Digital Scrapbooking in easy steps

Digital scrapbooking is clearly the wave of the future. Whether hobbyists plan to toss out their scissors and paste forever or simply want to share their best creations online, going digital is the way to go.

Digital scrapbooking has numerous advantages over the glue and paper alternative. It's cheaper; less messy; easier to store, share, and replicate; and, once you get the hang of it, more fun. And you probably already have a big head start: The average household has nearly a gigabyte of photographs stored in their PCs!

Digital Scrapbooking in easy steps lives up to its title claim. In compact, easy-to-understand tutorials, this full color paperback teaches you the basics of putting pictures together; making and changing simple backgrounds; frames, borders, and mats; type and text options; journaling; embellishing and layering; and improving and enhancing your photos. This invaluable manual then walks you through three actual projects, enabling you to create your own digital scrapbooks before you have even finished the book!

Memories are made to be shared and Digital Scrapbooking in easy steps is a family memory-maker that will continue to give for generations.

John Slater is a freelance commercial photographer and lecturer. For many years he was Technical Manager at Nikon Cameras and taught at the Nikon School of Photography. He now lectures in Photoshop at the London College of Fashion and teaches Photography and Digital Imaging to photographers at the City Literary Institute in London. John's images are available through the Corbis Picture Agency. In 2001 he drove overland to China - and back! He has a postgraduate teaching qualification and is a mentor for The Prince's Trust, helping young people establish photographic businesses in East London.

A great jargon-free guide to digital scrapbooking.

1. Introducing Digital Scrapbooking
   • Getting Started
   • Basic Steps for any Digital Project
   • Digital versus Traditional
   • Imaging Software
   • Understand your Workspace
   • Understand your Keyboard
   • Why use Layers?
   • Layers - Make them your Friend
   • Undo History
   • Understand Color
2. Make & Change Simple Backgrounds
   • Make a new page
   • Add & Change Page Colors
   • Color Swatches
   • Color Picker
   • Gradient Tool
   • Adding Gradients to the Page
   • The Magic Wand
   • Test your Gradient Skills
   • The Zoom Tool
   • The Navigator
   • Hue/Saturation Command
   • Easy Textured Backgrounds
3. How to Put Pictures Together
   • Copy & Paste
   • Copy & Paste Again
   • Copy by Dragging the Image
   • Copy by Dragging Layers
   • Layer (Stack) Order
   • Next Step?
4. Frames, Borders & Mats
   • Lines
   • Eyedropper
   • Border Command
   • Lines on Transparent Layers
   • Rotate Layers
   • Resize Layers
   • Shadows for a 3D Effect
   • Multi-Line Borders
   • An Old-Fashioned Vignette
   • Cookie Cutter
   • Type as a Frame
   • Use a Real Photo Frame
   • Custom Shapes
5. Make your own Papers
   • Eazy-Peazy Papers
   • Super Eazy Noizy Gradient Papers
   • Blending & Opacity
   • Beautiful Variations
   • Striped Pages
   • Yellow Check
   • Patterns
   • Blended Patterns
   • Photo Page
   • Painted Pages
   • Brush Tool Options
   • Torn & Distressed Edges
6. Type & Journaling
   • Type - Horizontal & Vertical
   • Type Tool Options
   • Warp Text
   • Putting Pictures into Type
   • Talk Bubbles
   • Handwriting?
   • Text Dominating the Page
   • Vellum - Translucent Paper
   • Type on the Internet
7. Elements & Embellishments
   • What are Elements?
   • Layer Styles
   • Creative use of Layer Styles
   • Change Internet Elements
   • Change a Scanned Element
   • Stencils & Edging
   • Tags
   • Ribbons
   • Intertwining Hearts
   • Gymnastic Hoops - Mini Project
   • Cut-Away the Background
   • Through the Hoops
   • Enhance
8. Improve and Enhance your Photos
   • Composition - Look & Learn
   • Chop, Chop - the Crop Tool
   • Get Rid of Busy Backgrounds
   • Viewpoint - Look & Learn
   • Use Flash Outside - Look & Learn
   • Scanning
   • Restore Faded Photos
   • Restore Damaged Photos
   • Removing Red Eye
9. Ready-made Templates
   • Adobe Photoshop Elements Templates
   • Templates on the Internet
   • Page Kits
10. Welcome - Powhiri Project
    • Basic Start for most New Projects
    • Add & Blend a Pattern
    • Add the Main Photo
    • Add a Mat
    • Add other Elements
    • Add Type
    • Enhance - Drop Shadows
11. When Grandpop was a High Flyer
    • Collect, Sort & Repair
    • Camouflage Background
    • Flags - Make them Wave
    • Stitching & additional Elements
    • Journaling
12. Celebration - Birthday Girl
    • Hand-Textured Papers
    • Glassy Elements
    • Photo Correction & Enhancement
    • Animal Text
    • Finishing Touches
13. References & Additional Resources
    • Help
    • Downloading Images
    • Downloading from the Internet
    • Downloading from Memory Cards & Cameras
    • Scrapbooking Websites
    • File Formats

• PDF file to read before downloading the zipped Photoshop FourFairies file (8 KB)
• FourFairies - Zipped Photoshop file (6,265 KB)
• Zip file of images used in the book (7,494 KB)
• Word file used in chapter 11 (31 KB)