Who here uses CM's SBC+ for digital scrapping?

[labdogs42]

I'll have to check into that program. I've got some birthday money to spend, so why not spend it on something to help further my digi-addition? Honestly, I had no idea that there was anything like that out there... thanks for the tip.

You can try it out for free for 30 days. http://store.acdsee.com/store/acd/en_US/DisplayProductDetailsPage/productID.78701300
I did the trial and then near the end, they gave me different discount offers. Also shop around onoine, because different places might be running different deals on the software. You don't have to pay full price!

 

[TinkerCarol]

I am finally up and running with CMC+! I ordered the 12 x 12 disney pages and the Cinderella Kit. What else do I need to purchase? What makes a good Disney Book? Thanks everyone. I am in the playing stage right now. Learning my way around. Also watching the webinars. Very helpful! Hope to get a real page done soon. I also got the free book from Shutterfly and am going to do a book for my daughter and granddaughter "Mommy and Me", so Disney may have to wait a little while. I owe her a book!

 

[labdogs42]

I am finally up and running with CMC+! I ordered the 12 x 12 disney pages and the Cinderella Kit. What else do I need to purchase? What makes a good Disney Book? Thanks everyone. I am in the playing stage right now. Learning my way around. Also watching the webinars. Very helpful! Hope to get a real page done soon. I also got the free book from Shutterfly and am going to do a book for my daughter and granddaughter "Mommy and Me", so Disney may have to wait a little while. I owe her a book!

Feel free to check my blog (link in my siggie) for lots of recommended Disney kits (freebies and for purchase). Cm stuff is good to get started, but there's a LOT of great non-CM stuff out there, too! As for CM stuff, I like the Disney Vacation Power Palette, Mickey, and Cars add-ons as well as the Primary digital Power Palette for Disney pages. Oh yeah, make sure you download all of the free themes from CM's website, too. There are some great page layouts in some of those free ones!

 

[CLS_Dreams]

Yes, your question makes sense. I did the pages as a StoryBook in SBC+. I saved each one as a .jpg as I finished the page. I also did my covers as "pages" in the book and saved those as .jpgs. I used one of Shutterfly's "papers" for the spine background. I ran out of patience for figuring out how to make my own spine!! Hope that helps!

I am new to Shutterfly and don't understand the process of bringing in pages created through SBC+. Can you explain how to save your finished pages as .jpg files? And then how to upload the .jpg files and put them into the photobook? Also, if anyone ever figures out how to make your own book spine, please enlighten us.
Thanks!

 

[poohbear158]

I just bought the software this past weekend and I'm absolutely loving it. I did 2 pages the day after I purchased it. It's very user friendly.

 

[Krisi616]

So I haven't read EVERY post here but I use DIS (Digital Image Suite) I would love to have the CM Disney stuff -- in order to use that I would need to have SBC+ and then save each thing to use it in my imaging program?

 

[poohbear158]

Does anyone know how to use templates other than the ones purchased from Creative Memories?

 

[DisneyCruiser2008]

Does anyone know how to use templates other than the ones purchased from Creative Memories?

Hi there --- you can use templates if they have the individual .png files with them. (You can't use the ones that just have the .psd files because those are for photoshop.) You download the template with the .png files and bring the pngs into the program just like other elements, then you can "fill" the elements, paper, etc. with your stuff.... If I find a template I like, I usually "make" it in a storybook and save it, and then make a copy of that template when I want to use it so I always have my original template to reuse in SBC+... that's probably clear as mud. LOL!

Here's the link to the current Tuesday Template Challenge at ScrapMatters so you can give it a try if you want.... they are really good about including the .png files over there so we can all play along.... http://scrapmatters.com/forums/showthread.php?t=649

 

[kellig]

Thanks for that info Christy! I was curious about that myself! Y'all are always such a wealth of knowledge!

 

[poohbear158]

Now I get it... thanks so much.

Hi there --- you can use templates if they have the individual .png files with them. (You can't use the ones that just have the .psd files because those are for photoshop.) You download the template with the .png files and bring the pngs into the program just like other elements, then you can "fill" the elements, paper, etc. with your stuff.... If I find a template I like, I usually "make" it in a storybook and save it, and then make a copy of that template when I want to use it so I always have my original template to reuse in SBC+... that's probably clear as mud. LOL!

Here's the link to the current Tuesday Template Challenge at ScrapMatters so you can give it a try if you want.... they are really good about including the .png files over there so we can all play along.... http://scrapmatters.com/forums/showthread.php?t=649

 

[raestr]

Has anyone used any of these kits?

