Digital Scrapbooking For Dummies

by Wines-Reed, Jeanne; Wines, Joan

• ISBN13: 9780764584190
• ISBN10: 0764584197
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-10-07
• Publisher: For Dummies

Summary

Get creative with graphic elementsTackle photo techniques at any levelReady to preserve your memories digitally? This interactive reference explains the basics of this fast, versatile new hobby, giving you the lowdown on the equipment and programs you need to create beautiful pages. You also get expert tips on digital photography, graphic design, scanning, journaling, filters, and fonts.Discover how to Create a digital layout from scratch Select the best software Use popular scrapbook styles Digitize traditional photos Get the kids involved Share your scrapbook online

Author Biography

Jeanne Wines-Reed is coauthor of Scrapbooking For Dummies and founder and Editorial Director of Scrapbook Retailer magazine.

Joan Wines assists her daughter Jeanne at numerous conventions and has advanced training in digital design.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(1)
About This Book	1	(1)
Conventions Used in This Book	2	(1)
What You're Not to Read	2	(1)
Foolish Assumptions	3	(1)
How This Book Is Organized	3	(2)
Part I: Getting the Lowdown on Digital Scrapbooking	3	(1)
Part II: Brushing Up on the Basics	4	(1)
Part III: Taking Your Digital Scrapbook to the Next Level	4	(1)
Part IV: Getting Creative with Fun Projects	4	(1)
Part V: The Part of Tens	5	(1)
Icons Used in This Book	5	(1)
Where to Go from Here	6	(1)
Part I: Getting the Lowdown on Digital Scrapbooking	7	(76)
A Bird's-Eye View of the Digital Scrapbooking Scene	9	(14)
Considering the Advantages of Going Digital	9	(2)
Finding the Tools You Want and Need	11	(4)
Handling the hardware issues	11	(3)
Choosing beginning-level software	14	(1)
Exploring Popular Digital Scrapbook Styles	15	(1)
Saving Your Work	16	(3)
Organizing and saving individual photos as you take them	16	(1)
Saving work in progress	17	(1)
Storing your digital images	17	(1)
Preparing your printed images for storage	18	(1)
Sharing Digital Files	19	(1)
Get Ready, Get Set . . . Scrap!	20	(3)
Creating a comfortable and functional workstation	20	(1)
Preparing for action	21	(2)
Gearing Up to Scrapbook Digital Style	23	(14)
Acquiring the Essentials	24	(9)
Calculating your computer needs	24	(3)
Scoping out scanners	27	(2)
Pondering printing possibilities	29	(2)
Deciding on a basic digital camera	31	(2)
Adding Extra Tools over Time	33	(4)
Upgrading computer capabilities	33	(1)
Enhancing your scans	34	(1)
Experimenting with specialized printing	34	(1)
Enhancing the functions of the digital camera	35	(2)
Exploring Your Software Options	37	(12)
Identifying Your Operating System	38	(1)
For PCs	38	(1)
For Macs	39	(1)
Scoping Out the Scrapbooking Software Scene	39	(7)
Outfitting beginners	40	(2)
Stepping up to intermediate software	42	(1)
Scrapbooking on a whole new level with advanced software	43	(3)
And the winners are	46	(1)
Investing in Software Extras	46	(3)
Forging ahead with far-out fonts	47	(1)
Grabbing great graphics	47	(2)
The Digital Design Process in Brief	49	(16)
Creating a Digital Design Library	49	(4)
Looking after photos	50	(1)
Keeping an eye out for embellishments	51	(1)
Creating color palettes	52	(1)
Exploring other design resources	52	(1)
Setting Up a Digital Scrapbook Project	53	(5)
Deciding on a topic	54	(1)
Selecting materials from your design library	54	(1)
Deciding on page size	55	(1)
Sketching tips for your pages	55	(1)
Writing the story	56	(1)
Working with photos and images	57	(1)
Creating the Digital Layout	58	(4)
Starting with a base or a template page	58	(1)
Layering	59	(1)
Positioning items on the page	59	(3)
Keeping Your Computer Happy: Discarding or Relocating Leftover Files	62	(3)
Exploring Popular Digital Scrapbook Styles	65	(18)
Looking at the Major Scrapbooking Styles	65	(12)
