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Digital Scrapbooking Software
Digital scrapbooking is a hot new trend in scrapbooking right now. Have you heard about it? Lisa Miller of TheScrapPrincess.com shares a great article about digital scrapbooking basics and digital scrapbooking software with us below.
One of the great benefits of digital scrapbooking software is that in lieu of purchasing scrapbooking paper, embellishments etc you can create your own designs as well as create great digital scrapbooking layouts. After an initial investment in digital scrapbooking software, you can save money on scrapbooking supplies... read on to learn more.
Digital Scrapbooking 101, Basics of Digital Scrapbooking
By Lisa Miller
A digital scrapbook is a digital layout of photos, embellishments and journaling
that is created by manipulating and layering computer graphics. Digital
scrapbooking elements can be in the form of .jpg, .png or .tiff files to use
freely among digital image editing programs.
Organization is a very important part of digi-scrapping. Keeping your files
organized will allow you to create layouts quickly. You can start by scanning or
uploading your digital pictures onto your computer. When you scan a picture in, be
sure to give it a relevant name and date such as Year_Month_Day_EventorPerson.
This will help you find the pictures you need and also eliminates the need to open
up numerous files to find an exact event/person you are looking for. Save the
original copy of the photo as a .tiff file. You will also want to scan your files
in at 200-300 dpi. This is the resolution of the picture and the higher you have
the dpi set the better quality the picture will be. If you are planning to print
your pictures, 300 dpi is the correct resolution. It will ensure superb quality
when printed. If you are only making layouts to share online then you can lower
the resolution to 72 dpi. This lower resolution is fine for web graphics that you
post to a website or
forum to share.
Different file types will allow you to manipulate the elements or photographs in
certain ways. A .png file has a transparent background so you can layer it on top
of other files. A .tiff file is the easiest way to save original photographs
without compromising quality of the photograph. A .jpg is the final format that
layouts are typically saved in. A .jpg file cannot be resized without losing
quality of the image though. Use the .jpg format when you are done creating your
layout.
One of the great benefits of digital scrapbooks is that they can be saved onto
your computer. You then have a few choices as to what you would like to do with
the layouts you have created. You can burn them to cd and either save them to view
on your computer or have them printed out and inserted into traditional albums.
Burning them to cd will save you the space on your computer since the finished
layouts tend to have large file sizes.
Assembling and laying out your pages will require an image editing program. These
programs allow you to copy and paste layers onto a background and manipulate where
and how you would like your page to look. There are endless possibilities.
Some of the programs are designed specifically for scrapbooking. You can find
these programs in any place where software is sold. The scrapbook programs have
custom elements built in to the software so your backgrounds, frames,
embellishments, journaling, etc are already made for you and can be layered in the
program itself. They also tend to require a lot of memory on your computer. Double
check that you have the space needed on your pc before you purchase or try to use
one of these programs.
Digital image editing software also requires a lot of memory. Before investing in
any software, always be sure that your computer can handle the program and shut
down any other programs that may be running (such as Internet Explorer, Quicken,
etc). These software programs will allow you to do just about anything you wish
and most of them will require some kind of learning process.
Corel® Paint Shop Pro is a great program that allows you to manipulate and fix
photos, elements, create and save layouts. It has many functions and runs about
$99. You can download a free trial of the software here. It is very user friendly
but will still require some learning on your part. If you search online for Paint
Shop Pro tutorials you will find they are very abundant and most users will
testify that the program is very user friendly.
Adobe® Photoshop and Photoshop Elements are also wonderful programs for the
digital scrapbooker. Photoshop is very expensive and requires a bit more
experience than Photoshop Elements. Learning these programs may be more difficult
for the beginner but are definitely worth it if you have a passion for graphics.
There are many other programs that you can use such as Ulead Photo Impact,
Microsoft Picture It, Printshop, and Printmaster to name a few. All of these
programs will require memory. Take the time to delete your temporary internet
files, cookies and cache daily as well as empty your recycle bin to keep your
computer in ideal condition to run these programs.
Digital scrapbooking is a wonderful and easy hobby that allows you to assemble
layouts quickly and with no mess. You do not need crop totes or paper organizers
or die cut tools (so it is a great money-saver) but you will need some organized
files to save all of the elements that are available to download on the internet.
Check out the freebies section at www.thescrapprincess.com/freebies.html for some
basic elements.
About the Author: Article courtesy of Lisa Miller, Owner & Digital Designer, TheScrapPrincess.com
© 2006
www.TheScrapPrincess.com offers digital scrapbook elements, freebies, tutorials
and web graphics
I don't know about you, but I'm ready to give digital scrapbooking a try. And thanks to Lisa, now I have an idea about what digital scrapbooking software to look into. Thanks, Lisa!
Do you have a digital scrapbooking layout, freebie, product review or project to share with us? We'd love your input - submit anytime.
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