Glenda Ketchum (for purchase): http://www.digitalscrapbookpages.com... =20a&page=13 (look for the "Most Wonderful Place on Earth" Kits). I can't figure out how to find the kits with the 'search' button, so I had to look through ALL of the kits.

Anyway, they look really cute, but they all appear to be in 8X8 format. Can you use 8X8 items in 12X12 format, maybe just overlapping the papers? Can you still use the embellishments? I am new to digital scrapping, so I may not be asking the right questions. Hopefully, I can order the Click It I collection soon.

Also, if you purchase two SBC+, one for your laptop and one for your desktop, can you use the CM digital kits on both computers without buying two of everything?

Christy, I really love your templates! Hopefully, I can figure out how to use them.

Thanks,
Rae

 

[quiltymom]

Hi there --- you can use templates if they have the individual .png files with them. (You can't use the ones that just have the .psd files because those are for photoshop.) You download the template with the .png files and bring the pngs into the program just like other elements, then you can "fill" the elements, paper, etc. with your stuff.... If I find a template I like, I usually "make" it in a storybook and save it, and then make a copy of that template when I want to use it so I always have my original template to reuse in SBC+... that's probably clear as mud. LOL!

Now, it may be my computer, but what I have also found is that if I use all of the separate .png files as they are, it uses up all of the memory for that particular page. Strange, but true.

So now I save the .png files as an embellishment, open a blank page, and bring up one .png file at a time, doing this: I go to "tools" and use the magic wand to highlight the item, copy it, then delete the original .png file. That way it gets rid of the blank "background" and frees up more space. It also leaves the element just as it was in the .png file, so you don't have to mess around with repositioning it on the page. You will also need to go to place a "photo" blank where photos are needed.

Then I save the whole page. Like Christy, I also have one "book" named Templates that will import into whichever book I'm working on. That way I don't mistakenly use a template for a page.

Does this make sense? Let me know...

 

[DisneyCruiser2008]

Now, it may be my computer, but what I have also found is that if I use all of the separate .png files as they are, it uses up all of the memory for that particular page. Strange, but true.

So now I save the .png files as an embellishment, open a blank page, and bring up one .png file at a time, doing this: I go to "tools" and use the magic wand to highlight the item, copy it, then delete the original .png file. That way it gets rid of the blank "background" and frees up more space. It also leaves the element just as it was in the .png file, so you don't have to mess around with repositioning it on the page. You will also need to go to place a "photo" blank where photos are needed.

Then I save the whole page. Like Christy, I also have one "book" named Templates that will import into whichever book I'm working on. That way I don't mistakenly use a template for a page.

Does this make sense? Let me know...

Oh yes! I am glad you brought this up... I have had this problem too with *some templates* -- the ones with lots of layers.... so I kind of do the same thing as you described for the more complex templates.... After I bring the pngs in , I just use the rectangle tool and crop close to the element and it gets rid of the excess part of the layer without messing up the positioning... (I never thought of the magic wand -- it hates me -- but I might try that next time!) Honestly, I love templates, but sometimes I just find it easier to "recreate" the template myself rather than mess with the .pngs.... unless it's a really elaborate one....

Also in regard to memory, I sometimes find that I have to shut down SBC+ and then restart it.... Sometimes when I have been working in the program for a long time, I will get a GDI something or other memory error... usually if I shut down SBC+ and restart, I am fine. I need to e-mail CM about it... I feel like it's a little glitch in their program.... It most commonly happens when I am working with lots of layers on a single page.... Although when I am doing speed scaps and stuff at SM, some of the photoshop users complain of similar issues, so it may just be a fact of life with these kinds of programs.... I have a brand new laptop with lots of memory and a big hard drive, so I don't think it's my computer....

 

[DisneyCruiser2008]

Has anyone used any of these kits?

Glenda Ketchum (for purchase): http://www.digitalscrapbookpages.com... =20a&page=13 (look for the "Most Wonderful Place on Earth" Kits). I can't figure out how to find the kits with the 'search' button, so I had to look through ALL of the kits.

Anyway, they look really cute, but they all appear to be in 8X8 format. Can you use 8X8 items in 12X12 format, maybe just overlapping the papers? Can you still use the embellishments? I am new to digital scrapping, so I may not be asking the right questions. Hopefully, I can order the Click It I collection soon.