Getting a digital handle on the heritage style	66	(2)
Using digital tools to concentrate on the crafty style	68	(2)
Putting some pop into your digital layouts	70	(2)
Finding ways to digitize shabby chic	72	(1)
Using digital tools that help you achieve the exacting standards of a classic style	73	(2)
Making digital pages in the modern style	75	(1)
Analyzing the digital artist style	76	(1)
Surveying Other Scrapbooking Styles	77	(6)
Styles for baby	77	(1)
Designing with favorite fantasies	77	(1)
Experimenting with the eclectic style	78	(1)
Tying in to specific time periods	78	(1)
Fooling around with fashion	79	(1)
Focusing on vocation	80	(1)
Designing for sports lovers	80	(2)
Even more scrapbooking style ideas	82	(1)
Part II: Brushing Up on the Basics	83	(64)
Mastering Basic Digital Photo Processing	85	(18)
First Things First: Taking Great Digital Photos	85	(4)
Shooting at maximum resolution	86	(1)
Creating your own interesting photos	87	(1)
Planning your photographic time table	88	(1)
Taking Advantage of Your Digital Equipment's Built-In Processing Features	89	(3)
Looking into your digital camera's picture viewing program	89	(1)
Cultivating the camera cropping habit	90	(1)
Enlisting the help of your scanner's hardware and software settings	91	(1)
Utilizing Editing Programs to Improve Your Digital Images	92	(10)
Adjusting size and resolution	93	(3)
Cropping	96	(2)
Changing your photo's position with the Rotate tool	98	(1)
Finding the Flipper	98	(1)
Selecting brightness and contrast	99	(1)
Reducing red-eye	100	(1)
Sharpening your photo images	101	(1)
Repairing Scanned Photos	102	(1)
Exploring Layout and Design Options	103	(18)
Brushing Up on Visual Design Principles	103	(5)
Balance	104	(1)
Harmony	105	(1)
Unity	105	(1)
Rhythm	105	(1)
Positive and negative space	106	(1)
Color	107	(1)
Applying Design Principles to Your Digital Scrapbook Pages	108	(6)
Marking out a grid	108	(1)
Creating balance	109	(1)
Finding your focal point	110	(1)
Using lines and shapes to create structure, depth, and dimension	111	(2)
Creating emphasis	113	(1)
Enhancing Your Design Strategies with Digital Operations	114	(7)
Using scanners and cameras to prepare unusual design elements	114	(1)
Descreening printed photos	115	(2)
Making your photo a background	117	(1)
Tiling your images and photos	118	(1)
Texturing your photos	119	(1)
Collaging or montaging your images and photos	119	(2)
Enhancing Your Pages with Digital Graphic Elements	121	(14)
First, a Few Technicalities	121	(4)
Understanding digital graphics types	122	(1)
Reviewing the importance of resolution for digital graphics	123	(1)
A word about copyrighting	124	(1)
A cautionary tale about the Internet	125	(1)
Manipulating Clip Art	125	(3)
Looking for printed clip art	126	(1)
Gathering clip art from the Internet	127	(1)
Using clip art	127	(1)
Incorporating Illustrations and Drawings	128	(3)
Using Photos from the Internet	131	(4)
Downloading issues	131	(1)
Stocking up on stock images	132	(3)
Making a Statement with Basic Text	135	(12)
Translating Text Terms	135	(2)
Working with Fonts	137	(5)
Going over some font basics	138	(1)
Exploiting the design possibilities of body and display fonts	139	(1)
Understanding how your computer stores and copies fonts	140	(1)
Forestalling font problems	140	(1)
Finding fantastic fonts	141	(1)
Incorporating Text into Your Scrapbook	142	(5)
Keying text into your digital layout	143	(1)
Using handwritten text in digital scrapbooks	144	(3)
Part III: Taking Your Digital Scrapbook to the Next Level	147	(64)
Tackling Advanced Photo Correction	149	(12)
Making Sure Your Photo-Editing Software Is Up to the Challenge	150	(1)
Introducing Cloning and Healing	151	(1)
Attack of the Cloning tool	151	(1)
Healing damaged images	152	(1)
Adjusting Color	152	(2)
Retouching with Digital ``Painterly'' Tools	154	(4)
Dodging and Burning tools	154	(1)
