Digital Scrapbooking - Orem,UT

I use creative memories. It's not expensive and my consultant is awesome. There's help every step of the way. If you want her contact information my email is ____@____.com does monthly get togethers and cropping weekends at a local hotel. It's a great way to meet people and get ideas.

I haven't used it, but I do know that Creative Memories offers free software called Storybook Creator. You can get the pages printed at Creative Memories or a local store. You also can print a whole book from them as well. Good luck!

L., this would be my new hobby and I love it. I use Photoshop Elements 6 and love it. I too, am not all that great at the computer but it has been so easy. Yes, you can get a LOT of templates and free digiatl paper and things on line. I usually google the "free digital scrapbook" items. There are lots of sites and blogs with them. There are also a lot of tutorials on how to do things like make your own ribbon, how to use brushes and such. If you need more info, send me a message-I would love to share more!
Happy scrapping :0)
Lisa

Hi L.!
Actually, I've just started doing this kind of thing myself. So far I've only paid for one set of frames - I just couldn't resist them. Everything else I have is free - and I have several gig of stuff (in like, the last 6 weeks) that I've found online. The best thing I've found so far is http://ikeagoddess.blogspot.com/ -she lists freebies from all over, usually daily, of several different kinds - paper, templates, alphas, kits - you name it! There are other places to find lists of freebies, but start with Ikeagoddess!
As for programs, I've noticed that *most* of the freebies I've seen (thru IG or other sites) are compatible with Elements. I don't think most of the files types I've seen will be compatible with other programs, but then I wasn't looking for other types of files. I'm a new user of PSE7, and trust me, you will NEED some sort of tutorial. It is *not* easy to jump in & figure out. So far I've taken about half of the class offered at Lynda.com and I know I never would have figured these things out by myself (like you, familiar with computer but not specific software). There are tons of free tutorials, Google free PSE digiscrapping tutorials for lots of options.
So far I've only done a couple of 'pages', I'm mostly using free templates so that I get an idea of what looks good. It does take time (but it's sooo addictive) and you could go for years before paying for 'supplies'. :)
Enjoy!

Hi L.,
I recently purchased the storybook 2 by creative memories. It gives you a sample of what you can do for free but, the actual software lets you do SO much more. IT is awesome. there are templates AND you can design your own pages by moving things on the pages OR starting from scratch. I LOVE IT> the pages and embellishments can be reused over and over and over. I also LOVE my Memory Manager that allows me to organize and fix all my photos. I purchased mine from a friend/ my CM consultant. (She is awesome) Let me know if you are interested and I will pass on her info on.

I like Printmaster. It is very versital and user friendly. If you want to publish it into a hardcopy book, try Blurb.com I made a book for my dad's xmas present and he loves it.

Good luck

You should get the My Memories Suite by Poloroid. It is EXCELLENT! So easy to use and it comes with tons of templates and embellishments. Not to mention it's only like $60. It's actually the No. 1 rated digital scrapbooking program out there Check out this website-- I highly recommend it. http://scrapbooking-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

Good luck!!

I considered going the digital route too. I looked at buying software until I found www.HowFastTheyGrow.com They have hundreds of templates for all occasions. It takes less than 10 minutes to do a page and they look great when you recieve them in the mail. They're printed on heavy card stock and are a true 12 x 12 page. I have 2 boys ages 5 and 3 so I don't have a lot of time. I was really behind on my scrapbooking until I found this site. One reason I didn't go with software was b/c I couldn't find a way to get the pages printed. GL

I have tried several different programs, but my very favorite is Nova's Art Explosion Scrapbook Factory Deluxe. I have version 4.0. I believe that is the latest version.

It is very user friendly, lots of templates and tons of options from starting from scratch. Their cropping is very simple, and they have many different options. I use it for making my own Christmas cards every year too. The only con about this one is some of their styles of artwork, but I just don't use those. Plus you can add just about anything to it that you want. I would highly recommend this one!

