What is Digital Scrapbooking?

I've been waxing philosophical after listening to a few of the Paperclipping Digi Show podcasts (which by the way I highly recommend) I decided to start listening at the beginning. The topic for the show was "What is Digital Scrapbooking Anyway?" So I've been thinking, what is digital scrapbooking? I consider myself a digital scrapbooker but haven't really thought about the definition of it, why I do it, etc. (Oh and on a side note, while discussing definitions - its funny that my spell check doesn't recognize scrapbooking as a word :) )

To me, digital scrapbooking is just scrapbooking. It is my way to preserve my memories. To me the "how" is less important than the actual memory keeping. For clarity's sake though, and since we hear the term a lot, perhaps the does need to be a definition. Here's what I've come up with.

Traditional Scrapbooking - using printed photos and physically journaling (hand written, rub-ons, stickers) along with embellishments and memorabilia to create a memory album.

Hybrid - Using the computer to either create some elements/pages and printing that to layer on pages with other more traditional supplies.

page from a mini album. Used traditional paper, printed images and
elements. Typed out text and printed out.

Digital Scrapbooking - Using the computer throughout to create scrapbook pages including photo prossessing and using digital elements, fonts, pages, etc.

Double page spread created completely digital, from photo
processing to text to papers.

I mostly use a fully digital workflow when creating scrapbook pages but I know a lot of people like to mix it up. Now a days it seems to be getting harder to do anything with out using the computer at least as a tool (especially for photo processing)...so really everyone is at least a little digi! :)

There are other ways that technology can be used in scrapbooking. I use my personal blog to update family and friends about things we've done. Because I have such a bad memory I know that if I wait even a few weeks to scrapbook an event/moment I will probably forget some details. So my blog is like a journal which I can then pull from when creating pages. Plus, I can print a book copy of my blog to preserve the "in the moment" memories as well.

Why Digi?
For me Digi Scrapping provides me with the ultimate in control. I don't have to think too hard about what I'm going to do. I can try something, see what it looks like, and if I don't like it, get rid of it and start all over again.

When I used to scrapbook (pre-digi) my photos/spreads all looked the same...a standard size picture, or perhaps cropped a bit, with a mat, some embellishments and journaling. My pages were all big and bulky and would be quite expensive. Now that I'm Digital, my pictures can be edited/cropped/masked any way I want. I can use papers/elements over and over again (a cost savings) and the clean up is easy (save & close). I also love printing out professional looking photo books that look beautiful on my bookshelf and take up a lot less room.

Sizes of Printing

I create my layouts in 12"x12" but print photobooks that are 8.5"x8.5". I love using the large size because it gives me the greatest flexability - I can print in any square size. I'm toying with the idea of other aspect ratios but I really love the square look for my main (chronological) books. I'm also loving the idea of mixing and matching sizes (a la Ali Edwards) but that would have to be in a 3 ring binder with sheet protectors.

Ben's 2009 album printed in 4x4 size for a Mother's day gift to the Grandmas.

Tools of the Trade
Assuming* you are ready to go Digital (all or in part), your next question may be, "What do I need to get started?" (*By asking this questions I assume you have tool #1 - A willingness to learn. I'm also assuming you have a digital camera and a computer*)

• Photoshop - at least Elements. This is the industry standard and you can find more tutorials about using this software than any other, which makes it easier to learn.
• Photo/Digi-Supply Management - Figure out a plan from the beginning or this can get overwhelming. I use Adobe Bridge for my photos (stored chronologically) and Picasa (free from Google) for my digi-supplies (which are stored in folders, but are easier to view in Picasa).
• Inkscape - optional. This is an open source alternative to Adobe Illustrator and is great for working with vector graphics. 

Beyond this, you could also get - hard drives, tablet, cricut (more for hybrid), and the list goes on. It all depends on what you're willing to invest $$$ and time into.

♥Julliana

My Evolution to Digital

I started scrapping in the late '90s while still in high school. I wanted to get all my baby pictures out of those old magnetic page protectors and into something acid free. My pictures were already starting to fade and I was only 16! I started for about a month using 8.5"x11" size and quickly changed to 12"x12" size - going back and redoing all the pages I'd done up to that point.

please disregard the dust!