Playing with the ``brush'' tools	155	(1)
Breezing through airbrushing	155	(2)
Pushing the Pencil tool	157	(1)
Practicing with the Pen tool	157	(1)
Cutting Out Unwanted Objects	158	(3)
Eraser tool	158	(1)
Magic Wand	159	(2)
Getting Creative with Advanced Effects	161	(24)
Enhancing Your Page Design	161	(5)
Making the most of montage	162	(1)
Creating a panorama layout	163	(3)
Trying Out Some Commonly Used Color Variations	166	(1)
Converting color images to grayscale images	166	(1)
Saturating and desaturating images	166	(1)
Tinting an image	166	(1)
Creating Special Effects with Filters and Plug-Ins	167	(5)
Working with filters	168	(3)
Applying a Gaussian blur	171	(1)
Making Exciting Embellishments	172	(4)
Making hand drawings to use as embellishments	172	(1)
Creating embellishments from found objects	173	(1)
Scanning with 3-D embellishments	173	(1)
Making your embellishments look more ``real''	174	(2)
Creating Unique Backgrounds	176	(9)
Using your own photos as backgrounds	177	(2)
Texturing page backgrounds	179	(2)
Concentrating on background color	181	(1)
Finding other ways to create impressive digital backgrounds	182	(3)
Trying Your Hand at Artistic Text Techniques	185	(14)
Souping Up Your Software	185	(1)
Wrapping Text	186	(3)
Wrapping text automatically	187	(1)
Wrapping text manually	188	(1)
Creating Curvy or Wavy Text Lines	189	(1)
Stretching and Skewing Text Boxes and Letters	189	(2)
Outlining and Filling Letters with Patterns and Colors	191	(1)
Outlining around a letter in whatever color you choose	191	(1)
Filling the letter with a pattern or with a photo	192	(1)
Rotating Text	192	(1)
Changing Text from a Horizontal to a Vertical Format	193	(1)
Shadowing Your Text	194	(1)
Applying Filters	194	(1)
Designing Your Own Fonts	195	(1)
Waxing Poetic: Incorporating Long Journal Entries	195	(4)
Incorporating Sound and Video	199	(12)
Looking At Multimedia Merchandise	199	(4)
Keeping it (relatively) simple with presentation programs	200	(2)
Over the top with authoring programs	202	(1)
Creating a Multimedia Album	203	(4)
Organizing your elements	203	(2)
Adjusting sizes of digital images	205	(1)
Adding sound and video	205	(2)
Sharing Your Album	207	(4)
Part IV: Getting Creative with Fun Projects	211	(72)
Creating a Digital Wedding Scrapbook in the Classic Style	213	(14)
Sketching Out Your Story	213	(3)
Incorporating a journaled story into the album's overall design	214	(1)
Finding the right font for your story	214	(2)
Making a quick mock-up for your wedding album	216	(1)
Choosing Photos for Your Classic Album	216	(3)
Creating your own classic photos and images	217	(1)
Classic embellishments	218	(1)
Altering your photos to suit your design	218	(1)
Collecting classic photos and images from other sources	219	(1)
Selecting Your Wedding Album's Color Palette	219	(1)
Designing the Classic Wedding Layout with Digital Tools	220	(2)
Lining up classic page items with the Snap To Grid feature	221	(1)
Using the Sizing tool for balancing your classic composition	221	(1)
Assembling Your Wedding Album	222	(5)
Deciding on your page size	222	(1)
Bringing in your digital backgrounds	223	(1)
Putting on the finishing touches on your digital wedding album	224	(3)
Putting Together a Digital Family Album Using the Heritage Style	227	(16)
Telling the Heritage Stories	227	(2)
Focusing on a single ancestor, place, event, or time period	228	(1)
Tracking down the stories	228	(1)
Using digital tools to enhance your writing	229	(1)
Choosing Your Photos	230	(4)
Finding family photos	231	(1)
Repairing photos	231	(1)
Aging your photos to get a uniform look	232	(2)
Creating the Color Palette	234	(2)
Choosing your colors	234	(1)
Using digital tools to get the colors you want	235	(1)
Designing Digital Heritage Layouts	236	(2)
Adding memorabilia and accessories to your heritage pages	236	(1)
Using and resizing embellishments and other items to fit your layout designs	237	(1)