Another one I also like is Memory Mixer. I purchased it because you can do some beautiful slideshows of your scrapbook pages not just the photos by themselves. Plus the artwork is beautiful! You can also purchase additional papers and art from their website and get some freebies too. It too is very user friendly. But I tend to use the Scrapbook Factory the most. Happy scrappin!

I also use photoshop elements the new version 7 just came out last fall. I think this program gives you a lot more flexibility to edit your pages and pictures the way you want them. I would definetly recommend taking a class. I've taken a class from the Davis School District, but I also have a friend who teaches classes through our city's leisure services department. You will have to check in your area. If you don't want to edit your pictures a lot other programs may be simpler with premade templates etc. but I for one like the flexibility of photoshop.

As for online templates I think you can just google scrapbook pages and find some of the free ones. I usually make my own background paper so I have only used the free internet ones a couple of times.

Good Luck

I like free so I got Googles Picasa and I can crop and put borders etc on it even make a collage and save it as a pic then I use Snapfish to make my books.
snapfish.com

Visit Digital Scrapbooking 101 at: http://www.digiscrap101.com
The Legacy Lady are 2 that I know of she is amazing...
good luck
M.

I am new to the digital scrapbooking world. I currently use traditional scrapbooking and am starting to experiment with digital. I use Photoshop cs3. It is very expensive and I have heard Photoshop elements will do a lot of the things you would need for digi scrapbooking. What I do is find free downloads of paper and things on the internet and also tutorials and go from there. My sis-in-law uses shutterfly.com which I have tired but you are quite limited with the pages you can make. But the books are quite inexpensive.

Here are some places to download digi scrapbook supplies for free. I have yet to buy any of my supplies. You will need to download winrar to up-zip the files. After they are unzipped I but them in a folder on my hard drive and organize them that way.

http://www.rarlab.com/download.htm Click the top one and download. After it is downloaded click the .exe file and install. Every time you use it, it will tell you to buy it. Just close it. You'll never need to buy it.

http://shabbyprincess.com/downloads.asp These are all free downloads. Most are very large. Depending on your internet they will take awhile. But the stuff is awesome.
Shabby Princess also has tutorials on there website. They also have digi stuff for sell. Any digi scrapbook stuff you buy will be a download. If you are uncomfortable paying money for a download then just use the free stuff.

http://scrappity.blogspot.com/ This is a blog of digi stuff she makes. Look at in on her blog and click the upper right link to download any and all. Very nice stuff.

You can also google free digital scrapbook downloads and get a bunch of hits.

Have fun!

I use photoshop elements and love it. It gives you a lot of freedom. If you decide to go with photoshop elements I would recomment taking a class from www.jessicasprague.com. I have taken the beginner and intermediate class and am still working on the advanced class. They are videos you can watch from your own home and work on at your own pace and you can access them forever. They are simple to follow and if you ever forget how to do something you can always go back. There are a BUNCH of freebies out there too. If you just google digital scrapbook freebiees you will get a ton. The good thing about photoshop is that it gives you the advantage of fixing your photos whereas a strictly scrapbooking program won't do that for you.

Hi L.!
I'm a Creative Memories consultant and we have an AWESOME digital scrapbook program-it has even won the Readers' Choice award. It's called Storybook Creator Plus. I'm not the most computer savy person, but this program is so easy to use! It's very versatile and you can download additional templates from Creative Memories as well as from outside websites. You can also use any fonts you have on your computer. You can check out more details on it by going to my website at www.mycmsite.com/nancyfanning. It's definitely worth checking into!

I'm a consultant with Heritage Makers - my website is www.MyPhotobookStory.com. The software is amazing - it's all online, so no downloading required! That's what sold me on the product. Also, the company adds additional artwork each month. Again, no additional downloads required! The templates are 100% customizable - you can switch out the artwork, delete it, add pictures, put text boxes wherever you want, etc. It uses the drag and drop technology. Plus, there are webinars and youtube videos to help you. Please contact me at ____@____.com for more information.

