Six Great Scrapbooking Software Ideas

Gone are the days when you'd store your photos in a box under your bed. Unfortunately they now sit on the hard drive of your computer instead. So, why not do something fun with them? How about turning them into a beautiful keepsake using your computer and some easy to use scrapbook software!

So which digital scrapbooking program should you choose? It's really wise to take your time when searching for the package that will suit your needs. You don't want to spend hours and hours creating and editing your work and find out the program you chose didn't have all the features you need. Luckily, there are excellent programs out there, like Scrapbook MAX, so you can focus on being creative rather than spending your weekend nose deep in thick manuals.

Consider these following six secrets before you buy:

1. Make sure your PC has a lot of free disk space. Also the program you choose should work with Windows 7, Windows XP and Windows Vista. This will allow you to have the widest compatibility.

2. If you are not all that computer literate, then it would be best for you to obtain a program that is easy to use for a beginner, but powerful enough that you can still use it as you become more creative and confident.

3. Should you envisage yourself a bit of a graphic designer, then by all means find one that will offer you the lot of features to customize your layouts. It's flexibility you need here. But don't worry if you are just starting up. A good program offers step by step tutorials on their website.

4. Find a package that will offer you an array of templates to choose from. You should also make sure you can expand the software with more templates and kits as you wish.

5. What is so important is having clear and concise tutorials. Nowadays it's normal to include video tutorials as well. This will frustrate you if you get to a place where you need urgent help and you click on help but only get a blank screen.

6. File format is also an important factor in sourcing your scrapbook program. It must be able to support a wide range of graphic file formats, like JPG and PNG files.

How To Get the Perfect Digital Scrapbooking Supplies Collection

You can find digital scrapbooking content in thousands of places on the Internet. The big question is how to gather all the stuff you might need for your scrapbooking projects without breaking the bank. Plus, when there are so many digital scrapbooking supplies to choose from, how do you pick the ones that are right for you?

The good news is that many digital kits on the Internet are sold at a great value or even shared for free. You can download high-quality professional kits for five dollars or less from digital scrapbooking sites. Many professional and amateur designers even share some of their work for free as long as you agree to use the items for your personal use only (in other words, you aren't reselling the items or the pages you make with them).

However, there may be a whole lot of kits out there, but you still have to figure out which ones are right for you. Simply stocking up on everything you find isn't necessarily the best plan. You're going to want top-notch designs and flexibility, plus you don't want to download a whole of pile of things you'll never look at again.

1. The first thing to do to develop a versatile scrapbooking supply collection is to plan out the sort of themes you are drawn to, as in Wedding, Halloween, Boy Birthday, Travel, and so forth. Be sure to leave room for a few "neutral" kits that don't have a specific theme as these can be used in a whole bunch of scrapbook projects. Do a search for these themes, and then you can spend your energy on judging the quality and style of the digital items that you find.

2. Step Two is to keep in mind the kinds of scrapbooking items that make a great layout: paper scraps, background papers, embellishments, shapes, etc. The best kits will include all or the majority of these elements. A digital pack that offers all of these elements with a coordinating theme and style is a smart way to spend your money.

3. Remember that the best digital scrapbooking supply sites show you "what's in the box" by listing exactly what's included in each kit they sell. Preferably, you will also be shown images of the elements that are included in your kit, allowing you to view what you get before your buy, and also to decide if the style of the kit suits your taste. Nobody wants to spend money or precious time on downloading content that isn't at all like you thought it would be.

4. Some kits come with coordinating theme pages, plopper/quick pages or editable templates. Editable templates are by far your best value here as you have the option to "tweak" the layout's pre-fab design. You can also use an editable template over and over again, tweaking it each time to keep your pages looking fresh and original.

5. Don't forget how important it is to have a really good quality scrapbooking program when building a smart collection of scrapbooking elements. There are wonderful programs out there that let you alter the color, shape, and even the "texture" of your paper scraps and elements. The pay off for you is that you can constantly transform your embellishments and papers, giving them a whole different look to suit every new project.

6. If you want a real "steal", look for mega content packs that include the work of multiple designers. Mega packs come with themes, editable-templates and coordinating kits complete with backgrounds, paper scraps, embellishments, and shapes. Not only do you get everything you need to build great pages, you get a variety of styles when a number of different designers have contributed to the pack.

7. Remember that your scrapbooking software can also play a crucial part in putting together your content collection. Choose a program that offers a great-looking content pack that includes all the necessary elements for scrapbooking. Ideally, your program will come with templates that you can edit, and complete scrapbooking kits so that the task of making stylish pages is a snap.

The bottom line: take a moment to plan the scrapbook projects you want to make. Then, look for suitable kits that include all the components of a scrapbook page in a coordinating style. Stretch your dollar further by looking for editable templates, and digital scrapbooking software that lets you creatively alter your scrapbooking content.