Assembling a Heritage Album	238	(5)
Finding the right page size for your journaling	238	(1)
Creating heritage-style backgrounds	239	(4)
Celebrating the Here-and-Now with a Pop-Style Digital Reunion Scrapbook	243	(12)
Figuring Out Your Pop-Style Story	244	(2)
Incorporating current pop trends	244	(1)
Short stories? Long stories?	244	(2)
Choosing Your Pop Images	246	(3)
Creating pop photos and images	246	(3)
Drawing on pop publications and characters	249	(1)
Creating the Color Palette	249	(1)
Using your photos to ``find'' a color palette	249	(1)
Getting your main color elements from your backgrounds	250	(1)
Designing Pop-Style Layouts	250	(4)
Creating pop page backgrounds	250	(2)
Using the ``non-art'' pop style	252	(1)
Incorporating memorabilia, accessories, and embellishments into your pop design	253	(1)
Completing Your Digital Pop Album	254	(1)
Working with Digital Theme Projects	255	(10)
Choosing a Theme	255	(2)
Gathering Scrapbook Theme Materials	257	(1)
Designing Theme Layouts	258	(1)
Exploring Popular Theme Page Ideas	259	(6)
School scrapbooks	259	(1)
Friend themes	260	(1)
Family scrapbooks	261	(2)
Pet scrapbooks	263	(1)
Vacation scrapbooks	263	(1)
Business scrapbooks	263	(1)
Hobby scrapbooks	264	(1)
Remodeling projects	264	(1)
Public building projects	264	(1)
Sharing Your Scrapbooks	265	(18)
Printing Your Digital Pages	265	(3)
Resizing and saving	266	(1)
Adjusting your printer settings	267	(1)
Binding your pages	267	(1)
Digitizing Your Traditional Album Pages	268	(7)
Using your scanner	268	(4)
Using your digital camera	272	(3)
Transmitting Your Pages Electronically	275	(5)
Preparing your pages for e-mail by using PDFs	275	(3)
Publishing your pages on the Web	278	(2)
Burning Your Books on CDs and DVDs	280	(3)
Part V: The Part of Tens	283	(28)
Ten Tips for Every Digital Scrapbooker	285	(8)
Pinpoint the Kind of Digital Scrapbooks You Want to Create	285	(1)
Work with the Hardware You Already Have	286	(1)
Select Software That Meets Your Needs and Skill Level	286	(1)
Master Your Hardware and Software	287	(1)
Keep Your Computer Healthy	287	(1)
Set Up a Workable File System	288	(1)
Take Advantage of Your Digital Camera	289	(1)
Back Up Your Files	290	(1)
Manage Your File Sizes and Resolutions	291	(1)
Share Your Scrapbook Pages	291	(2)
Ten Digital Scrapbooking Pitfalls to Avoid	293	(6)
Don't Rush to Replace Equipment	293	(1)
Don't Put Too Many Programs on Your Computer	294	(1)
Don't Forget to Bring Your Camera	294	(1)
Don't Forget to Create a Morgue File	295	(1)
Don't Ignore Copyright Laws	295	(1)
Don't Start Too Many Projects	296	(1)
Don't Print on Colored Paper	296	(1)
Don't Abandon Traditional Scrapbooking	297	(1)
Don't Get into a Rut	297	(1)
Don't Give Up	298	(1)
Ten Creative Ways to Integrate Digital Techniques into Traditional Scrapbooks	299	(6)
Print Out Digital Images	299	(1)
Customize Special Background Papers	300	(1)
Support Your Embellishments	300	(1)
Print Stickers	301	(1)
Make Your Own Headers	301	(1)
Scan in Handwriting or Drawings	302	(1)
Make Iron-Ons	302	(1)
Replicate Letters and Documents	303	(1)
Use Digital Tools to Share Traditional Scrapbooks	303	(1)
Catalog Your Images	304	(1)
Ten Fun Ways to Involve Kids in Digital Scrapbooking	305	(6)
Give Your Child a Digital Camera	306	(1)
Help the Kids Download Free Clip Art	306	(1)
Scrapbook School Assignments	306	(1)
Scrapbook a Special Event	307	(1)
Create a Child's Family Tree	307	(1)
Photograph and Write about Favorite Possessions	307	(1)
Make Gift Scrapbooks	308	(1)
Avoid the Doldrums	308	(1)
Make a Group Scrapbook	309	(1)
Teach Scrapbooking at Your Local School	309	(2)
Appendix: Web Resources	311	(8)
Exploring Scrapbook-Specific Web Sites	311	(3)
Locating Clip Art and Images on the Web	314	(2)
Finding Fonts Images on the Web	316	(1)
Checking Out the Chat Rooms	316	(1)
Posting Your Pages	317	(1)
Specialty Programs	317	(2)
Index	319