I was a paper scrapper long before there was such a trend as scrapbooking. Before acid free and lignin free products were available. Before there were pretty papers and fancy tools. I began my journey at an early age with a daily journal. Writing was an outlet but also a way to document my everyday thoughts and sentiments. Photography became my second passion and I can tell you that I am still learning new things. Photography is a way to include a visual reference to the everyday things that I already journal. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and when you include a photo with a story I believe the value is even greater.

Through the years I have written poems, doodled and drawn tidbits of my daily life. I have written about the good times, the bad times, the happy times and the sad times, pouring my heart out on every page. I have saved ticket stubs and candy wrappers anything that I felt would help capture the moment. I have written page after page of my very personal thoughts all for the sake of remembering and reflecting upon later in my life.

In 2002, I discovered a scrapbook store that was offering classes on paper scrapbooking. I jumped at the chance to find out more about preserving memories. I was delighted and overwhelmed at the same time. I grabbed my glue and a paper trimmer and jumped in with both feet. Several years later… a marriage, two kids, and a full schedule I found myself with no time to journal and no room to scrap.

During a paper scrapbooking retreat with friends in Sept 2009 I was introduced to digital scrapbooking. I rushed home and started my google investigation. I was just completely taken by this amazing digital world that existed without my even knowing it. I felt as if I had been under a rock and scrapbooking had evolved and passed me by. I knocked the dust off of my old Paint Shop Pro program, that had only been used in the past to create signatures for mommy forums, and I began reading tutorials and asking questions on digital forums. It wasn’t long before I realized that I wanted to switch to Photoshop. Choosing photo editing software is a long story for another day, but basically comes down to personal preference and the amount of money one wishes to invest. I happened to have an old version of Photoshop on disc which I installed  and my new scrapbooking journey began. Fast forward two years and I have digitally scrapped at least 600 pages, maybe more. Which brings me to the main reason for this post today. I wanted to touch base on the reason that I believe digital scrapbooking is the right choice for me, and in explaining those reasons possibly help someone that is new to scrapbooking  make an informed decision based on real life experience in both scrapbooking mediums.

What is Digital Scrapbooking?
Digital Scrapbooking is a digital version of scrapbooking. Instead of cutting, gluing, and arranging fancy paper pieces in combination with buttons, ribbons, and photos on a blank sheet of paper, you are instead layering digital versions of these items within a photo editing program like Photoshop. In short it is scrapbooking with a computer, digital images, graphics, and photo editing software.

What Photo Editing Program Should I Use?
The most commonly used programs are Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Paint Shop Pro, Digital Image Pro. There are also free versions that are similar to the more popular photo editing software. Gimp is free software that is similar to Photoshop. You can read more about choosing photo editing software in an article I wrote for Trixie Scraps. Tracy of Trixie Scraps is a digital designer that not only offers fantastic digital designs, but she also has a blog full of tutorials, tips and techniques that will help you become a better digital scrapper.

Where Can I get Digital Supplies?
When I started digital scrapbooking I started with google searches for FREE digital supplies. I found several sites that advertised daily freebies and this is where I began. Shabby Princess is one of my very first and favorite sites to offer free, quality kits. Free is the way to go while you are learning the photo editing software as well as trying to find your style. Digital kits are available to purchase and download from many websites. Kits contain graphics that are color coordinated with a specific palette and theme. Kits consist of an array of background images and elements (ribbons, strings, buttons). Once a kit has been downloaded to your computer, it can be used time and time again to make new pages.

What are the Advantages of Digital Scrapbooking?
Saving Space/No Mess: For me there are so many advantages to Digital Scrapbooking. The most obvious is space. You no longer have a room filled with craft supplies. You don’t have to worry about little fingers grabbing things. There is no worry about cleaning up the scraps of paper or the glue spills. All of your digital supplies are tucked away safely on a computer or external hard drive (a virtual craft room).

It’s Economical: This sounds crazy when talking about scrapbooking in general, because unless you are a person that scraps with strictly free supplies it is impossible to fathom the idea of spending money as being a way to save money. Stick with me and I will explain. In paper scrapbooking there are the main tools: a cutter, scissors, punches, oh the list could go on and on. These tools are quite an initial investment, but you are able to use them time and time again in order to create more scrapbook pages. Digital scrapbooking is similar in that there is the initial investment of the photo editing software and the purchase of the digital supplies. The difference is that when you use a button on a traditional paper layout, the button is used and is no longer available for another page. In addition, the color cannot be changed and the button cannot be resized. The button can only be used as is. If you want to use another button, then a new one must be purchased. In digital scrapbooking you may use a button on a layout any number of times. The button can be recolored, resized, and duplicated multiple times and you only have the initial investment (if purchased). I really like to have lots of elements on my scrapbook pages, so digital is definitely the right choice for me.

Editing Photos: Digital photos and scanned photos can be edited in a photo editing program. There are endless possibilities to what you can do to a photo other than just print it. There are tons of techniques to apply to a photo. There are actions, filters, styles, and brushes to name a few. Text can be added to a photo. A photo can be enhanced by cropping or extracting. There are even tools to remove red eye and things that are distracting in the background.

Printing/Sharing Possibilities: This is another deal maker for me. In paper scrapbooking I may work for hours on a page and be 100% satisfied with the result, but in order to share it with someone I must either take a photo of it to share in an email or online, or have the person physically look in my album. Multiple copies are out of the question unless I want to step back into the craft room and start from scratch. In digital scrapbooking I can share my saved pages with other via email or online. The pages can also be printed in many sizes and formats not to mention being printed multiple times.

Ctrl + Z/Undo: Another favorite photo editing tool. Think about how many times you have been working on a traditional scrapbook page and adhered something and wanted to move it, or made an error while journaling on a page. These mistakes in paper scrapbooking are either left as is if they are not a big bother, or in some instances scratching what you are working on and starting over. In digital scrapbooking when a mistake is made the fix is a few simple keystrokes away.  Holding the Ctrl and the Z keys down simultaneously – a shortcut that I use often in my photo editing software, is the easiest way to undo an error ever!

Have I convinced you yet? Come on over to the dark side of digital scrapping. (It’s not really all that dark!) You will be glad that you did!

If you made it this far, you soooo deserve a treat! Go grab a cookie – guilt free on me! Seriously though, thank you so much for reading!