Digital Scrapbooking

[bubba]

Hello all! I usually hang out on the Trip Reports and Budget boards, but I have a question that can only be answered over here! I currently scrap traditionally - paper, scissors and lots of mess! I totally love it, but find I don't have as much time for it as I used to. I'd like to give digital scrapping a try but don't know the first thing about it. All my scrapping friends work traditionally so I have no one local to ask. Plus, I'm not the most technically inclined so it has to be a system that is east to learn and use. Do any of you have recommendations? What do you use?

 

[PrincessNancy96]

I am a traditional scrapper by heart.. I have dabbled in digital scrapbooking a little bit but the program I used is no longer supported..

I have heard good things about Artisan. I know several that use Photoshop.

Hopefully one of our digital scrapbookers will stop by and give you better information.

 

[imthemamahere]

Don't know if you're still looking for advice, but I do some digital scrapping, so I figured I'd try to help out.

It's hard to say there's one "best" software for digital scrapping because some people swear by so many different ones. I happen to use Adobe Elements - and I love it. It's sort of a simplified version of Photoshop, so I can do photo editing and digiscrapping from the same program. Works for me. There is a bit of a learning curve, but not too much of one, I don't think. (Unlike Photoshop, which I've also used - but has just gotten too expensive for me to keep up with.) Elements will likely run you about $89 for the newest version, but older versions are often on sale for cheaper, and they're just as effective. You can usually get a free trial version from Adobe's website, so you can give it a try and see if you like it before you commit to the cost.

Once you have a program like Elements, then it's a matter of finding, or designing, the things you want to use. So a template (basically, a digital version of a page sketch) is a great place to start. There are lots available online for free, plus of course you can buy them on a variety of digital scrapbooking sites. (I even have some I've designed for my own use - if you want those to start with, I'm happy to share - just PM me.) You can also create your own templates, but it's easiest to start with templates that others have created. Basically, a template gives you placeholders (called layers) for all the items you'll use on your page - the patterned paper, the photos, even the embellishments.

You can also download digital paper + embellishments (ribbons, flowers, rub-ons, you name it). Then you just open them up in Elements and drag them to the template and drop them into the section/layer where you want them to go. There's a bit of a learning curve for it, yes, but it's not hard to learn. And pages can come together so quickly once you get the hang of it. I'm happy to help more, if you decide to go with Elements.

Good luck

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

I'm mainly a traditional scrapper. However I do some digital at times. I just use shutterfly. Very easy to use. I usually scrapbook trips, so most trips have way too many photos to do digital. But if I just do a weekend someplace I will do shutterfly as usually it's too little of photos to do traditional. Depending on size I'll either do an 8x8 or an 8 1/2 x 11.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

I'm a "traditional" scrapbooker too. Also, technically challenged. I'm about to give Project Life a try. I don't have much time either and I've fallen so far behind. I think this will be very quick and easy. I've seen it sold on HSN and in Hobby Lobby.

 

[Cajun_country]

I just finished working on a small Shutterfly Book (so happy that Disney is now offering these). But I felt very limited with the embellishments/clipart. I have been interested in learning what digiscrap is, on Shutterfly.
https://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AZOGrhi3Yt2bHFg&cid=SM-PBAPP