Because I am mostly working with CT stuff, I start with product first (drag and drop from acdsee) except when using a template b/c acdsee will only open flattened layer so for those I open the PSD directly for my computer. I open the elements to see what I'll be working with and then look at paper. I will select a few papers and then turn off all but one layer (I'll look at those other papers later and decide which will be background paper and which will be accent pieces and whether I will apply any blend modes/masking with them). Then I place a few elements on the page, pushing a few elements off to the side, if I know I want to use them but not sure where I want to put them yet. I go pick photos to use and place them, then continue with the rest of the page design.
When I use a template I group all the sample design layers together so I can turn the grouped layer off, as I put my page together, but turn on to see the whole template.
I add a bit of sharpening and soft light blending mode to give the final look some oomph.
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