Digital Scrapbooking
There are no old photographs languishing in shoeboxes for scrapbookers. They preserve memories by surrounding the photographs with ribbons, tags, glitter, and other embellishments, lovingly turning each photograph into a beautiful memory. The fast-growing scrapbooking industry captures $2.5 billion dollars annually, and now many traditional scrapbookers, as well as most new-comers, are moving their craft into the digital arena.
Digital Scrapbooking by Sally Beacham and Lori Davis' provides an overview of digital scrapbooking for new and intermediate scrapbookers. It's also a comprehensive tutorial that shows readers how to design and create digital scrapbooks.
The book assumes that the reader understands how to use a computer and has at least a rudimentary understanding of image editing software, but it walks the reader through many tasks like removing red-eye from photographs. It covers five of the most popular image editors: Ulead Photo Impact XL, Jasc Paint Shop Pro 8.1, Microsoft Digital Image Pro 9, Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0, and Serif Photo Plus 9. The authors often list the differences and similarities between these programs. Unfortunately, there are many versions of these software programs and most of them already have newer versions than those used in the book, so the detailed instruction may or may not work with your particular image editing software.
That said, the book does an excellent job of explaining the similarities and differences of traditional and digital scrapbooking as well as their pros and cons. It provides information on the basics of digital photography like megapixels, focus, lenses, and resolution. There is also a chapter on advanced photo techniques including cropping, photo corrections, manually adjusting color, creating grayscale photos, and other colorizing techniques.
The book's strength lies in its many chapters that act as a complete tutorial for digital scrapbooking: Basic Layout Guidelines, Adding Graphic Elements, Text Techniques, Enhancing Your Pages with Filters, and Creating Your Own Elements. For instance, in the Creating Your Own Elements chapter, the authors explain how to use clip art, how to simulate cardstock, vellum, torn paper and other backgrounds, and how to create mats, frames, and tags. They even explain how to simulate ribbons, fibers, brads, and eyelets. Additional chapters include information on how to print scrapbook pages, how to post them to the web, and how to share them with others.
The book is nicely laid out with over 250 pages of information and color photos. The accompanying CD contains several application-specific digital imaging tutorials, several free and shareware filters, templates, and a compilation of about 100 different fonts. All are useful, especially for beginners in digital scrapbooking.
The examples of digital scrapbook pages in the book are just enticing enough to make you want to begin digital scrapbooking if you are not already a scrapbooking aficionado. If you're a traditional scrapbooker, the tips and techniques for creating digital scrapbooks will give you all that you need to move over to the digital world.
Specifications
Title: Digital Scrapbooking
Authors: Sally Beacham and Lori J. Davis
Paperback: 296 pages
Publisher: Thomson Course Technology
ISBN: 1592005039
Price: $29.99
Additional Resources
Digital Scrapbooking at Barnes & Noble
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