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Kayla Lamoreaux joins us to talk about how things were “back in the day” of digital scrapbooking. We all share memories of how things used to be, how things have evolved (and how it’s different from what we expected back then), and where we expect the digital scrapbooking industry is headed next.
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Joining the Discussion:
Kayla Lamoreaux
Peppermint Granberg
Katie Nelson
Steph
Picks:
Peppermint: IFTT.com
Katie: batch export to tiff for PSE
Kayla: ScanCafe
Steph: podcast app for iPhone
What a great show! I’ve only been a digital scrapbooker since 2009, so I love hearing about “the good old days”.
I actually haven’t finished listening to the show yet, but I had to stop and chime in about the interaction that Steph mentioned. I think that’s absolutely true, and I think the biggest reason is that scrapbooking is in and of itself such an emotional hobby. With such a push for honest journaling and real-life layouts, we become connected to the pages we create, and that spills over into feeling a connection to the person who designed the products. Plus, since digital scrapbookers are by nature sort of tech-y (that’s a word, right?) we don’t have the same hangups about social media and online friendships like many others do.
So interesting to hear about the evolution of digital scrapbooking. Goes to show that we should be open to all possibilities
Kayla’s thought about being able to buy by the piece, would be really cool. I think it depends on how people scrap…
In the paper world, there are kit scrappers, who like to have the whole collection where everything matches. But there’s plenty of other paper scrappers who pick and choose whatever they like and that’s why we can buy single sheets of paper, etc.
I wonder if digital scrapbookers… scrap differently and that is why our products are sold differently? Or is it really the case of technology not being there yet?
Basic Grey – digital designs can be purchased piece by piece. If you go to their website and look at collections you can just buy the items you want.
Love reminiscing with you guys! Your comments about getting to know the dedicated layout artist over the past couple of years reminded me of an experience from my paper days. A local scrapbook store had a layout a day contest. Each month you had to take in your completed layouts to be counted by the assistant manager. So she looked at EVERY layout I did that year (more than 700). To this day we still stop and chat when we pass each other in the grocery store because of that connect we shared.
But I see similar connections in our industry now. More than once I’ve looked at a layout in a gallery and thought, “those aren’t her kids”, so I’ve gone on to read in the credits that it was a RAK for someone. When I went to my first digi-scrap meet up my DH asked if I was afraid it might be dangerous meeting someone “from the internet”. But I wasn’t. I’d seen dozens or in some cases HUNDREDS of layouts of these ladies lives…their families.
That’s one of the thinks I love about digital scrapbooking — I’ve made wonderful friends who “live in my computer”.
Thanks ladies!
I’m fairly new to the digi world, and I would love to see some visuals to go with this episode – maybe on the Daily Digi blog? Some pages to demonstrate the evolution would be great, what was trendy, what was considered “must do” and “must not”.
I bet I’m not the only newcomer who would enjoy seeing that.
I would love to see some pages too!
Loving this episode..and Kayla.. you are my Lightroom guru! I’ve been digi scrapping since early 2005 and have really noticed how much things have changed.
Two marked directions of late are the simplification of our pages (eg Project Life) and I guess this is probably a reflection the decluttered style of our home decore. The other direction that is huge right now is digital art journaling and I think for those that have simplified their digi scrapping, they have picked up on the digi art journal journey which allows for more creative expression with no photos necessary.
In the last 2 years I’ve been mixing up my digital scrapping, art and Project Life with getting back to painting, drawing and working with mixed media. And most interestingly, I have spent more on real scrapping/art supplies for the ‘real’ stuff I am doing. Stamps, stencils, inks, patterned papers, punches along with real brushes, paints, crayons and more. Many others I know are going down this same road.
I started in Photoshop Elements 2 ….my favorite designer when I started out was the amazing Mo Jackson (who Katie mentions in this show) and basically I hung out in MOLAND for the next 5 years. The community there was so generous and friendly.. and I learned so much. Slowly progressed to CS3 and am currently working in the Beta version of CS6.
Along the way I have learned so much, Lighroom, Illustrator, how to take better photos, design digital products, make screencast, create blogs, build websites and so much more. And along with all the great online friends I have made along the way… learning all this cool stuff has been awesome and probably the best part for me. This is all down to discovering digital scrapping online all those years ago.
Thanks for all the inspiration and the great topics you discuss here on the digi show. I always look forward to the show and picks of the week..and the opportunities to discover more.
