Photo and
Digi Kit Organization Software
Hello all!
Back again this month to have a little chat with
you all about digital scrapbooking. We all love
to have lots and lots of different kits don't
we. It's like having new toys to play with. Do
you find though there are just a few pieces that
you like to use over and over again? Or a
favorite color that you use in all your
layouts? I know I always find myself using
flowers on my layouts and certainly when I
dabble in making my own kits. We should really
have a good system to store our digi bits and I
am sure most of us have a system, if only
vaguely. I have all my stuff stored on my
external hard drive and when its time to ditch
it I record to DVD for posterity. (Most of these
never again see the light of day as I can't bear
to throw anything away.)
It is a good idea to use Picasa (Google's
free organization software) to initially sort
your goodies, if only into .jpeg, .png, and .gif
formats. Usually most papers are .jpeg and most
elements are .png, so that will help. Then of
course there are the more costly options, such
as commercial software that does much the same
thing. Did you know there is a really good
piece of free software called
FastStone which is very much like ACDSee?
Give it a try and see how much you can use it to
sort your files. Just call up files of type and
you can at least then get all your elements
showing up or your papers. From there you can
tag your favorites so that you have them under
at least two other tags, such as color and
object . So search for paperclips, gold, and
fasteners, and it allows you then to see all
digital elements you have that match those three
tags.
I
have a few tips for you this month on how to
make beautiful layouts with just a few of your
favorite bits and pieces.
Have you tried clustering your elements in one
corner of your main photo?
-
Gather together the different elements and
work with drop shadows to bring depth to
your layout by varying the opacity and the
size and angle. Keep the opacity slightly
darker for the bottom element's shadow, and
work it lighter for each subsequent layer.
-
Use a darker color of your paper to start
with or a grey rather than black which can
be too stark for most layouts.
-
Remember that the further you get away from
the bottom of the layer the slightly more
spread your drop shadow will be.
-
Try
tying the cluster together with a ribbon, or
a ribbon stapled to either side.
You could make frames and mats in blocks under
your photo and over your main background paper.
-
Make a frame of paperclips , saggy in the
middle for that realistic touch, strew
petals or small flowers over your layout.
-
Be
brave and make digital glitter drops or
water drops across the sides of your
layouts.
There are many styles and ready-made elements
that can do this for you. Lets make the most of
our kits whether our style is neat and tidy,
elegant or grungy, whimsical or eclectic and
just have fun scrapping.
Well this is all from me for this month my
luvvies, speak soon...
