Digital Scrappin' 101

How do you get started in digital scrapbooking? And what do you do to get your completed layout from screen to album? I've had inquiries like these a time or two, so I thought I'd formally address this in--what else--a blog post.

First, a little background info about me...I started scrapbooking traditionally (i.e., paper, scissors, glue stick) when Grace was about 6 months old. It was a painfully slow process for several reasons, namely:

1. Grace was only 6 months old. :)
2. I am extremely terribly immensely remarkably quite indecisive.

#1 meant that I had very little time to spend on scrapbooking.

#2 meant that I spent most of that precious time trying to decide on the perfect placement of every photo & embellishment.

In this case, 1 + 2 = very few completed layouts. Not that any of this stopped me from snapping 1000's of photos...literally.

Fast forward to Christmas 2003...or, as I like to call it: If You Give a Mom a Digital Camera. We treated ourselves to our very first digital camera. Digital camera=photos on computer. This led to "I'm printing them out anyway, so why don't I add a little here & a little there." And then, "Oh...what's this crazy new thing called digital scrapbooking all about?" Once I dipped my toes in the water, I quickly decided (yep, quickly) to jump in with both feet. And I haven't looked back since. Not once. Why? Here's another handy list:

1. Set-up & clean-up takes only as long as opening & closing my laptop.
2. No sharp objects lying about tempting those little munchkins.
3. No unfinished layouts lying about either that the aforementioned munchkins might decide to "help" with.
4. If I don't have that perfect shade of pink paper to coordinate with my dd's outfit in the photo, no problem. I can shop online at midnight or make it myself.
5. Remember that problem I have with indecisiveness? Let's just say that CTRL-Z (undo) is my best friend.
   
6. Digital layouts are easy to share. I can print multiple copies...one for Nana, one for Mamaw, and one for me. Plus, I can e-mail them to Matthew at work, my sister in Memphis, Kristi & Keith in Texas (you get the idea) or share them on my blog. :)

So...what kind of software should you choose? First, think about how much time you want to invest in learning a new program. {I hear all the homeschoolers out there laughing maniacally at this statement. Time? For me? To learn something new?} There are many software choices that range from super easy drag-and-drop, print-and-done types to the high learning-curve graphics-editing behemoth that is Adobe Photoshop CS3. I personally use CS3's little brother Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0. The learning curve is not quite as high as CS3...and neither is the price.

Now...how do you actually go about creating your first layout? Instead of reinventing the wheel by giving you all the nitty-gritty details of my workflow, I'll point you in the direction of some great tutorials:

• The Shabby Shoppe ~ Good "how to create your first layout" tutorials for CS2/CS3/PSE, including a *video* tutorial.
• Two Peas in a Bucket ~ Another good "how to get started" tutorial.
• Scrapbook Bytes ~ Even more tutorials.

Next...free digital kits (paper, embellishments & the like) to get you hooked started:

• Shabby Princess ~ The *free* side of The Shabby Shoppe.
• Two Peas in a Bucket ~ Freebies.

Plus...some good layout galleries for inspiration:

• Scrapbook Bytes
• Two Peas in a Bucket
• Digi Shop Talk

And...now that you've become a digi-addict...some great places to shop:

• Designer Digitals
• ScrapArtist
• Shabby Miss Jenn
• The Shabby Shoppe
• Jen Wilson Designs
• Heather Ann Designs
• Digital Design Essentials

Whew! Now on to printing. I like convenience. That means I print everything at home on my Epson Stylus Photo R220 printer using primarily either Epson Matte Paper Heavyweight or Epson Semigloss Scrapbook Paper. I scrap square sizes (8.5x8.5; 8x8; 6x6) & rectangular sizes (8.5x11 or 11x8.5). Still want to scrap 12x12? Check out Costco's photo center, if you have one nearby. And while I did start out scrapping 12x12, I really don't miss it now. Plus, the smaller sizes are easier for the kiddos to hold while looking through them. And you don't have to make them wear protective gloves & handle the scrapbook like it's a fine piece of your great-grandmother's china because it's the only copy you have. While re-printing a damaged layout might be inconvenient, it's definitely not disastrous.

So, that's my *summary* of the hows & whys of digital scrapbooking. Congratulations! You made it to the end of this rather lengthy post. For that, I'll give you my best Paul Harvey impression. Remember If You Give a Mom a Digital Camera? And now, for the rest of the story...

When we bought our first digital camera, we went with a middle-of-the-road Canon PowerShot (point & shoot) because "we didn't need anything too big or fancy." Famous last words. Since then I've upgraded...twice.

Happy scrappin'!!!