L.,
Scrapbook Flair offeres a free program as well as lots and lots of embellishment, backgrounds, etc. And, they add free new items on a regular basis. http://www.scrapbookflair.com/
I haven't used the program they offer, so can't vouch for that but the free items they offer work with Photoshop Elements and a program called Scrapbook Factory. Good luck and have fun!

Hi, I actually just starting digital scrapbooking last month and love it! I went with Scrapbook Factory deluxe 4.0 after talking to a few people about what they liked best. This one is nice because it has sooo many elements to use. It's like having a scrapbook store in your computer. However, there is some learning time just because there is so much to look through to know what is available to use, but I love that. The other main reason that I chose this one is because you can save it as a PDF, which I guess a lot of other programs won't let you do. If you are going to get your pages printed outside your home most places need it in PDF form and if it's not then they charge you more money to convert it to PDF. I got my scrapbook factory from amazon for 28.99 with a $10 rebate. It's also at office stores (i.e. office max, etc). feel free to write back if you have anymore questions.

I'm sure you've got tons of answer's, but I can give you the best one out of them all (haha) I do digital scrapbooking, have published 1 book already & have a few I'm working on. Go to www.heritagemakers.com/318998 and check it out. You can start an account with basic membership for free or you can create a Premier membership, which gives you access to 100's of thousands of art options. You download (upload) your pictures, then you have the option of creating a story book, a scrapbook page (which will fit in the scrapbook binders you might already have), you can publish 1 or more books at a time. You can make playing cards, cards for the holidays or birthday's, etc.
Its extremely easy & if you need help someone can walk you through it while your on the computer.
I made a book for my kids, of all the animals we've had over the years that have passed on or we adopted out, i'm creating a book now (actually just finished it but it hasn't been published yet) for a lady that saved a horse at a livestock auction from being shipped to slaughter, started one for our family tree & started one for a Horse rescue, but need to get some more stories or pictures so I can finish it up for them.
Check out the link (www.heritagemakers.com/318998) or email me with any questions (____@____.com).
You'll have a blast doing this if you tried

Hi L.,

I am a Creative Memories Consultant and have been using the Creative Memories Digital scrapbooking. It is called Storybook Creator. You can download the free Storybook Creator 2.0 version from my website. This version has predesigned pages, but you can upgrade to Storybook Creator Plus for $59.95 and have the freedom to use predesigned pages as well as design your own pages. You can make individual pages, books, cards, and so many more things. You can visit my website: www.mycmsite.com/carriejohanson to learn more or even contact me at ____@____.com. I hope this helps as an option for you.
C.

I use the Creative Memories software and it is fabulous! I have also made digital books on snapfish but Creative Memories is sooo much better! I have a good friend that sells it and she helps me out alot. She is actually having a workshop coming up on how to do baby books (both traditional and digital). I could send you her contact info if you are interested?

I've seen it mentioned, but I have to put in my two cents. I LOVE STORYBOOK PLUS by Creative Memories! If you don't have a consultant near you look up creativememories.com and you can even download the software! Has anyone mentioned how much FREE training is out there for this program too? I'm talking hours of step-by-step where they visually walk you thru it - there's a "Help Zone" on the website! I thought it was easy to use without all the training, but now I am doing really cool things that I could've never done traditionally and it takes sooo much less time! I was sitting in a lobby, waiting for my hubby to pick me up for almost an hour. I pulled out my laptop and by the time he got there I had 3 pages completed and was starting on my 4th:) I personally, like choosing pages that are already created for me and then tweaking them, for me it's quicker than starting completely from scratch... Hope this helps:) You can always try out the trial versoin for free and anything you create in it will be carried into the program if you decide to upgrade - no more having to redo pages:)