Hey there! Helen here to chat a little about digital scrapbooking. This post was supposed to be a tip or a tutorial but after days of trying to figure out what tip or tut to post I am throwing in the towel. However, I am awaiting the arrival of my new Photoshop CS5 Extended program as well as a book, Photoshop CS5 For Dummies. I have a feeling I will have lots to share with you as I learn the program.
I thought we could talk about why we chose to go digital in our scrapbooking hobby. For me personally, it was a hard choice to make....going digital. I should probably use the word "scary" vs. "hard". I could not wrap my brain around the whole concept of scrapbooking on my computer. Literally, I had NO clue about the any of it. Fear and lack of knowledge can keep you from trying new things all the time.
A year or so of pondering "digital" went by when one day I was in Archiver's browsing the latest and greatest tools, stamps, ribbons, etc. I stopped at the shelf of magazines and was thumbing through them when I saw one titled "Digi-Scrapping 101". I was intrigued to say the least. I soon realized this was just what I needed to make the leap into digital. It was a magazine with step by step instructions on loading the provided 30 day free trial of Photoshop Elements and creating your very first page. I mean, it was very detailed and precise, but that was what I needed. The CD with the trial offer for PSE also included all the digital papers, photos & elements needed to create the pages they walked you through. My favorite part was how they shared many websites where you could go and buy digital scrapbooking kits. It even explained how to make your purchase, download & unzip your new files.
That was about four years ago and I have never looked back. A few hours after installing PSE and working my way through the tutorials provided in that magazine I had a basic knowledge of what it was all about. From there I slowly honed my skills with the program by finding other online tutorials or just clicking on things within the program to see what it did.
My reason for going digital was merely curiosity but my reasons for staying digital are many!
1. It is SO easy (once you learn the basics of your program).
2. I can scrap on my laptop from my recliner!
3. No mess to clean up unless I spill the snack I am munching on as I create my page.
4. Much less expensive when you compare the average price of a digital kit ($4-$7) and the fact you can use digi papers, elements, alphas over and over and over again. Granted, you have printing costs & the cost of your program but seriously, overall, it is less expensive.
5. It used to take me hours & hours to do one page some days but with digi, it takes me on average, an hour to create a layout.
6. Scrapbooking forums & new friends!!! This is something I never even imagined was out there! I have made so many amazing friends by getting in to the forums and trying out for creative teams. I even met our very own eLIZabeth last year IRL while vacationing very near where she lives! When I think about all the other ladies I am going to meet in a few short weeks out in Vegas....I just want to squeal!
I am not saying I don't still enjoy going to my scrapbook room and getting out the scissors, glue & all my "touchable" ellies to create a cute card now & then. However, I am a digi-girl through & through now. I love the digi community. I love the designers I work for. I will never stop digital scrapbooking of my own free will.
So, tell me, why did YOU start digital scrapbooking? I would love to hear your experience. Leave a comment and share your story :)
xoxo,
Helen
4 comments
I started two and a half years ago, I think I googled digital scrapbooking one day when I didn't want to be bothered with getting all my supplies out and began collecting digital freebies to scrap with. I already owned PSE and had been using it to alter photos and journalling for paper scrapping. Being a bit of a software junkie it was a natural progression and I quickly upgraded to CS4 and gave away not only all my paper supplies, but my knitting, crochet, folk art, sewing and jewellery making!! Most of those original freebies have been deleted to make way for purchased kits and templates. There's so many things I love about digital scrapbooking, but being able to start and stop all day long if I have to with the kids is great, and the dining table not being covered with supplies is great too.
I'm mostly self taught, so I've still got alot to learn. I'd love to join a CT one day when I know I've got enough time to be dependable (4 year old and 6 month old kids!!) but for now I'm enjoying participating in the digiscrap community and feeling a part of it.
I was actually looking for some tips and stuff on how to correct digital photographs when I stumbled onto a few amazing blogs with tutorials on PS and that were also doing digi-scrapbooking. It snowballed from there and a new world opened. I quickly switched to looking for info on digi-scrap and never looked back. :)
Love it, I only wish I could spend more time doing it.
I was frustrated with paper scrapping. I didn't like the mess, and it took me forever to do a page. Computer stuff has always come pretty easy to me, and I started digital scrapbooking before I even knew that's what I was doing (back in 2004). Just like going from a film camera to a digital camera, going from paper scrapping to digital scrapping was a natural progression for me. It just didn't make sense to keep doing it on paper when I could do it all on the computer. :)
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