PS Just sharing my pick of the week… LOVE IT!
http://www.picmonkey.com/
so cool.. ideal for Project Life, and non digi scrappers also. Free, quick, simple photo editing and photo collage on your PC.. no software to download.
I loved listening to this show and the early days in digi. It made me remember my early days in MS Publisher. In 2004 I found Shutterfly and thought they were awesome. I was dying to make my son’s baby book with Photoshop but thought that was only for graphic designers. I think it was in 2007 when I was reading Shutterfly’s blog and they introduced me to the term “digital scrapbook”. It was like the skies opened up! What I wanted to do had a name and other people were doing it too! I bought Elements but had no idea how to use it. Somehow I stumbled on Patty Debowski and bought her book. Then I made my way to jessicasprague.com and that was it. I took all her Photoshop classes and I was “Up and Running”. Literally. It is fun to see the evolution of the hobby and the business. I love it that you always talk about both aspects :O) Still, every week when I listen to the Digishow, I get a bit of that same rush I first had when I read “digital scrapbook” on Shutterfly – what I love has and name and other people love it too! Thanks ladies!!!
Loved this show! As someone new to the digi world it was interesting to hear how communities and layouts have evolved. I do find it challenging to find a community now that so much of discussions have moved away from forums. Being new it is hard not having one place to join in and get to know people.
I really wanted to comment about the future of digital only layouts.
I read this post a few weeks ago at Design House Digital about mobile mini albums and it really struck me as a great way to share layouts. http://www.designhousedigital.com/content/blog/mobile-mini-album/
I find that I’m often scrapping my niece and nephews along with our own stories. I think this would be a great way to share those layouts with them or for a grandparent brag book. While I will probably always create a full resolution I like these alternatives.
I’ve also been thinking about doing a “family cookbook” for Christmas and most of my family has iPads. After reading this post I thought maybe they’d be more likely to use and enjoy it if it was in a digital format. I know Blurb lets you design a book and then either print it or have it converted to iBook format. I think you are all on the cutting edge of what might be next.
Thanks again for your time and energy!
Re the future of digital scrapbooking: Reneé Peerson is teaching in iScrapIt class for scrapping on the iPad, making pages that are shareable digitally as well as printable: Here’s the class description: http://www.reneepearson.com/classes/iscrapit.php
Patti you are totally one of my favorite people -you always find the coolest things!
A trip down memory lane. I was involved in that early yahoo group too. I was so happy when stores started opening, they would only offer a few new items each week and I would buy them all.
The drama, oh the drama back then! The forums could be very mean, I am glad that I do not see that any more. Stores would split because of differences, stores would get a bad reputation because of the forums, etc.
I loved Mo’s kits. Kayla, I have tons of your creations. In part of my organization process, I save kits by store (and each element is tagged), embarrassingly enough I have kits from over 200 stores. It is interesting to read through the list and remember that store and the designer’s there. I need to go and delete all of the old stuff, but I don’t take the time because that takes me away from scrapping or BUYING NEW KITS! I have a 4 TB external hard drive so space is not an issue.
I love this podcast! Thanks for the fun, giggles, and upbeat program.
If you have my designs I am dying… a slow and painful death!
I look back on that stuff and realize why I now teach! 
So fun to listen and reminisce along with you guys about the “old” days! I started mid 2005. I remember getting three CD collections from Digital Design Essentials and thinking “I am now set for life!” LOL I felt like with all the different kits and options for recoloring in photoshop, I’d never need to buy anything again.
I also remember not too long after that finding some sites with downloads and thinking how cool it was to instantly get my stuff instead of waiting for the CD to come in the mail!
Another thing that’s been fun to see is the growth of templates. At first I couldn’t even fathom that someone could sell them and make money at it… they were all just freebies in the beginning. They all came in various shades of gray and were pretty basic. It’s been fun to see the explosion of template designers and the wide variety of styles the offer.
Thanks for another fun show!
Thanks for another great show! I started digital scrapping in 2008 after seeing a short segment on digiscrapping on a TV show. I made two albums with a piece of software called Scrapbook Factory. I thought it was great at first, but when I tried PSE I discovered that I could do so much more!
I wish I had gone digi sooner! Then I wouldn’t have so many huge paper scrapbooks on my shelf.
Sarah DG
This was another great show. I love listening to your podcast.
Katie, last year I took a class at Digital Scrappers for organizing digital supplies. A lot of the people in the class recommended a software called MysticThumbs to view the thumbnails of their templates, PSD and PSP files. I bought the software and I love it. Once installed you automatically see the thumbnails, just like any other on your computer. It cost $25.00 and was well worth the money for me.
http://mysticcoder.net/mysticthumbs.html
I always consider myself a “newbie” to digi scrapping because I was hybrid up until last year…but listening to the show made me realize I always had a toe in the digi world. 2Peas and Jessica Sprague were probably my gateways to it.
