| Distinctive digital scrapbooking downloads can seriously | | | | your project. |
| enhance your layout design, save you time, and | | | | Why JPG and PNG? |
| reduce your hobby costs. If you've not already figured | | | | Have you ever wondered why some items come in |
| out how, read on! | | | | JPG and PNG versions? You're not alone! |
| Consider this scenario: | | | | But there is a straight forward answer... |
| - You just started digital scrapbooking and downloaded | | | | JPG files are often used for backgrounds and for |
| a few papers, kits and templates | | | | printable digital products such as alphabets, |
| - Your friend recently mentioned there are lots of sites | | | | embellishments, or transparencies to be used in paper |
| with freebies | | | | scrapbooks. The resulting print quality should be good. |
| - You've Googled "digital scrapbook free" and found a | | | | Digital scrapbookers use PNG files because these can |
| bunch of sites such as freedigitalscrapbooking.com, | | | | be "stacked" up to create multi-layer scrapbooking |
| shabbyprincess.com, scrapbookflair.com, | | | | layouts, just as you would with physical products. Its |
| cottagearts.net, scrapgirls.com, etc. But which one(s) to | | | | the transparent background that PNG files have which |
| choose? How can you tell if they are any good? | | | | enables this stacking without any background being |
| You've already spent quite a bit of time and money on | | | | visible. |
| digital products, but found the print quality wasn't what | | | | However, PNG files seem to present a challenge to |
| you'd hoped for, and not all templates could easily be | | | | some types of printer. So if you want to print your |
| personalized with the embellishments you wanted to | | | | PNG layout files, you may get better results printing |
| use. | | | | PNG files from your photo-editing software, or even |
| Skills you need: | | | | just importing to MS Word and printing from there. |
| Firstly, you need to be able to find and download | | | | Secondly, you need to be able to use your |
| suitable digital products with good quality design and | | | | photo-editing software effectively to create your page |
| images you can use easily for your own purposes. | | | | layouts. |
| This means being clear about what type of digital | | | | For usage details of your software, you'll need to |
| product you are looking for. Some downloadable | | | | spend some time working through tutorials, but here's |
| products are designed to be printed for use in | | | | what to do when you start by downloading a digital |
| traditional scrapbooking projects. The main benefits are | | | | scrapbooking template: |
| the convenience of download delivery and low cost - | | | | Downloads often come compressed as zip files. |
| but remember the price of paper and ink! | | | | These have been saved up in a special way that |
| Other products are designed for use in computer | | | | reduces the files' size, so making them a little quicker to |
| scrapbooking projects where the page layout is | | | | download. To use them, you must "unzip" them to |
| designed and created using software, and the resulting | | | | restore the files to their original state. |
| pages or album can be shared in print and online. | | | | Download your file to your hard drive, then copy your |
| Digital papers, sketches, digital templates, layouts and | | | | zipped files to a disk for backup. In Windows XP, right |
| digital scrapbooking kits are all different types of | | | | click the file on your hard drive and choose "Extract |
| product, and serve different purposes. For example, | | | | All" from the pop-up menu. For other platforms, just |
| you can get page layout ideas from sketches, which | | | | Google "unzip files" and you'll find links to various unzip |
| you can re-create in your scrapbooking software, and | | | | utilities. If you are a MAC user, make sure that you get |
| use in either digital or paper projects. | | | | one that is MAC compliant. |
| But with a downloadable digital scrapbooking template, | | | | Then you can open the template in your photo-editing |
| you can open the file in your scrapbooking package or | | | | program and add your papers, photos and |
| photo-editing software, add your photos, | | | | embellishments to get the best of your digital |
| embellishments and journaling to complete your | | | | scrapbooking downloads. |
| personalized layout, and so get off to a fast start with | | | | |