How to start digital scrapbooking
By Jaime Bohler Smith
Start by downloading the Digital Scrapbooking Manual by The Daily Digi.
It is
a good read, but a lot of the links are broken, so I’m putting some new ones here.
Here’s a great post on terms and such in the digiscrap
world, if you already use Photoshop or Photoshop Elements they will be familiar to you.
And here is a video that does something similar, but in
video form by Lain Ehmann: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac3RCFpAA8Q
Here is a great ‘getting
started’ blog series:
If you would feel better taking a quick class here are some options.
Free 15-minute Jessica Sprague class:
Paid ‘Watch Me Scrap’ class (I’ve heard it’s
fantastic):
Things to Scrap
With
In addition to the how to you will need to things to scrap
with. There are a few main stores in digiland that I frequent. They are:
Sweet Shoppe Designs
Sweet Shoppe Designs
At Sweet Shoppe they have a free category. I’d recommend
creating an account and downloading some of the free kits in this
section so you have a few papers and elements to work with as you learn.
There is also a free section at The Lilypad (free) and Pixels and Company (free).
Take a look around and see which styles appeal to you – they are all different!
I’m partial to Sweet Shoppe at the moment for all things
digi, but Scrap Orchard used to be my home until they made a big change in the
gallery. I love the stuff at the Lilypad – I
just bought the memory pockets subscription. I go back and forth A LOT between the stores and styles.
How To
For the How To in tutorials, Sweet Shoppe has a GREAT
tutorial section here.
Some highlights are below.
What is Digiscrapping? http://www.sweetshoppedesigns.com/tutorials/index.php/2011/12/getting-started-what-is-digiscrapping/
Getting Started: Making Your First Layout http://www.sweetshoppedesigns.com/tutorials/index.php/2011/12/getting-started-making-your-first-layout/
Getting Started: Using Templates http://www.sweetshoppedesigns.com/tutorials/index.php/2011/12/using-templates/
Common mistakes of new scrappers http://www.sweetshoppedesigns.com/tutorials/index.php/2011/12/getting-started-common-mistakes-of-new-scrappers/
What makes it
different?
The number one way to make digital scrapbooking look like ‘real’
pages is with drop shadows. There
are hundreds of articles on it, free styles, expensive styles and make your own
shadows. Here are some resources specific to shadowing in photoshop.
Start Here! Free
shadow set and tutorial by Megan Turnidge
Sweet Shoppe Tutorials on Shadowing: http://www.sweetshoppedesigns.com/tutorials/index.php/category/shadowing/
Tips on Great Shadows: https://thedailydigi.com/drop-shadows-tutorials
Paid shadow styles I use:
Rock
the Shadows by Tracie Stroud (scrap orchard)
Toolbox:
Shadows V1 by Gennifer Bursett (pixels and company)
Get
Real Drop Shadows by Jenn Barrette (Sweet Shoppe)
Next steps
Go make a page! I scrap square 12x12 and print either 12x12
(for my pocket pages) or 8x8 for everything else. For 2015 I’m going to do a
photobook of all my layouts 10x10 at the end of the year in a hard cover book. As you
can see it can be anything you want it to be! I love it, I’m a computer nerd,
and I love being on the computer so it works for me.
I do share a lot of my layouts online at the stores (they
all have rules) but one I need to visit more is Get It Scrapped. They gallery
there is ‘open’ which means you can post any pages. I also post to pinterest
and a pinterest like place just for digital scrapbooking called ScrapStacks.
You don’t have to share, but it’s nice to get people’s comments on your pages
but I also know some people freak out about putting pictures on the internet. I
try not to upload anything with my address or city, but I’m also not too
worried about it.
For printing individual layouts and pocket scrapbooking cards I use Persnickity Prints. They specialize in
printing digital scrapbook layouts and all kinds of Project Life stuff.
Speaking of Project Life, pocket style scrapbooking is a new
favorite of mine. Here’s a quick overview on Project Life, it similar to regular digiscrapping but in a grid format. I do it digitally using the stuff from the stores mentioned above and items from Digital Project Life. They
also have an app and I’ve posted a few pages from that on my Instagram.
I'd be remiss not to share a few favorite designers!
For templates (single photo, clustery types): Two Tiny Turtles
For templates (collage style): Scrapping with Liz and Traci Reed's 365 Unscripted Stitched Grids
What else can I tell you? J