Also, if you purchase two SBC+, one for your laptop and one for your desktop, can you use the CM digital kits on both computers without buying two of everything?

Christy, I really love your templates! Hopefully, I can figure out how to use them.

Thanks,
Rae

Hi there -- lots of us have used the kits by Glenda Ketchum... her stuff is really cute... You can make any digital element any size you'd like... you just drag it out or shrink it up to the size you want..... Most kits at the more established digi scrap sites will be in 300 dpi which is a high resolution and will work fine for 12 x12 pages.

Unfortunately, you can only use the SBC+ kits on one computer at a time. CM will deactivate and then reactivate a code for you if you want to change computers, but you can't work on two simultaneously. BUT -- you can use other products on two computers as long as they are for your personal use only... so there still may be a benefit to having SBC+ on two computers... does that make sense?

We're happy to answer any more questions, so ask away.

 

[quiltymom]

Also in regard to memory, I sometimes find that I have to shut down SBC+ and then restart it.... Sometimes when I have been working in the program for a long time, I will get a GDI something or other memory error... usually if I shut down SBC+ and restart, I am fine. I need to e-mail CM about it... I feel like it's a little glitch in their program.... It most commonly happens when I am working with lots of layers on a single page.... Although when I am doing speed scaps and stuff at SM, some of the photoshop users complain of similar issues, so it may just be a fact of life with these kinds of programs.... I have a brand new laptop with lots of memory and a big hard drive, so I don't think it's my computer....

I did contact CM about this. If I remember correctly, they said that every time you save, it saves the entire file, stacking them up. So it does make sense that shutting down the system would clear that out. It's a pain, but the things we'll do in order to keep working, huh?

 

[DisneyCruiser2008]

I did contact CM about this. If I remember correctly, they said that every time you save, it saves the entire file, stacking them up. So it does make sense that shutting down the system would clear that out. It's a pain, but the things we'll do in order to keep working, huh?

Oh - good -- then I won't bother contacting them...

 

[DisneyCruiser2008]

Ok -- so I have been practicing some of the "fancy" techniques that I have been afraid to try in SBC+.... Thought it would be fun to share some of the techniques here.... There's probably more than one way to do this stuff... I am just using trial and error to figure it out....

I tried an extraction... but I couldn't do it with the magic wand (it hates me -- I have said that before -- right??? ), so I just zoomed in to about 500% and did it with the rectangle and circle tools... Then to make the edges a little less harsh looking, I went into Tools-More- Edge Blue and blurred the edges just a little bit. I don't know if there is a better way??? I know Disneybaby has done some great extractions....

I also tried selective coloring... For that, I made two copies of the same photo and put them right on top of each other. I turned the top one b/w and then zoomed in and cut out the bow with the cutter tools so that the color bow underneath came through. Then I grouped the photos and flattened them so I could shadow it, etc.

Tonight for the speed scrap at SM, I tried to do photo tinting... for that I made two copies of the photo, put them on top of each other, made the top copy b/w and then changed the opacity down to like 50%ish so that some of the color would show through. Then, I actually went in with the circle cutter and cut out DDs eyes so that the "true" blue color from the color photo on the back would come through... Then I grouped the pics and flattened them so I could shadow, etc....

Any thoughts about better, more efficient ways to do this stuff? Or other techniques? I have seen some pretty blended LOs around... I haven't played with that much... I guess you just change up opacity on papers and pics to blend everything together.... I think its cool to demonstrate that you can do these kinds of fancy smancy techniques in little 'ol SBC+. When I first bought the program, I thought I would "outgrow" it, but there are very few things that I have found that I can't do in SBC+.

 

[quiltymom]

I'm bummed that I didn't get to do the speed scrap last night! And I have been wondering the same as you, how to do coloring, blending, etc. on SBC+. The way you described is what I would do, or maybe changing the tint, intensity, etc., of the photo, too. It's a good question to ask CM about for their next update, which will hopefully be soon!

 

[kellig]

Christy - You did a GREAT job with those advanced techniques! I can't wait to dig in and try those!

I have finally gotten several layouts done and will try to post some over the weekend. I appreciate everyone's help getting started and can't wait to join in!

 

[DisneyCruiser2008]

Christy - You did a GREAT job with those advanced techniques! I can't wait to dig in and try those!

I have finally gotten several layouts done and will try to post some over the weekend. I appreciate everyone's help getting started and can't wait to join in!

Oh YAY!! I am so excited for you. Can't wait for you to join in.