 Getting
Started: The Tools
When
you first start digital scrapbooking it can be a bit overwhelming,
especially if you've never used an image editing program before. But
there are so many resources out there, tutorials and message boards
that can help you get over any bump and answer your questions. So hang
in there and you'll
get the hang of it in no time! Oh and always remember: practice makes
perfect. We all get better and better every time we make a page!
So you think you'd like to try? First, you'll need: 1- Pictures:
Normally, digital scrapbookers use pictures in digital format. For that
you can use your
digital camera or a scanner. Make sure to use only the original high
resolution images, not ones you have resized to send via email to
friends and family. If you don't have a digital camera or scanner you
could always design the
pages, print them and then paste your real (film) photos on top.
2- Image
Editing Program:
You'll also need a good complete image editing program. Those can be
expensive but they will be used over and over again. You can get a good
program for under 100$ but please don't spend your money on programs
such as Scrapbook Factory Deluxe for your digital scrapbooking. Those
are useful for other projects
but are not powerful enough to handle the large files digital
scrapbookers use. They are also not complete enough and don't have the
tools you need to create great looking pages.
These are the ones I recommend.
You can get a free trial for each one
by clicking the links below. Try them and I'm sure you'll find one you
like that
is in your budget.
Paint Shop Pro X Photoshop CS2 Photoshop Elements 4.0 Digital Image 3- Digital
Goodies: These
are all the things you'll use to decorate your pages. There are
countless products out there and you will definitely find some that
suit your scrapbooking style. They are all created at a very high
resolution (300 DPI) so that you can have great prints of your layouts.
Just about everything you would use in the paper world, you can find in
the digital. Items such as beautiful papers (designed to print at 12x12
inches), ribbons, stickers, brads, staples, tags etc... can be found at
many websites.
I have many many completely free digital scrapbooking goodies here on this site, both in the FREEBIES section of the Main Page and in the FREE SCRAPS section of the Shoppe. Feel free to grab them and start playing! When you're ready for more I have quite a large selection of fun, high quality designs in the Shoppe (and right now everything is on sale indefinitely at 50% OFF!). I also have a list of my absolute favorite places to shop at right here in the LINKS section. 4- Printing: A
question I see often is ''What do I do with these layouts?''. The first
thing I suggest is to create backups of your pages. Put them in CDs!
Also, just like paper scrapping you can put your printed pages in
special albums for safekeeping. You have many options when it comes to
printing. I personally scrap at 8.5x11 (inches) and I love being able
to print them at home on my inexpensive Canon printer on high quality
matte photo paper. I love the instant gratification, plus it's much
easier on my budget! If you prefer a square format, you can create your
pages at 8x8, print on 8.5x11 paper and trim. There are some really
cute albums out there and that size is very popular. There are large
format printers out there too that will let you print 12x12 pages,
which is a very common size for scrappers. Or you have the option of
having your pages printed at a photo lab somewhere, or even send them
out online to printing services. Of course, these cost more.
Getting Started: The Community Digital
scrapbooking is a very social hobby.
Some of
the best things about it is how easily you can share your layouts with
fellow digi scrappers and all the help and discussions you can have on
all sorts of scrapping related topics.
1- Tutorials: There are several tutorials available for the many programs used for digital scrapbooking. Simply go to Google.com and type in your program and what you'd like to learn to do! Tutorials can be really basic or advanced and I've always been able to find anything! That is how I learned everything I know about graphic design. Here are my 5 favorite websites for tutorials: Digi Scrap Designer (tons of Photoshop Tutorials) DigiScrapping Tutorials (a Brand new site! Various Programs) http://www.escrappers.com/ (Photoshop Tutorials) http://www.psplinks.com/ (Paint Shop Pro Tutorials) Digital Scrapbook Place (Beginner Tutorials, Various Programs) I use Photoshop and have written a tutorial for 3Scrapateers.com on how to do your first page (layout) in that program. Check it out: Creating a layout in Photoshop 2- Online Galleries: Just about every
Digital Scrapbooking website out there has a gallery.
These are incredibly useful and fun! You can find inspiration and get
to have feedback on your pages. I also love browsing the galleries to
find all sorts of products (I love to shop for digi scrapping goodies).
Most people list the ''credits'' under each layout and you can then go
find the items that you like and use them yourself.
Some favorites here: Digi Shop Talk Gallery 3Scrapateers Gallery 2Peas in a Bucket Digital Gallery Digital Scrapbook Place Gallery Scrapbook-Bytes Gallery The Digi Chick Gallery ScrapArtist Gallery Designer Digitals Gallery 3- Message Boards: Maybe
you have a
specific question, or maybe
you
just like to chat about scrapping and other topics. That's
when you hit the message boards (also known as Forums). My
favorite place to hang out is Digi Shop Talk! It's by far the coolest
place to be and a central point in the digital scrapbooking community.
 4- Blogs: Blogs are
definitely very popular these days. They are basically online
journals where people post all sorts of interesting things, comment on
their lives, share pictures etc... In the digi scrapping world
designers often use Blogs to share their thoughts, post previews of
their latest works and
sometimes offer freebies too. They're definitely fun to read!
There
are also some wonderful magazines (in print and online) which are
dedicated to digital scrapbooking. Here are a few:Don't know where to find these fun blogs? Check out this new list!  If you'd like to have you're own Blog, here are 2 places to get your started: TypePad Blogger 5- Inspiration: Galleries are a great place to find inspiration but there are also websites that offer ''sketches''. They are so userful when I have scrapper's block! Scrap Maps is my favorite place to go. Bree has done an amazing job with it! Click here to visit:  Digital Scrapbooking Magazine Digital Scrapbooking by Simple Scrapbooks Digital Memories Digital Artist Magazine 6- Other Stuff: Want to know
what's happening in the digital scrapbooking world? Bree
has created a wonderful website that lists all sorts of important
information like magazine calls, team calls, sales, contests,
challenges, crops etc. Check out her newest website:
 More Sites I Love:  Digital Paper Tearing - Very cool paper tears for your pages! Drop Shadow Actions - A must! Good drop shadows are so important!! EZ Actions by PhotoBlast - Very neat way to alter the look of your photos! Ok so Neopets isn't at all related to digital scrapbooking...but it's oh so fun:  |
© 2008 Simply Clean Digi Scraps by Melany Violette.