Completely new to digital scrapping....

[Marla in KY]

I have twin boys that will be 6 months tomorrow. I am trying to do three albums and it can be overwhelming. I know as they get more active I won't be able to keep up. I switched to CM style layouts and mostly basic stuff so that I don't spend hours on a single layout like I did before the babies came. I am thinking digital scrapping would be a great alternative to the plain pages and be lots faster too.

I am buying the adobe program and an epson printer that does 12x12 pages this weekend. (Unless you guys have better ideas for me!)

I have no idea what I need to do to get started. I found some kits and ploppers that I really like on the site. If I buy those can I use those with any program?

I saw pictures with a b&w background with people in color and I loved the way it looked so that got me interested in the adobe program, which has led me to digital scrapbooking. Just last week I spent 6 hours at a crop doing identical pages for each album with just a few changes for each of the boys books. Now I realize how easy it probably would have been to make those changes in minutes.

Do you guys have any advice for an extreme newbie?

thanks so much! Marla

[Margie]

oh, it would be so much easier to do same/similar/different pages with the same theme doing it digitally! there is a lot of info in our digital scrapping 101 article here: http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/university/Scrapping101/basics.shtml
i'd recommend checking that out. that printer and program would be great and yes our kits work with most programs out there.
so my advice would be give it a try! once you get the hang of it, it's simple and so much fun! and until you do, there are thousands of helpful people right here to help you! :) forums for answers, classes you can take for personalized instruction, galleries for inspiration, events for challenges, etc. lots of options! :)

[elizabethlmccoy]

welcome marla,
So glad you found us...I know you will love it here there is so much to learn and the people are soo GREAT!!!

Sounds like you are going to have the perfect setup with your software and your printer!!!

So if you have any more questions be sure to ask We all would be happy to answer!!

Have Fun!!

Liz

[Emma]

Welcome, Marla! With twins that get into everything even while you're watching them, digital scrapping is so much cleaner, LOL!

Which Adobe software are you going to puchase: full Photoshop, or Photoshop Elements? They're both great programs. A 12x12 printers is going to be SOOOO nice! I don't print my layouts (DVD slide shows), and my sister has all hers sent out because it's cheaper (I think Kinko's is under $5 for a 12x12 now, don't know for sure). Printing at home can be expensive due to the cost of photo paper, ink, and the printer itself, but you will LOVE having your 12x12 right there with you. So convenient.

I teach the intro classes to PS and PSE if you'd like to sign up. I also have a Beginner chat the last day of every month to get you started! Click the DSU Classes link in my sig line; October classes will be posted soon, but I know I'll be teaching PSE (probably not PS).

Let us know when you get set up, probably next week, and we'll walk you through the First Page tutorials.

Welcome!

[Marla in KY]

You guys are all wonderful!! Thanks for making me feel so welcome- and also for your offers to help me get going. I feel so lost about the digital scrapping stuff. I have been teaching quite a few people how to scrap, but with paper, eyelets, embossing stuff, etc. I have a ton of supplies. I can't believe I take the time to chalk papers and put in eyelets, etc. when I can learn to do it with the click of a mouse! Do any of you mix handmade pages with digital pages or just go strictly digital. I can see that once you learn the program digital would be so much faster and less messy too.

thanks again for all the welcomes! :) Marla

[Amber]

Hi Marla! WELCOME to DSP! We are so glad to have you! You will absolutely love it here! To answer your question- I strictly digital scrap. I do still have some very basic paper scrapping materials but use those for cards. I use Photoshop CS and its expensive however the PS Elements is supposed to be a great program! And actually I have it- I got it with my camera but since I have PS CS I dont use it! :)

Have fun scrapping your twin boys! I cant wait to see pictures of them!

[valeri]

Hi Marla,

Welcome! looks like you have already gotten some great advice here!

I don't paper scrap. I bought a bunch of stuff and tried, but honestly I didn't like it. I do however LOVE to make handmade cards, so my supplies won't go to waste. Scrapping digitally has opened up a whole new world to me. So easy to get pages done mainly because I can just sit down and scrap, if I have an hour, or half hour, or even 15 min, I can just get done what I get done. With the paper, I would have to dig everything out and by the time I did that, I was out of the mood.

Can't wait to see your digital pages!!

[Lauren]

Im a completely digital scrapper too Marla - Its just as Valeri said- the simplicity and not having to get piles of stuff out and put it all away when you are done - My puter is on all day and i can just sit down for a short time and add to what Im doing - although usually the addiction of it means that my short time turns into a very long time!!!!!