Digital scrapbooking

Last updated

Digital scrapbooking is the term for the creation of a new 2D artwork by re-combining various graphic elements. It is a form of scrapbooking that is done using a personal computer, digital or scanned photos and computer graphics software. It is a relatively new form of the traditional print scrapbooking.

Contents

Digital scrapbooking kits are available to purchase and download at many websites that specialize in the craft. Kits contain graphics and word-art and are usually themed and color-coordinated. They usually consist of a mix of background images and "cut out" images containing alpha channels. Once a kit has been download to the computer, it can then be used over and over again to make new scrapbook pages (scrapbook layouts) within the software program that one chooses to use, often in combination with the users's own family photographs, scanned keepsakes and other elements scanned on a flatbed scanner. Scanning is usually done at 300dpi, to make the resulting images suitable for print.

Kits are sometimes licensed differently from the sort of traditional royalty-free stock of the sort that can be purchased per-item at online stock photography sites. Some kit packs will be wholly royalty-free, but some kit makers may restrict usage to non-commercial work only. Some may specifically forbid the sale of commercial greetings cards and gift tags that may be made with their kits. Licensing may vary from kit to kit, even from the same maker. Some kits include re-colored public domain material. In contrast to stock, creators of digital scrapbooking kits often require a credit or byline to indicate that their image elements have been used in a new creation.

Some artistic individuals combine digital scrapbooking with traditional scrapbooking to create what's known as hybrid scrapbooking. Hybrid scrapbooking involves creating layouts on the computer using digital supplies that will then be printed and combined with traditional supplies such as buttons, ribbons and other elements.

The traditional scrapbooking market appears to have declined in the USA since 2010, probably due to the recession, and digital scrapbooking (being potentially a much cheaper form of scrapbooking) may have increased accordingly.

Digital Scrapbooking can also be done online by uploading photos to a scrapbooking website.

Digital scrapbooking software

The main software programs that are typically used are Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Elements, paint.net (freeware), Filter Forge, Corel Paintshop Pro, and GIMP. Journaling is done within the software programs to accompany images and to create digital storybooks, or scrapbooks, which are then published in photo books via various popular print-on-demand services, printed and added to traditional scrapbooks, burned to CDs or posted on the Web.

Digital scrapbooking supplies

Digital scrapbooking supplies are downloaded from the Internet and then stored on a computer or external hardrive, DVD or CD media to be used as needed. There are paid and free digital scrapbooking supplies available. The supplies range from full coordinated kits containing papers, embellishments and ribbons to create unique layout pages, to "quick pages", flattened files containing page layout templates that have already been designed and only need personal photos added to them to complete the page.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

Graphic design the visual design of content in different media

Graphic design is the process of visual communication and problem-solving through the use of typography, photography, and illustration. The field is considered a subset of visual communication and communication design, but sometimes the term "graphic design" is used synonymously. Graphic designers create and combine symbols, images and text to form visual representations of ideas and messages. They use typography, visual arts, and page layout techniques to create visual compositions. Common uses of graphic design include corporate design, editorial design, wayfinding or environmental design, advertising, web design, communication design, product packaging, and signage.

The Portable Document Format (PDF) is a file format developed by Adobe in the 1990s to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. Based on the PostScript language, each PDF file encapsulates a complete description of a fixed-layout flat document, including the text, fonts, vector graphics, raster images and other information needed to display it. PDF was standardized as ISO 32000 in 2008, and no longer requires any royalties for its implementation.

Adobe Photoshop Raster graphics editing software

Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the industry standard not only in raster graphics editing, but in digital art as a whole. The software's name has thus become a generic trademark, leading to its usage as a verb although Adobe discourages such use. Photoshop can edit and compose raster images in multiple layers and supports masks, alpha compositing and several color models including RGB, CMYK, CIELAB, spot color, and duotone. Photoshop uses its own PSD and PSB file formats to support these features. In addition to raster graphics, this software has limited abilities to edit or render text and vector graphics, as well as 3D graphics and video. Its feature set can be expanded by plug-ins; programs developed and distributed independently of Photoshop that run inside it and offer new or enhanced features.

Raster graphics editor computer program to make and change "bitmap" or "raster" graphics images

A raster graphics editor is a computer program that allows users to create and edit images interactively on the computer screen and save them in one of many "bitmap" or "raster" formats such as JPEG, PNG, GIF.

Desktop publishing creation of documents using page layout skills on a personal computer

Desktop publishing (DTP) is the creation of documents using page layout software on a personal ("desktop") computer. It was first used almost exclusively for print publications, but now it also assists in the creation of various forms of online content. Desktop publishing software can generate layouts and produce typographic-quality text and images comparable to traditional typography and printing. Desktop publishing is also the main reference for digital typography. This technology allows individuals, businesses, and other organizations to self-publish a wide variety of content, from menus to magazines to books, without the expense of commercial printing.