I want to second Kayla’s wish—Open your $1 store, Peppermint, and I’ll be the first in line. I have a lot of your kits, but there’s always an embellishment or paper in the ones I don’t have that I would happily pay $1 to own. I get overwhelmed with too much supplies, even digi supplies, and own buy what I already know I’ll use specifically. There has to be a way to make it easier to offer digi supplies since the work of designing/creating has already been done??
I can’t even imagine how many hours it would take me to list items on an element-by-element basis. I’ve been running over the logistics of it in my head, trying to figure out how it could be done in existing software options. I think smoke started coming out of my ears at one point. With the sheer volume of product I put out, broken down into smaller pieces, my store would be hundreds of pages long and impossible to navigate within our current software (XCart). There are ways to offer variables on a product, but no way to direct that to individual downloads based on variables. I’d probably crash the software trying to achieve that. LOL
Maybe thinking about ALL the product makes it undo-able, but I’d still like to see a OLB Ala-Cart store, even with just 10 items, your favorite embellishments or products you see pop up often in people’s work, priced at $1 a pop.
Like that cute camera in a recent kit, or the three trees fro Metro. Every few months you could add ten more.
Maybe it will become the trend:)
I liked the idea of “color pack” elements mixed from different kits with some of the basics too. Since I’m new to digi I don’t have all of your older kits so maybe that would be a good place to start.
I have to agree with this Peppermint– I know that it would be a lot of work, but I think you would get a lot of interest and sales out of it.
Maybe even something like a monthly “paper” pack of all of the papers you’ve made that month, or a monthly embellishment pack?
I always like “The Way We Weren’t” packs from Allison Pennington– I could see you doing something like that. Or embellishment packs! I LOVE your embellishments. LOVE LOVE.
…. related to Katie’s discussion about the thumbnails, she mentioned converting the files to .tiff. What is the difference between a .psd file and a .tiff? I work in Elements and .psd is the default file, so I wonder if there are advantages/disadvantages of either one?
You can save a layered TIFF file from Photoshop or Elements. When saved with the right settings (LZW and ZIP compression) it’s usually considerably smaller than a PSD file. And, as Katie mentioned, it has a thumbnail built in which Windows can “see.”
However, a layered TIFF file saved from Photoshop will opened as a flattened file in a non-Photoshop program. So, that’s the down side. I save all my layouts as TIF files.
Thanks Wendy! I remember that your powerscrap actions have instructions for saving as a .tiff. Does that mean that you don’t have to save a separate .jpg for printing? Or does that depend on the printer?
Yes, that’s going to depend on your printer. Most online printers have moved to RGB JPGs for file size. TIFs, and layered TIFs especially, are going to be huge. Traditional printers that do large runs may still require CMYK TIFs, but I don’t know of any photobook (cards, calendars, scrapbook pages) printers that require that.
So, yeah, if you’re printing, you should probably save a JPG. I usually go ahead and save mine when I do my layout. Then, when I go to print, I double check for bleed, but usually I’m already good to go.
McAmy… thanks so much for asking this question… I’ve heard Katie (or someone else) talk about this before but still don’t fully grasp the concept.
After taking Katie’s Power Scrapping class at BPS, I adopted Katie’s idea of organizing Previews of templates but I put them into a separate folder entitled – ‘Template Previews’. I didn’t organize the Preview folder by # of photos ~ I wanted to be able to peruse all my templates at a glance. However, in my ‘Templates’ folder, I did separate the actual .psd templates into folders by number of photos/blocks. (this is probably as clear as mud). I recently revisited Katie’s organizational blog post & realized that she has put her previews in the same folder as her templates. So then I started debating about changing my organizational style. NOW, the TIFF idea has surfaced.
Sorry to be so long-winded, but I am about to change all my PSD templates to TIFF (hey … if it good enough for Katie…). BUT pls could someone reassure me that when I do all this, I will only have 1 file (the TIFF one) that will serve as both a Preview and an actual Template (with all the functions of a PSD file). I only use PSE (8.0 on my older desktop Mac & 9.0 on my newer iMac). (I keep all my digi-supplies on an EXD – which shouldn’t affect anything).
As a side-note… when I download files on my Mac, they are automatically unzipped into folders. Don’t know if that makes a difference than being a Windows user. Another side note… I am amazed that the digi show folks are PC/Windows users & not Mac users.
