

When you find the perfect image to add to your project, use two fingers and click on
your mouse pad. Click on the selection “save image as” and save the image
somewhere in your desktop.

Go back to Pixlr. Click on “Files” at the top left corner. Then click on “Open Image” and
when a computer file pops up, find your image on your desktop, and select it.

When you open an image in Pixlr, it will open a new project for you. You will want to
click and hold the image from your layers and drag it to the top where you can see your
original project. Once your project is open back up, let go of your image on the canvas.

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Mask Tool
Make sure you have your image selected when you want to use this tool
Select the mask tool, which looks like some scissors over in your toolbar.
At the top of your screen, there will be a new menu of things to select. These all are for
the Mask Tool.

At the top of your screen, there will be a new menu of things to select. These all are for
the Mask Tool.
In the image above, you can see different names for each Mask setting. But we will be
focusing on “Draw Mask”

In addition to this, we will want to make note of the tools “Add to Mask” and “Remove
from Mask” as these two settings for the Draw Mask tool will be important for erasing,
and un-erasing

Vocabulary:
● Add to Mask: With the draw mask selected, you can draw on your layer to add parts of
the image that was taken away
● Remove from Mask: With the draw mask selected, you can draw on your layer to remove
parts of the image that is visible.

Remove from Mask Add To Mask

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Gradient Tool
The Gradient tool creates an ombre effect with two colors of your choice. There are two
kinds of gradients to chose from.
● Linear- Color starts at one end of the point, and gradually ends at another color
● Radial- color starts at the center, and gradually ends at another color
You can change the colors of the gradient at the top by selecting the gradient bar as shown
below.

In the Gradient bar, you will see this menu pop up. Left side is color 1, and the right side
is color 2. You can change these colors, or choose a premade color setting below the
customization bar.
If you want to cusomize your colors, click on either color 1, or color 2, then click on the color box
next to “Color” there should be a new menu that will pop up that gives you the rainbow of
different colors and brightness of the color.

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Text
You will need to select the text tool in the toolbar, then click anywhere on your canvas.

Once you do this, the software will add a new layer to your project, and you can start
typing what you would like to type.

To change the font (how the text looks) go to the top of your project, and select the drop
down menu over “Arial”

Note: Not all font can be used for this project. The font with crowns next to them can
NOT be used.
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Hotkeys
A Hotkey is a shortcut combination on your keyboard that will take an action on your
computer. Here is a list of important Hotkeys:

CTRL + C = Copy
CTRL + V = Paste
CTRL + Z = Undo
CRTL + Shift+ Z = Redo

V = Move Tool
K = Mask Tool
G = Gradient Tool
T = Text Tool