Digital Scrapbooking Is Not An Oxymoron

It sounded like an oxymoron to me when I first heard the words.  I always thought ascrapbook was made of paper pages with printed photographs secured by ring binders, and digital scrapbooking was only effected electronically through computers.  As far as I knew, the “old” way was really what scrapbooking was all about.  But some say digital scrapbooking is the better way to archive memories.  Many hobbyist use both, and serious memory collectors have developed methods that work for them and are dedicated to the process.  Let’s take an introductory and cursory look at what some call digi-scrapbooking and how it complements traditional scrapbooking.

Digital scrapbooking is the use of digital means to capture , organize, enhance and present material in a scrapbook like fashion.  Digital photographs can be taken and used, or a film based camera for the photography with the resulting print photographs can be scanned and converted to digital media. The resulting digital photo files would be used for the digital collection.  To organize , manipulate and enhance the pictures, software programs are used.  The software used for working with digital images is called desktop publishing software.

Learn About Digital Scrapbooking

Digital Photograph of a Train

Here’s how it’s done: Assuming you’re using a digital camera, the photos would be taken and then downloaded from your camera to your computer.  The cables that are necessary for downloading the images to your computer are usually included with the camera kit when you purchase it .  If you don’t have the cables to download the photos, any camera retailer can assist your with locating what you need.  If your photos are taken with film and already developed, they can be scanned, also called “digitized,” and then used in the same way photos taken with a digital camera are used.  The resulting digital images can be manipulated using desktop publishing software to work nicely in you digital scrapbook.  If you need assistance with digital photography or digital scanners, search Google for the words “digital photography” or “digital scanner.”  It’s a broad topic with an enormous amount of information available on the web.

Next, you may want to obtain digital scrapbooking software.  Whether you purchase digital scrapbooking kits or obtain free resources on the web, it’s a good way to get started in scrapbooking.  Backgrounds, pages, page layouts and designs, embellishments all are available.  Whether you save your digital scrapbook and never print it, or if  you print and save it in a book as a paper collection, or if you save them on a disk or share them via photo sharing websites, all avenues can accomplish what you may be desiring.  It’s a matter of preference, and one method is not better than the next.  Whether your interest is genealogy or photography or the handicraft of constructing physical pages, each can be accomplished using elements of  digital scrapbooking.
Old Photograph Digitized: Rua 15 de Novembro, antiga rua da Imperatriz e Praça - 1914

So what will you do with the digital designs you create? Will you store them online or on digital media like compact discs, or make them available for enjoyment by printing? If you print, what type of paper will you use? That’s where scrapbooking kits come in. The kits contain an assortment of images that can be used to build the scrapbook page as you choose. However, you need to know how to use imaging software to manipulate the images. YouTube tutorials on how to use the various software tools are plentiful, and if you’re interested in learning I’d recommend that you view a few of them first before making a software purchase. After all, they’re free to view and you can get a sense of what’s involved. If the demonstrations are not intimidating, then possibly a desktop publishing program could be a good option.