Tess in the Burbs Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 Our downsizing has left me without space to leave out my scrapbooking stuff. So I never touch it. I want to finish up 2010 and then do 2011 since I have already printed out all the photos. We went to Disney that year so I have over 1000 photos from that trip alone. But looking to 2012 and ahead I want to go digital. I bought a new mac laptop and could easily work on my pictures anywhere in the house. But looking at the software confuses me. I will say that I do NOT use Iphoto to organize my photos. When I upload them it goes into a folder organization I put together. I saw Iscrapbook, memory maker, and my memories suite were the top ranked. Iscrapbook utilizes iphoto but since I don't I am not sure it's the best for me. Otherwise it had good reviews for ease of use. I noticed the other two offer sound/video stuff. I don't need that. Why would I need sound on a page I intend to print into a book? Talk me through this decision...which one do I want? I am looking to make easy pages to print into a book for each year. Maybe 2 books per year :tongue_smilie: I can't figure out which one is better. I am assuming the print options for something like this is easy to understand once I get the program....can I send pages to a local store to print? Or only through them? Or is it best to print a 'book'? Help! Any other software you like better? Any advice on how to start digital scrapbooking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murmer Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 I have started digital scrapbooking and am finding Photoshop Elements to be my preference. There is a learning curve but there are a LOT of tutorials on how to use it. Also it has a 30 day trial (which is what I am currently using) so you can see if it will work. I have not tried any of the other programs but from I have seen Photoshop will do everything a scrapbooker could want and not really be outgrown....until you start wanting to design scrapbooking stuff lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted November 7, 2012 Author Share Posted November 7, 2012 I have played with that before and just struggled so much to get a handle on the basics! ugh. Anyone else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara R Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 I use Picasa for very simple scrapbooking. It's quick, simple, and best of all free! I used the tutorials on Clover Lane to get me started: http://www.memoriesoncloverlane.com/2011/01/more-scrapbooking-with-picasa-using.html. There are also videos that take you step by step: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I1MzFZDtwo. You can download free scrapbooking papers and fonts online. Or for papers you can choose any color background, including colors that match the colors in your photos, by clicking on the color tool in Picasa and then mousing over the pictures until you see a color that looks good in the background. The software is simple and intuitive. Once you get going, you can make pages very quickly. I caught up three years for three kids in spare time over about two weeks, without making a mess! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AStableBeginning Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 Tess, I was just looking into digital scrapbooking myself. I have come upon Stampin' Up!s digital program and it is on my list right now. I have both Elements and Photoshop and have not quite figured out how to make beautiful digital creations. Let me know what you find out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AStableBeginning Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 Oh, I just found this that might be helpful to you. http://scrapbooking-software-review.toptenreviews.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Photo Ninja Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 I also use Photoshop Elements. I don't use iPhoto at all. My photos are organized in folders, but I do use the PSE Organizer because I like tagging my photos and digital supplies. you can use prepared templates and pages where you just drop your photos or you can design it all yourself. It depends on what you want to do. The software is worth learning because of its versatility. I love grabbing my Mac and scrapping. Now if I just had more time available... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Geek Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 I absolutely LOVE iPhoto. I have thousands upon thousands of photos on it. I make a different library for each year. Within each library I have events sorted by months and if it is a big occasion I make a separate folder for that event. With that said, you can make photobooks easily from iPhoto to be printed by Apple. I have done this every year for Christmas since dd was born to give as gifts to grandparents. There are different layouts and backgrounds that you can use, but your not really going to be able to modify their layouts. If you want more scrap booking capabilities you would need to look elsewhere but if you are happy with pictures, text and various backgrounds it is pretty easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kroe1 Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 If you want pages with special effects like this: Then you will need to go with either Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, or Corel Paint. Lots of us old-timers also use Microsoft Digital Image, but it is not sold anymore. There are plenty of tutorials. If you just want pictures with headings underneath then Shutterfly is a good option. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kroe1 Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 If you want images like this, you will need Photoshop or Corel. An old copy of Microsoft Digital Image will do this, too. If you are into simpler designs, then other software will suffice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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