Thanks for any clarification. Katie… I’m about to purchase the Batch Export script.
I just have to say I’d recommend ACDSee from the Mac App Store ($12.99) – you can see everything in there and because it works like a browser you still stay close to the file structure but also have the option of viewing your digital supply files from several different contexts.
That said I also store my templates in TIF format because of the smaller file size. However, I view them in organization software because it transcends the restrictions of file folders and allows you to categorize/tag your items under several different contexts – i.e. just template or 1 photo template, 2 photo template, etc. Yet your files always stay in the same folder in your hard drive.
Hope that helps.
Hey Kayla… thanks. I’m in/was your Digi Flow class & looked at taking the ACDSee Mac class from you as well. I took a quick look at the app, but the reviews weren’t great. Granted these reviews were not from a digi supply perspective. I know it’s not a big $$ investment but am more concerned about wasting time learning/re-organizing all my digi supplies.
thanks for your help & patience. ps- still in iPhoto, got ‘talked’ out of upgrading to Aperature because I don’t take photos in RAW, only large res. jpegs. Now I’m considering Lightroom but not sure I need all that …
I keep a separate iPHoto library for my templates on my Mac. I can tag and folder-ize all my templates for 1-photo, 2-photos and I can use a smart album for my favorite designers.
I have a photo iPhoto library and a content iPhoto library. Works great–except for black elements which aren’t visible on the black background.
On my PC, I use Windows Live PHoto Gallery, which is free, comes with my computer and I can sort that way, too.
That said, I bought ACDSee for the PC, mostly for the duplicate finder (I can see you designers, and how often you reuse that staple in your kits!! LOL). Am tempted to buy the class to see how I could/should be using ACDSee.
Also, for viewing *.psd files, I bought a widget that allows me to see the *.psd files on my PC. It’s the bomb diggety.
You can batch convert to TIF from within Elements. Just go to FILE>PROCESS MULTIPLE FILES and choose your source folder, and then under File Type, choose TIF.
For PSCS users, I have a batch convert action with tutorial that’s free right now:
http://shop.scrapbookgraphics.com/ACTION-Convert-It-PSCS-Only.html
Katie I just found an awesome pick of the week for you. Limited edition Moleskine Lego Journal to write all your scrappy ideas in!
http://www.amazon.com/Moleskine-Limited-Edition-Brick-Plain/dp/8866130095/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338316814&sr=8-1
I actually bought it a few weeks ago
Hubby keeps asking me what on earth I need it for. lol!
That is Hilarious you are a mind reader!!!
O.M.G!!! I just downloaded the free 30-day trial of Rad Labs…it is so fun and easy to use!!! I think I may just have to buy it. How long will the discount code be available?
Thanks for the recommendation, Steph!
Sarah DG
Peppermint – This is off topic but I literally LOL’d when I was on Amazon today. I purchased a new pack of Becky Higgins page protectors and then was scanning the “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought” section and there along with the various scrapbook supplies I see the Luxor Professional The Wet Brush Detangling Shower Brush Hair Brushes http://www.amazon.com/Luxor-Professional-Detangling-Shower-Brushes/dp/B0072CUW02/ref=pd_sim_ac_53
You have a lot of influence on us. You should talk to the company about getting a cut. (I bought two by the way).
Thats funny! I think I had both of those things in my cart together! I’ve recommended that brush to so many people, do bad Peppermint can’t get some kind of residual sale royalties!
I just have to say I feel validated! Love that my ideas aren’t crazy!
See Peppermint lots of people need a private dancer ***Ahem*** designer.
Peppermint, if you need an “assistant” or “intern” for your erm, “private dancing” I think you should let us know– there would be many willing people to help out, in my opinion, the greatest designer in our industry. **raises hand** **shoves someone to be first in line***
I just got an email that Lightroom issued the Version 4.1 update and among the changes:
Save pages as JPEGs from the Book module.
Edit in external editors as JPEG (for programs that can’t use TIFF/PSD)
I took a quick peek and yes, I could save my practice book as a jpg. It saved each page as a jpg. I opened one of the pages in Photoshop and it came in at the book page size (about 8×10). You can do 12X12 pages also (and a few other sizes). There are a LOT of book page templates. I don’t have any more time to play with it but it looks promising as another way to make quick pages in Lightroom
I have been dying to get Lightroom 4 for just this purpose! In Lightroom 3, it did not support drop shadows which was a problem for me. I had started to work on some collage products for Lightroom but it required pulling them into Photoshop to add the drop shadows after exporting. I’m also wondering if it adds bleed to the exported pages.
