What’s digital scrapbooking you may ask!
I have heard of paper scrapbooking, but digital scrapbooking? How do you do that? And why? And what do I need to get started?
I have a tutorial for digital scrapbooking with photoshop that I want to show you, but first……let’s talk about what digital scrapbooking really is about. Most of us scrap to preserve memories for the future. You can use your precious photos in a fun and creative way to make digital scrapbook albums, scrapbook pages, calendars and a lot of other digital art projects.
Is digital scrapbooking an expensive hobby?
There are so many different kits and supplies to choose from out there and it is very easy to spend a lot of money when you go bananas in your favorite stores. But, the good thing about digital scrapbooking kits is that you can use every item over and over again.
You can resize and recolor your papers and elements to make the most of your “investment”. So, if you are used to buying paper supplies and glue, I think you will discover that you can stretch your hard earned dollars much longer with digital supplies than with paper scrapbook stuff.
Digital Scrapbooking – A very addictive hobby
I guess a little warning would be appropriate here….! This hobby is very addictive! When you start searching for digital scrapbook kits, you will find a lot of freebies that you can download. Most of us start as freebie hunters and download everything we can find that is free. After a while you will find your favorite style and favorite designers. And you will also discover that quality is worth paying for.
I am definitely not saying that all freebies are bad quality, many respected an experienced designers share freebies regularly. And this is a great way to check out their quality. But you will also find a lot of “wanna be” designers, which quality is not what you really want to use when you create photobooks and other products for printing.
Do a test print at home if you have a decent printer, before you order expensive products with your photo memories. Use digital scrapbooking freebies to find out if digital scrapbooking is a hobby that you like, before you spend your hard earned dollars on bunches of digital scrapbook kits.
Need more reasons?
Do you need more reasons to try digital instead of paper scrapping? Here’s one more….no more mess! Everything is right there on your computer. Many scrappers start with this hobby when they get their first child. And believe me, when you have toddlers to take care of, paper scrapping is not easy to do. You will always have little ones that wants to help mummy with scissors and glue.
Most of the time I scrap on my laptop. That way I can scrap sitting in the sofa, next to my tv-watching husband. All you need to do is say..aha…oh, really…and yes dear once in a while and everyone is happy 
Software for Digital Scrapbooking
To get started you need a computer and some kind of software. There are different kinds of software you can use for digital scrapbooking, I’ll show you some digital scrapbooking software alternatives here. The most important thing is that it can handle layers. Try downloading some free trials to see what kind of software you like best. If you get hooked on this hobby, you will also need a program for organizing your digital scrapbooking files pretty soon. If you purchase Adobe Photoshop CS5 or Photoshop Elements
, then Bridge or the Organizer is included. Many scrappers prefer ACDSee Photo Manager
for organizing. My favorite is Microsoft Expression Media, but this program is getting hard to get since they don’t produce it anymore. But there is still a chance to get a good deal on ebay or Amazon for it.
The best advice I can give is to download free trials and test for yourself before you buy anything!
A Taste of Summer, is the first one I created, and it’s still my favorite. I love the versatile colors and the many ways this digital scrapbooking kit can be used.
