New here and to digital scrapbooking

[Verleen]

My name is Verleen and I'm a grandma from upstate, and very cold New York. I have never done any digital scrapbooking. I use my wordprocessing and a journaling software for journaling, which I then add to my paper pages. I like a refined, elegant style. Cutsey, child-type and cartoonish are generally not my style. I have recently began looking at digital scrapbooking software. I have Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 which I use for photos. However, I print most of my digital photos at Walmart because of the cost of printer ink. I wanted to get Adobe PS Elements 3.0 for scrapbooking, but I can't find any for sale. The later versions all seem to have problems/flaws.......and of course, there are plenty of these for sale....lol. I have downloaded the trial version and it is easy to use. My concerns with digital scrapbooking are these:

1. Cost of ink: Will it be more costly than doing paper?
2. Will I have the flexibility to create my own pages or be stuck with templates? I don't like paper templates either. I like doing my own thing.
3. Will I have the option of creating in a style I like with my choice of colors, backgrounds, embellishments and journaling?
4. Can I do 8X8 pages? In paper, I do 12 X 12 and 8 X 8 pages. Will I be happy with letter size scrapbooks due to my printer's constraints?
5. How easy is it to import backgrounds and embellishments into the program?

If you have any comments or suggestions for me on the above questions, please post them. They will be most welcome. Happy Scrappin, Verleen

[mh51]

1. Cost of ink: Will it be more costly than doing paper?

Personally ~ I don't print any of my pages off so cannot comment.


2. Will I have the flexibility to create my own pages or be stuck with templates? I don't like paper templates either. I like doing my own thing.

You'll be able to be as creative as you want creating whatever you want & we'll all look forward to seeing the results.


3. Will I have the option of creating in a style I like with my choice of colors, backgrounds, embellishments and journaling?

Same as above.....

4. Can I do 8X8 pages? In paper, I do 12 X 12 and 8 X 8 pages. Will I be happy with letter size scrapbooks due to my printer's constraints?

The default page in SBM is 8"x8" but this can be changedto suit yourself.

5. How easy is it to import backgrounds and embellishments into the program?

Both backgrounds & embellishments can be imported at the click of the mouse using the icons on the menu bar.

Hope this helps and I'm sure someone will be along with their slant on it also.

Good Luck.
Mary

[workingjo3]

As for the cost of digital vs buying stickers ect. It all depends. I use to buy a lot of fancy 3 D stickers and specialtiy foil papers. I figured I spent about $7 to $15 a page. So digital saves me a lot of money. Uploading and having a 3rd party do the printing saves me even more. Scrapbook max has an offering for printing ( http://tinyurl.com/ysnb9x ). Or you can get them printed at other places too.
You can either down load free papers ect from scrapbook max or import your own. You can even buy kits and templates too, just click on booster packs at the top of this screen.
I still do some regular scrapbook and some digital. Either way, its still a lot of fun.
Jo

[*eng*]

Even with printing I think digital is much cheaper. Everything is reuseable and there is no storage to worry about.

[Sandy]

I personally find digital scrapbooking to be MUCH cheaper than traditional scrapbooking. Sure, you have to pay for your prints or ink but that is nothing in comparison to purchasing everything you need to make a fabulous traditional layout. You can only use traditional items once, whereas in Scrapbook MAX! you can use your favourite embies over and over again.

1. Cost of ink: Will it be more costly than doing paper? Not in my opinion.
2. Will I have the flexibility to create my own pages or be stuck with templates? I don't like paper templates either. I like doing my own thing. You can be as creative as you want with Scrapbook MAX!. You definitely don't have to use the pre-made templates if you don't want to.
3. Will I have the option of creating in a style I like with my choice of colors, backgrounds, embellishments and journaling? Yes.
4. Can I do 8X8 pages? In paper, I do 12 X 12 and 8 X 8 pages. Will I be happy with letter size scrapbooks due to my printer's constraints? The default in Scrapbook MAX! is 8x8, but you can make a page in any size by going to Page > Settings and then click on the Size tab. There is a drop down menu with many sizes to choose from.
5. How easy is it to import backgrounds and embellishments into the program? It is very easy. Check out the Sharing section of this community and see for yourself!