Start off going to FILE - NEW and you will get a page like this one.  You can make your WIDTH and HEIGHT 3 INCHES, 4 etc.  I'm using 3 for this tutorial.  Make sure you have INCHES and not pixels etc. selected.  Resolution at 300.  Background Contents needs to be TRANSPARENT.
 

Step 2:  Now to decide what you want in your overlay.  I'm going to keep it easy here for you :0)  On your Tool Box, select your SHAPE TOOL (or you can hit the letter "U" on your key board and it will automatically select your shape tool for you.)

Now let's choose a shape.  See the little circle with the right arrow next to all the choices?  You can hit that arrow and go through all the different shape categories to find something you like.  I'm choosing the bike.  Once you find a shape you like, just DOUBLE CLICK on that shape and it will bring you back to the page your working on.

Next we want to choose our colors.  Unless you want a little border around your shape, you'll want to make your foreground and background the same color.  I always make mine black.  Remember, you will always be able to change this color when you are done with your overlay.

Once you have your colors picked, go back to your new page and you will see that your curser looks like a thin cross.  Click where you want your first shape to be and hold the CTRL key and drag your shape to how big you want it.  If you don't hold the CTRL key down at the same time, you will be able to make your shape kind of distorted.

Once you let go, your shape will fill in.  Continue to add however many more shapes you want.  Remember this is only a "fill" so it's better to make your shapes larger if you're going to use it on a larger paper.  Once you are done, I like to save it.  FILE - SAVE AS - (ex. dwr_overlayfill_bike), then make sure you save it as a PNG file.  This is so it stays transparent, so you can put it over existing papers.

Step 4:  Let's define our pattern now.  Go to the TOP tool bar and choose EDIT - DEFINE PATTERN

You will get a page that looks like this.  Name your pattern something to make you remember what the pattern is.  Hi the OK button

Now we need to go to our Tool Box again, this time choose the paint bucket.  Or hit the letter "k" on your keyboard

Then go to your tool bar above your paper and choose PATTERN from the drop down box.

Next to where you chose PATTERN from the FILL drop down box, is where you can now choose your pattern.  Click on the PATTERN drop down box now, and choose your new pattern.

Now let's use that new "fill" we made.  Open a new page - FILE - NEW and this time make your Height and Width 12.

You now have a large blank canvas.  You should still have your Paint Bucket tool selected.  Your cursor should now look like a paint bucket.  Click somewhere in your blank canvas.  You now have a large overlay to play with!  Make sure you save your new overlay.  FILE - SAVE AS - don't forget to save it as a PNG.

Renee' Strucel