From then on, my friends and I would get together every few weeks and scrap the latest events...dances, football games, etc. Since we were still film shooters, we didn't have a whole bunch of images to choose from so it was quite easy to stay "caught up". In college, I was the historian for an Institute committee and so I scrapbooked all our activities, and my own two. This is when I switched back to 8.5"x11". When we got married I inherited Troy's books that his mom and sister had made. Both were 8.5"x11" traditional.

Sadly, after being married, I didn't take many pictures...until I got a digital camera. Then I was really focusing on my professional images rather than family ones...until Ben was born. Then I started going crazy! For his 6 months of life I have over 10 GB of images!!! This is when I decided to go digital. Our house was still in the process of being remodeled (which it still is) and working on the computer just seemed easier. Plus I had already been doing this "digital scrapbooking" for my photography business. So that's how I ended up here, as a digital scrapbooker.

Comparing Different Albums:

Here's a sampling of some of the different albums I've made - you can see the difference in size and width. From Top to Bottom.

Mini Album for Troy: I made Troy a mini album as a wedding gift - "Ten Thing I Love About You". Its an 8"x8" Creative Memories album with 11 pages (2 sides each) and could expand to hold more.

I mixed some digital in with it...printed some pics from the web and used some type along with other elements. (Ask me how long it took to get all the calculator keys to create an equation - I was the 5th grade Krypto champ!)

Ben's First Year Album: I printed this 8.5"x8.5" photobook through Inkubook. Saying "first year" is misleading...this is his life in 2008 which is really only abotut 6 months of his life. It includes 27 pages (2 sided).

I love that I can create a cover as well.

I chose to go with the smaller size to make it easier to look through. The larger size (my HS album) is just so large and cumbersome to look through.

Our Trip to Brazil: We had so many pictures from this trip and I was so overwhelmed I knew I didn't want to scrapbook them...but I didn't want to forget what happened either. Here I settled on a simple photo sleeve album with some space for journaling. I love looking through this album and it was so easy to put together. Includes 50 pages with room for 4 pics each. I added some memorabilia too (tickets and such). This is definitely the easiest, albeit not the most creative, way to go.

My High School Album: 12x12 3 ring binder. Contains 24 sheet protectors (48 pages) and could hold maybe 1 or two more.

My Conclusion:
I've decided that digital scrapbooking is for me... at least for my chronological albums. I am, however, still excited about the idea of doing some hybrid/more traditional mini albums for events or trips.

♥Julliana

June 2010 Scrapbook Pages

I've noticed that lately I've really been keen on adding a bunch of journaling. I feel like I need to capture the story of all the funny things Ben's doing, in addition to capturing images.

This page is just words, the pic is just a random one. I really just wanted to remember a day with Ben, and I didn't have my camera with me but it was such a nice day. I though it would be okay to include a page with just words in his book.

You can click on the images to read the journaling.

♥Julliana

April & May 2010 Scrapbook Pages

Just working on finishing up some 2010 pages. Enjoy!

♥ Julliana

Mother's Day Gift.

Front Cover. I'm obsessed with silhouettes...this one was done on the cricut!

Yes, Mother's Day was many months ago, but I figure I might as well share. I made mini-scrapbook albums for my mom and mom-in-law, and of course for myself. Here's how:

I love seeing all the colors of all the pages.

First, I do all my scrapbooking digitally, so I did that like normal. Then when I was finished with his 2009 pages, I created a photoshop action that would automatically resize them into 4x4 then create a "page" that was 4x6 so i could print them out as pictures. I just got them printed at Costco.

For the most part I've laid the pages out chronologically.
Some pages are two page spreads, so some pages had to be
moved a round a bit.

I cropped them down square. Then came the hard part - layout. I figured out the order and glued them front to back. Finally, I borrowed my friend's laminator and laminated them all. They are pretty sturdy pages which is exactly what I wanted.

So fun to see how small his hand is.

I had an extra page in the back, so I helped Ben make a hand-print. Mine is slightly smudged...but it shows how "easy" it was to make.

This is a nice thick brag book, about 1 1/2 inches.

Oh, and I punched a hole in the upper left corner and ran a binder ring through it. I think it turned out super cute and I love to look at it. I still need to get his 2009 book printed out (as a book) but this works for now.
♥ Julliana

February 2010 Scrapbook Pages

Click on images to read journaling.

♥ Julliana