We accept a variety of samples and/or compensation for links, posts, and other campaigns. Refer to the bottom of the post and our site-wide disclosure policy for full details.
I LOVE digital scrapbooking! I used to be really into paper scrapbooking but it got expensive and was SO time consuming! Once I learned about all the digital scrapbooking options that were out there I was eager to make the switch and have been so happy that I have! Being such a computer nerd I love playing away in photoshop and creating totally unique and customized layouts. It is something I really, really enjoy doing! So when I read about the blogging promotion with TwitterMoms and Adobe Photoshop teaming up for this campaign there couldn’t have been a better fit for me! Here are some of the things I do to make editing and creating products easier!
1. Actions – Actions are a series of steps that are taken to change the look of your picture, project, etc. There are actions for everything from removing red eye, turning photos to black and white, adding textures, and on and on! Some of my personal favorites make my pictures a beautiful sepia or help me to pick out just one color to spotlight from the picture with making the rest black and white. There are many free actions available that you can find by searching for Photoshop actions. Then after you have found one you like you can download it and upload it into Photoshop and use it again and again to adjust your pictures.
2. Layering – I love to play around with layering images, backgrounds, elements, ribbons, text, all sorts of stuff to give the page a lot of depth. I also like to add shadows to some of the elements to have a few that really stand off the page!3. Sticking to a Kit - I think the EASIEST way to make a beautiful page is find a kit that fits your pictures or maybe your whole album that you will be working on and use the coordinating kit for all of that page. This makes it so easy to find elements and papers that work really well together as they were all made with the same color scheme. I did one kit for my entire son’s birth-18 months album and it looks SO nice as it really all flows from one page to the next. I am working on my wedding album and doing so in the same fashion, using the papers and elements from one kit to tie the book together beautifully!4. Elements - Digital scrapbook kits often come with elements which means the ribbons, frames, alphabets, images, and all the other coordinating items that match the papers in the kit. Often when I’m starting my page I will pull 2 or 3 papers I like and then 5-10 elements and pull them all up and move them around and play with them, removing some that just don’t “fit” until I get the look I like. The elements make for such a simple way to spice up the page and make it super easy as well! I will often use ribbons to create a split on the page to let me have two different papers on the page that look seamless.5. Fonts! I am a HUGE fan of custom fonts and especially hand-writing fonts. I love having a font that looks like I’m jotting down my thoughts and feelings about the pictures, images, places we went and makes the whole page just come together more like a journal!
2. Layering – I love to play around with layering images, backgrounds, elements, ribbons, text, all sorts of stuff to give the page a lot of depth. I also like to add shadows to some of the elements to have a few that really stand off the page!3. Sticking to a Kit - I think the EASIEST way to make a beautiful page is find a kit that fits your pictures or maybe your whole album that you will be working on and use the coordinating kit for all of that page. This makes it so easy to find elements and papers that work really well together as they were all made with the same color scheme. I did one kit for my entire son’s birth-18 months album and it looks SO nice as it really all flows from one page to the next. I am working on my wedding album and doing so in the same fashion, using the papers and elements from one kit to tie the book together beautifully!4. Elements - Digital scrapbook kits often come with elements which means the ribbons, frames, alphabets, images, and all the other coordinating items that match the papers in the kit. Often when I’m starting my page I will pull 2 or 3 papers I like and then 5-10 elements and pull them all up and move them around and play with them, removing some that just don’t “fit” until I get the look I like. The elements make for such a simple way to spice up the page and make it super easy as well! I will often use ribbons to create a split on the page to let me have two different papers on the page that look seamless.5. Fonts! I am a HUGE fan of custom fonts and especially hand-writing fonts. I love having a font that looks like I’m jotting down my thoughts and feelings about the pictures, images, places we went and makes the whole page just come together more like a journal!
Photoshop Elements 9 can help you share photos and videos online, keep your photos organized and easy to sort through, and help you edit them as well! Photoshop Elements is also great for digital scrapbooking and would make an awesome gift for the women in your life! I would LOVE to hear any tips you might have! I have been using Photoshop since my senior year in high school (10 years ago!!) so I do know my way around in the program pretty well but I love it when I learn a really quick easy way to do something I had been doing in a much longer route.
You can connect to Adobe on Twitter and/or Facebook!
*I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Adobe blogging program, making me eligible to receive a $50 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.