Color grading enhancing the color of a motion picture, video image, or still image

Color grading is the process of improving the appearance of an image for presentation in different environments on different devices. Various attributes of an image such as contrast, color, saturation, detail, black level, and white point may be enhanced whether for motion pictures, videos, or still images. Color grading and color correction are often used synonymously as terms for this process and can include the generation of artistic color effects through creative blending and compositing of different images. Color grading is generally now performed in a digital process either in a controlled environment such as a color suite, or in any location where a computer can be used in dim lighting.

Image scanner device that optically scans images, printed text, handwriting, or an object, and converts it to a digital image

An image scanner—often abbreviated to just scanner, is a device that optically scans images, printed text, handwriting or an object and converts it to a digital image. Commonly used in offices are variations of the desktop flatbed scanner where the document is placed on a glass window for scanning. Hand-held scanners, where the device is moved by hand, have evolved from text scanning "wands" to 3D scanners used for industrial design, reverse engineering, test and measurement, orthotics, gaming and other applications. Mechanically driven scanners that move the document are typically used for large-format documents, where a flatbed design would be impractical.

Adobe Creative Suite collection of graphic design, video editing, and web development applications

Adobe Creative Suite (CS) is a now-discontinued software suite of graphic design, video editing, and web development applications developed by Adobe Systems. Each edition consisted of several Adobe applications, e.g., Photoshop, Acrobat, Premiere Pro or After Effects, InDesign, and Illustrator that are the industry standard applications for many graphic design positions.

Prepress is the term used in the printing and publishing industries for the processes and procedures that occur between the creation of a print layout and the final printing. The prepress procedure includes the manufacture of a printing plate, image carrier or form, ready for mounting on a printing press, as well as the adjustment of images and texts or the creation of a high-quality print file. In today's prepress shop, the form of delivery from the customer is usually electronic, either a PDF or application files created from such programs as Scribus, Adobe InDesign, Adobe illustrator, or QuarkXPress.

Penciller Artist who works in the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms

A penciller is a collaboration artist who works in creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with focus on primary pencil illustrations, hence the term "penciller".

Bitmap textures are digital images representing a surface, a material, a pattern or even a picture, generated by an artist or designer using a bitmap editor software such as Adobe Photoshop or Gimp or simply by scanning an image and, if necessary, retouching it on a personal computer.

Scrapbooking method for preserving personal and family history in the form of a scrapbook

Scrapbooking is a method of preserving, presenting, and arranging personal and family history in the form of a book, box, or card. Typical memorabilia include photographs, printed media, and artwork. Scrapbook albums are often decorated and frequently contain extensive journal entries or written descriptions. Scrapbooking started in the United Kingdom in the nineteenth century.

Photo album photographs collected in a book

A photographic album, or photo album, is a series of photographic prints collected by an individual person or family in the form of a book. Some book-form photo albums have compartments which the photos may be slipped into; other albums have heavy paper with an abrasive surface covered with clear plastic sheets, on which surface photos can be put. Older style albums often were simply books of heavy paper on which photos could be glued to or attached to with adhesive corners or pages.

Page layout part of graphic design that deals in the arrangement of visual elements on a page

Page layout is the part of graphic design that deals in the arrangement of visual elements on a page. It generally involves organizational principles of composition to achieve specific communication objectives.

Digital "darkroom" is the hardware, software and techniques used in digital photography that replace the darkroom equivalents, such as enlarging, cropping, dodging and burning, as well as processes that don't have a film equivalent.

Graphic art software

Graphic art software is a subclass of application software used for graphic design, multimedia development, stylized image development, technical illustration, general image editing, or simply to access graphic files. Art software uses either raster or vector graphic reading and editing methods to create, edit, and view art.

Adobe Lightroom Photo editing and management software

Adobe Lightroom is a family of image organization and image manipulation software developed by Adobe Systems for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and tvOS. It allows importing/saving, viewing, organizing, tagging, editing, and sharing large numbers of digital images. Unlike Photoshop, Lightroom's edits are always non-destructive by keeping the original image and the edits applied to it saved separately. Despite sharing its name with Adobe Photoshop, it cannot perform many Photoshop functions such as doctoring, rendering text or 3D objects on images, or modifying individual video frames. Lightroom is not a file manager like Adobe Bridge. It cannot operate on files unless they are imported into its database first, and only in recognized image formats.

A storyboard artist creates storyboards for advertising agencies and film productions.

SilverFast A family of software for image scanning and processing.

SilverFast is the name of a family of software for image scanning and processing, including photos, documents and slides, developed by LaserSoft Imaging.

Image editing processes of altering images, digital or traditional photos and add/paste/and cut words

Image editing encompasses the processes of altering images, whether they are digital photographs, traditional photo-chemical photographs, or illustrations. Traditional analog image editing is known as photo retouching, using tools such as an airbrush to modify photographs or editing illustrations with any traditional art medium. Graphic software programs, which can be broadly grouped into vector graphics editors, raster graphics editors, and 3D modelers, are the primary tools with which a user may manipulate, enhance, and transform images. Many image editing programs are also used to render or create computer art from scratch.

References