What is Digital Scrapbooking?

Digital scrapbooking is a fairly recent trend in which a person uses computer graphics to create scrapbook pages. These pages are usually a collage style and may be printed off to be put in a book or just left on the computer to be admired and shared online. Scrapbooking purists prefer to physically cut and paste their own albums, but digital scrapbooking has become an art form in its own right.

There are many sites available to the public that are intended to provide ready-made digital scrapbooking backgrounds. "Kits" can be purchased, which will contain various templates, images, and fonts that can be used in a person's digital creation. Also, there are websites that offer trial layouts and message boards in which hobbyists can swap scrapbook images.

Digital scrapbooks are put together with the use of digital cameras, scanners, and various computer-imaging programs. Popular programs employed by scrapbookers include Adobe Photoshop, Picassa, and Gimp. Free trials and downloads are available on the Internet, should anyone want to try the various programs.

Digital scrapbooking is in itself a graphic art and can be quite elaborate. Those who design scrapbooking "kits" are considered to be very talented in visual arts. Although a fairly new hobby, its popularity has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years. A younger generation of scrapbookers has seemed to take notice and prefer it to the original craft of cutting and pasting bits of paper.