Digital Scrapbooking

The other night I taught a digital scrapbooking class for a mid-week activity at my mother in-laws ward. I am definitely no expert, but I thought I would share my handout. I hope it makes sense!

The Benefits of Digital Scrapping

No Mess - all of your supplies are on your computer or CDs. No need to spend tons of time getting supplies out just to have to put them away again! And if you have to leave in the middle of a project, just hit save and walk away!

The Undo Button - anything you do can be undone. No ruined photos or products.

No Waste - all items are reusable and easily recolored.

Photo Manipulation - you can crop your photos, change the colors, turn them black and white, tint them. There are so many things you can do to your photos to help make them stand out in your layouts. No need to go to the photo lab to get a photo blown up and no more cropping mistakes!

Multiple Copies - you can create multiple copies of pages and albums for friends and family without having to make the same page over and over again. Just print!

Preservation - All photos, pages, and albums can be digitally preserved on CDs in multiple locations. If something were to happen to your home or your scrapbooks, you can easily just reprint.

Time - digital scrapping can take less time by using pre-made supplies and pages.

Different Styles - paper scrapping encompasses many different styles. So does digital scrapping. There are even styles within digital scrapping that cannot be recreated on paper.

Sharing your Scrapbook - there are more ways to share your scrapbook pages than just in an album. Scrapping digitally makes it easier to share your pages with friend and family through email, on the web, or in slideshows. digitalscrapbookingplace.com Steps to Digital Scrapbooking Step 1: Your pictures From digital camera – one of the simplest and convenient ways to get your pictures onto the computer Scanners – this is a great option to use for pictures that you already have printed Photo lab – when you take your film into the photo lab have them put the pictures onto a CD (usually about $2 or $3 more) so you can put it right onto your computer. Step 2: Photo Editing Software-there are two types, and you just need one. A Layout Program - examples include Nova Scrapbook Factory Deluxe (highest reviews) and Creating Keepsakes Scrapbook Designer Deluxe (2nd highest reviews) Pros - allows you to easily assemble pre-made graphics, photos, and journaling for quick scrapbook layouts Cons – limited in what you can do: few custom sizes, resolution (300 ppi preferred for quality printing), can't add shadows A Photo Editing Program – examples include Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Elements (you can download a free 30-day trial at adobe.com) and Corel Paint Shop Pro Pros – create custom sizes, create digital elements, upload digital kits, add shadows Cons – high learning curve Step 3: Laying out your pages – create your pictures just like traditional scrapbooking, with background papers, frames, embellishments, etc. Example created using Photoshop Elements 4.0 (digital paper from atomiccupcake.com) 1.Open Program and select Start from Scratch

2. To create a 5x7 greeting card type in 5 for the width (or 7 depending on which direction you would like it to be). Select inches from the drop down box. In the height box type 7. For resolution put in 300 pixels/inch for best print quality. Color mode RGB Color and for the Background Contents Transparent.

3. Open the picture(s) you plan to use and the digital paper you plan to use by going to File…Open…and selecting it from where you have saved the files.

4. Click on middle button in upper right hand corner so all files opened can be seen. Click on the paper you want as your background and drag it to the blank untitled file.

5. Click on the striped file. Next click on the crop tool (a) on the left side of the screen. After dragging the crop tool to your desired size click on the green check mark (b) to crop the file.

6. Repeat step 4 by clicking on the middle button in the upper right hand corner so you can see all of the files again. Drag the striped piece over to the untitled file and place it at the top of the file.

7. Crop the file that you want for the border around the picture. Click and drag it to the untitled file. Place it under the stripes. Drag the picture to the untitled file and place it over the border. From here you can adjust the border by clicking on the corner and moving it. Since it is a solid color you don’t have to worry about distorting it. If you need to adjust the picture hold the shift key at the same time so the picture won’t get distorted.

8. Click on the text tool on the left hand side of the screen [T]. Create a text box under the picture and type in your message.

Step 4: Sharing

• Printing – actual prints for scrapbooks or greeting cards
  

  Costco.com: Scrapbook prints (8x8 $1.49) (12x12 $2.99) Regular prints (4x6 $.17) (5x7 $.39)
  

  WHCC.com (lots of sizes to choose from – cost a bit more than Costco)
  

• Photobooks
  

  Shutterfly.com
  

  Winkflash.com
  

  Blurb.com
  

  MyPublisher.com
  

• Internet
  
• Multi-media: Slideshows on CD
  

  
  

Great websites to visit for additional resources (tutorials and page kits)

twopeasinabucket.com

digitalscrapbookplace.com

shabbyprincess.com

scrapgirls.com

scrapmatters.com

For more hands on experience take a Community class on Photoshop or Photoshop Elements