What is Digital Scrapbooking and How Do You Get Started?
Lots of good information here. Once I totally understand the digital aspects, I'd like to be able to create pages…
What is digital scrapbooking? Digital Scrapbooking is simply creating a scrapbook layout on the computer. You use paper and elements that are created digitally using graphic design software.
Below are answers to some of the common questions I receive about digital scrapbooking.
What do I need to start creating digital scrapbook layouts?
The biggest investment would be the computer, printer (if you choose to print your layouts yourself) and the software (see next question). You can purchase digital scrapbooking kits, however, you can use a kit over and over again to create many layouts. With paper scrapbooking, once you use something, it is gone.
What software should I purchase?
There are many different programs available starting from $29 to over $500. If you are just starting out, I recommend you start with a dedicated scrapbooking program because the software will come with some digital kits to give you a head start. A few examples are:
There are several online options which usually include a few digital kits. Often these are to create photobooks or other printed items. A few examples are:
If you would like complete control over your layouts and prefer to either make your own elements or purchase digital scrapbooking kits from online stores, then the graphic design programs are what you want. The learning curve is the greatest on these, but will give you the most flexibility in creating your layouts.
- Photoshop
- Photoshop Elements (what I use)
- Paint Shop Pro
- iPhoto (mac only)
What do I do with my layouts after I create them?
- Print at home in various sizes (8×8, 12×12, 8.5×10, etc) and put them into regular scrapbooks.
- Upload them to a professional printing company (Kodak, Shutterfly, etc) and create a photobook.
- Create slideshows and burn it to a CD or DVD.
- Upload them to photo sharing sites (Flickr, Picasa, Photobucket) to share with your friends and family.
What are the advantages of digital scrapbooking over paper scrapbooking?
- Digital scrapbooking is not as messy. It is very hard to scrapbook with little children around because they tend to get into your paper and scissors. You can easily save a layout before it is done and go back to it at a later date.
- The digital scrapbooking kits are purchased once and can be used again and again (by the same person).
- It is much easier to create a page for several people. I have 4 kids and every Christmas, I create one digital layout. Then I put different pictures into 4 different layouts. The layout for my oldest son will have pictures of him in them and I do the same for each of my kids. That way they each have a more personalized layout for their own book.
- A layout can be printed out or burned to CD/DVD as many times as you would like. It is a lot easier to share with your friends and family. I have created slideshows of my layouts throughout the year and sent the slideshow out as my Holiday card.
If you have any further questions, please leave them in the comments below and I will update this post with those answers. In the next few months, I will go into more detail about the different programs, where to get the digital scrapbooking kits and how to begin digital scrapbooking.
If you would like to see a few more examples of some layouts I have created and uploaded, check my layout gallery at NDISB.
Are you a scrapbooker? Paper or Digital?
Credits for scrapbook page: Techno Geek by MIss Mint (background), Fonts/Alphas: , Neutral Date Me kit by Suzy Q Scraps (5 in title & numbers), Fonts are Cooper Black, Chalkduster, CK Ali’s Hand Official, A Whole Year, January kit alpha by Dani Alencar (Geek & glitter), 5 crazy daisy flowers by Melissa Bennet
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Lots of good information here. Once I totally understand the digital aspects, I’d like to be able to create pages and then have them printed somewhere else and then mailed to me or I can pick them up. I don’t want to use all that ink in my printer or make my printer do all that color work. I guess it’s probably not the best printer. So what’s the best way to “order” my printing?
I see digi cardstock to purchase, what is the difference between digi card stock and digi papers
Card stock is the plain papers in one color with no patterns. The Digi papers are the pretty papers that look like they were cut from wallpaper often. They have patterns or words or designs on them.
To Sonia Barton, I have friends who digital scrapbook and they bring their computers to our retreats and gatherings and scrap just like the rest of us!
After you make your layout, can you save it onto a memory stick (portable flashdrive) instead of a cd?
Yes, Kelli, you can save to a portable flash drive. You can save to pretty much anything that you can connect to you computer or upload.
Nice post – perfectly timed read for me. I have seen some beautiful layouts on Pinterest that use heritage family photographs. I have scanned hundreds of photos from 1980s and earlier with an iPad and Pic Scanner app, but never tried digital scrapbooking before. This article fills in a lot of missing gaps!
Hi–Must I purchase a software to get sheets of dig. paper I see on computer on sites? It is said I first purchase a peg so how does that work. Thank you for an answer.
Sandra
You don’t need software to purchase digital paper, but you will need a way to open the paper once you have purchased and downloaded the paper. If you are going to make digital scrapbook layouts, I suggest you purchase something like Photoshop Elements (or similar) to create the layouts.
I have looked all over for a tutorial on how to USE a digi kit. I have a couple of kits and embellies d/l but I can’t figure out how to gget the individual papers etc out of the kit.. I couldn’t find a specific tutorial on Youtube or in any of the dig web sites I have visited.
Do you have one?
Ok, I might be a dummy b/c I am just now kind of understanding this…
I’ve done traditional scrapbooking for years and am hesistant to switch. You post helped but I still have questions. You mentioned using iphoto which I have. How do you use it to make layouts- not sure how that fits? I think I get that you make the layouts in the software that you purchase but then what do you do in iphoto? Is that just how you are able to print them? Do they just save as a jpeg image? Sorry for so many questions just not super clear how this works when I still want to be able to print the layouts out. Thanks!
I use iPhoto mostly to organize my photos, although I don’t use it anymore. iPhoto has some templates when you are in the “make” section of iPhoto. Yes, I also print my layouts from iPhoto because I find that it talks to my printer better than any other photo software. Does that answer your questions? No problem on asking questions. That’s why I’m here!! 😀
Jenna – Off hand I do not know of any resources for making your own kits, but that would be an awesome idea for a post. I’ll research it and see what I can find.
Before you can begin digital scrapbooking, you must first choose a photo editing/digital scrapbooking program to use.
What a wonderful resource. I wish I would have ran into it about a year ago when I decided I wanted to give Digital Scrapbooking a try. It would have saved me some hunting. I think I’m beginning to like Digital more the conventional. My only problem would be no scrapbooking group, or some could be started I guess it would be a BYO Laptop.
Not sure where you live, but there is a digital scrapbooking weekend in North Carolina in May. I am going to be speaking about digital tools via Skype and teaching 2 classes on scrapping on your iPhone/iPad and hybrid scrapping.
What a wonderful resource. I wish I would have ran into it about a year ago when I decided I wanted to give Digital Scrapbooking a try. It would have saved me some hunting. I think I'm beginning to like Digital more the conventional. My only problem would be no scrapbooking group, or some could be started I guess it would be a BYO Laptop.
Not sure where you live, but there is a digital scrapbooking weekend in North Carolina in May. I am going to be speaking about digital tools via Skype and teaching 2 classes on scrapping on your iPhone/iPad and hybrid scrapping.