How to Make a Digital Scrapbook

I like making scrapbooks. I used to make them the hard way, as I liked making new designs from scratch. With my own daughter though, it is getting tough to finish one page because of time constraint. So instead of manually making a scrapbook, I decided on a digital scrapbook.

To all scrapbookers out there, my apologies, please do not think that I am making the art of scrapbooking too convenient. But here is how it goes.

1. Select an album size that you prefer. In my case, I chose the album that can hold the 5R or the 5 x 7 prints.

2. Using Adobe Photoshop, I made composite images in 5 x 7, 300 dpi.

3. I chose a group of pictures for a single page layout. Some of my layouts have at least 3 photos, while others have as many as 10 photos.

4. I would shape them and digitally alter the photos to my satisfaction.

5. For backgrounds and graphics, go to the internet and search for the images that you like. Just remember that look for the biggest images available so that your layouts will not look pixelized. Don't worry about copyrighted images, you will not sell your scrapbook commercially anyway. But if you really worry, then go to sites that offer images for free and copy them to you computer. Add words, sayings, and other texts to make your layouts more meaningful.

6. Save your layout in jpeg format and have them printed in your local photo printer using photo paper (or you can do it yourself if you have a photo printer and some photo paper handy).

7. Insert them chronologically in your album.

8. Then you digital scrapbook is ready for showing off to friends and family.

It is very simple and convenient and entails minimal expense.