Oct. 22, 2007 - Digital Scrapbooking: How do you do it?
Well, I've received enough emails to realize I should just post the info on my blog. Many of you have inquired how I do my digital scrapbooking. Here's how:
1. I use Photoshop Elements 2.0 which is an older, cheaper version (eBay) and also a simpler program which is great for scrapbooking. It still has more bells and whistles than I'll ever use, but it's nice to have so many options.
2. I get my backgrounds and embellishments for free at www.scrapbookflair.com. They have been posting tons of free theme pieces so I have lots of possibilities ready for me. They save time and they're lovely. This company also has a simple FREE scrapbooking program. I used it when I first started and then moved on to Elements when I wanted more flexibility.
3. The 3rd thing I have that works really well for FIAR is a clip art cdrom. Mine has 3 million pieces of clip art so it's easy to find a duck that looks like Ping or the Eiffel Tower or apple art to go with HTSTWAMAAP. Mine is made by IMSI and yes, I got it free from my graphic artist sil !! (Thanks, sis!)
I also think the website: http://www.graphicsfactory.com/ is a good deal. You can get a year's membership for $59.95 and download clip art to your heart's content.
That's the 3 pieces I'm using to do my digital scraps. I do have the book "Teaching Visually: Photoshop Elements 2.0" that I got used off Amazon to tell me quickly how to fix red eyes or find different ways to make a text border or whatever. It's another time saver. My Greg got it for me. (Thanks, dh!)
My favorite thing about digital scrapbooking is how easy it is to work in short batches of time. I do regular scrapbooking, too, but only once a month with my sil. With Elements, I'll have a list of things I want to scrap about.
For my blog, I make my pages 6 inches by 6 inches and 200 dpi so they print nice, too, for physical 6x6 scrapbooks that I give as gifts to family. I'll go in and just take a 6x6 and throw down my pictures and save.
Then later I'll come back and add my background and embellishments and save.
Then the next time I come back, I add some clip art and text. Often I mix up the order of these 3 steps if I'm not feeling creative or I'm drawing a blank.
I always save my page with a title like PingLayers and then you can flatten the image when you're done and then "save as" a jpg with just the Title (Ping.jpg).
That way I can always go back into layers if I want to make a change. But the .jpg works for uploading to my blog or emailing or printing. If I change the layers, I resave the flatten image as a .jpg with the same name the .jpg had before - it will overwrite the file after you give it permission.
I open my photos and graphics and use highlight the portion of the image I want. Then I use copy and paste to put it into my 6x6 page. You can click "Layers" on the upper right of the window to arrange the order your images are sitting. So I can tuck things under one corner of another and make frames to go behind text. Of course, the possibilities are endless and I just keep things simple so I can get my pages completed.
Hope this info helps others!