And, I don’t want to buy Lightroom 4 knowing it’s going to be part of the Creative Cloud, hopefully soon!
Another great episode, so fun to think back to how basic things were in the beginning!
Regarding us voyeurs who like to know a little about the designers, I can’t speak for others of course, but I know I feel a little less guilty when I purchase from someone I “know”, and I feel good about helping her help support her family. It certainly doesn’t keep me from buying from the more quiet and private designers but it feels great to feel like you went down to the local mom & pop store and bought from your neighbor.
LOVE the idea of breaking out the kits by colors or types of elements. The paypal payment issue could be resolved by having people purchase credits. I’d have no problem paying $10 and the whittling away at that credit over time.
And while we are talking pie in the sky ideas, I would LOVE to have a check list, by designer of all the kits they have created so I don’t buy duplicates. I’m almost afraid to buy from my favorites anymore for fear that I’ve already bought it! (hopefully I’m not alone in buying faster than I can unzip and organize!)
I wish I’d known about this batch export of tiff before I spent 2 days changing files!
At my store (Design House Digital) if you are logged in and looking at a kit, it will tell you that you’ve purchased the kit, when you purchased it, and has a link to download it again. Frankly, I’m not sure why all stores don’t do this!
Love it!
I love this feature of Design House Digital, wish all stores had this.
Loved this show! I entered digi scrapping in the spring of 2006 and really loved listening to DiSc Talk Radio with Deann McDaniel. Is this the podcast you were talking about? I loved hearing real voices that went with the designers I held in high esteem! I’m not sure whatever happened to the show, although I know it ended around the time We Are Storytellers opened (which I wish was still open!). When I was beginning I purchased and used a lot of video tutorials from Scrap Girls. They were really the first store I frequented and those videos got me going. There have certainly been ebbs and flows to my scrapping productivity over the past six years. The funny thing I’m finding is that I’m slowly making my way back to paper scrapping, something I haven’t done in more than a decade! Anyway, I’m rambling now and just wanted to say, thanks for a great trip down memory lane!:)
I had to chime in on the comment about selling individual items vs selling a kit. I am both a paper and a digital scrapbooker (I’m still a newbie and only have been digi scrapping for about 5 months, although you wouldn’t know it by the number of supplies in my stash), digital supplies are so much cheaper than paper supplies that even if I only liked a couple items in a kit I would generally buy the kit and mix and match with other kits I already have (so Peppermint, if everyone is like me than they are paying $6 for one red ribbon, except that I love everything in your kits, so you don’t count). In paper scrapping an individual item can easily cost $5, a good example is the manilla tags with handsewn stitching, I saw one that cost $4, whereas I bought a whole kit that included one of those in the digi world for $6. I also think it would be much harder to differentiate your items if they were sold individually, I purchase a kit because of how everything is presented as a pacakge. Lastly, I just want to say how much I love your show, I had dabbled a bit in digital but once I found your show I jumped right in and have already converted two of my paper scrapping friends to the wonders of digital (and I’m working on the rest).
Scrap Girls started selling “Presentation Digital Scrapbooks” http://store.scrapgirls.com/category/208/Presentation-Digital-Scrapbook-1-2-3 Basically, they are templates designed to produce a slide show for tv, smart phone, etc. They’ve also been promoting the 8.5×11 size for the same purpose – ease of presentation on our “screen” lives. Blessings!
I didn’t read all the comments so not sure if it has been pointed out.
I’d like the make a correction in Steph’s statement that “downcast provides this shortcut that allows you to play it without having to log in and get to the app.” This is the default feature of iPhone and the shortcut is available to all apps that utilize the audio and/or video function, such as the default Music player, Youtube, videos from your photo album, or any media player on Safari. Whatever was played on your iPhone last, the shortcut will take you to that app.
This is my favorite thus far (have been listening ‘backwards’ from October 2012) as I am an ‘oldie,’ too, from February 2003 (found SBB approximately 2 weeks after Amy opened it) & I remember this stuff so vividly still. (I remember you, Steph, from being on Gina’s CT and when you were doing fonts!) The industry has changed so very much and as much as I love where it’s gone, there are also aspects (and so many ex-scrappers) that I miss. I still big fat puffy heart Veronica (carver’s) layouts even though I don’t think she has scrapped in years.
I can only imagine what it will be like in another 10 years…
Thanks for the walk down Memory Lane!