What better way to save your memories than to create scrapbooks of your vacations?
Scrapbooking with paper, stickers, borders, punches and embellishments is still a huge and thriving niche in this area, but digital scrapbooking is at least equal to if not overtaking it.
What are the pros and cons of each? I've done both, still do, and intend to continue to do both in the future. But how to decide which method for which project?
Digital:
There are many good companies out there that will let you create your books in various sizes and materials, and most have you load your photo files to their website and work online to create your book. This can be a pro or con. If you have a slow internet connection, this can be frustrating. But if you have a speedy connection, you can assemble a good size book, with as much or as little creativity as you like, quickly. Your only needed supply is your computer, and your uploaded digital pictures. You can work on your projects while travelling or relaxing at home in the evening.
If you are making a large book, a con can be the sheer number of little thumbnail pictures at the bottom that you scroll through to choose which ones to put on a page. This is one of my biggest frustrations with digital scrapbooking.
Another con can be the lack of dimension. You can add little buttons and such that imitate dimension, but the finished product is still flat and slick, which can be very appealing, or a little cold.
A tremendous Pro in digital scrapbooking is adaptability. You can crop pictures, but you can also shrink the whole thing, if you want to include the entire shot, to make a page hold a lot.
Many programs also allow you to use a photo as a background. I love this feature. You can have the whole background of the page be a favorite scenery shot that YOU took, which is just not very practical in paper scrapbooking.
There are also clever little ways to display your pictures, such as to break it up into little tiles, making it eye catching and full of pop.
The price for a quality book is not small, but considering that you don't have acres of supplies to buy, can be quite economical in comparison.
Another huge pro for digital scrapbooking is if you want to have more than one copy of your creation. Create one and print as many as you like, whenever you want.
Traditional Paper:
I like the tactile experience of making a traditional scrapbook. Holding the pictures, finding the perfect little touches and paper to go with them is very satisfying to me and a way to take time to relive the original moments.
It is nice to save items from your trip and include them on your pages. You can duplicate this with digital, by scanning or taking a photo of the items, but it doesn't have a true dimensional look.
A con can be the space traditional scrapbooking can take up in your home, as well as the expense. You can have a room full of stuff, and yet, just don't have the 'right' border or paper, so it's off to the store you go. This can get out of hand quickly.
Traditional scrapbooks have a unique quality of being truly one of a kind. The books can become massive...a 100 page digital scrapbook is much different in size and weight than a 100 page traditional scrapbook.
I find the organization process much easier and less stressful with traditional scrapbooks. You have all your pictures printed out and all your little brochures and such laid out before you. I then separate them all out by day, or experience, or however I want to flow of the book to be. I then put each chunk in envelopes and put the envelopes in order of when I'll use them. Then it's simple to figure out how many photos per page, crop and arrange and complete.
There is much satisfaction in digging through all the little cut outs and stickers and paper choices to create your book. I find these types of choices to be much more limited with digital scrapbooking.
Many find their lives work best with one style or the other, but both can co exist peacefully. I choose the method that fits best with the project, how and where I plan to create it, and how many copies I might need. The HOW is not important, the preserving of memories is the goal, and however that works best is the biggest pro of all.
Scrapbooking with paper, stickers, borders, punches and embellishments is still a huge and thriving niche in this area, but digital scrapbooking is at least equal to if not overtaking it.
What are the pros and cons of each? I've done both, still do, and intend to continue to do both in the future. But how to decide which method for which project?
Digital:
There are many good companies out there that will let you create your books in various sizes and materials, and most have you load your photo files to their website and work online to create your book. This can be a pro or con. If you have a slow internet connection, this can be frustrating. But if you have a speedy connection, you can assemble a good size book, with as much or as little creativity as you like, quickly. Your only needed supply is your computer, and your uploaded digital pictures. You can work on your projects while travelling or relaxing at home in the evening.
If you are making a large book, a con can be the sheer number of little thumbnail pictures at the bottom that you scroll through to choose which ones to put on a page. This is one of my biggest frustrations with digital scrapbooking.
Another con can be the lack of dimension. You can add little buttons and such that imitate dimension, but the finished product is still flat and slick, which can be very appealing, or a little cold.
A tremendous Pro in digital scrapbooking is adaptability. You can crop pictures, but you can also shrink the whole thing, if you want to include the entire shot, to make a page hold a lot.
Many programs also allow you to use a photo as a background. I love this feature. You can have the whole background of the page be a favorite scenery shot that YOU took, which is just not very practical in paper scrapbooking.
The price for a quality book is not small, but considering that you don't have acres of supplies to buy, can be quite economical in comparison.
Another huge pro for digital scrapbooking is if you want to have more than one copy of your creation. Create one and print as many as you like, whenever you want.
Traditional Paper:
I like the tactile experience of making a traditional scrapbook. Holding the pictures, finding the perfect little touches and paper to go with them is very satisfying to me and a way to take time to relive the original moments.
It is nice to save items from your trip and include them on your pages. You can duplicate this with digital, by scanning or taking a photo of the items, but it doesn't have a true dimensional look.
A con can be the space traditional scrapbooking can take up in your home, as well as the expense. You can have a room full of stuff, and yet, just don't have the 'right' border or paper, so it's off to the store you go. This can get out of hand quickly.
Traditional scrapbooks have a unique quality of being truly one of a kind. The books can become massive...a 100 page digital scrapbook is much different in size and weight than a 100 page traditional scrapbook.
I find the organization process much easier and less stressful with traditional scrapbooks. You have all your pictures printed out and all your little brochures and such laid out before you. I then separate them all out by day, or experience, or however I want to flow of the book to be. I then put each chunk in envelopes and put the envelopes in order of when I'll use them. Then it's simple to figure out how many photos per page, crop and arrange and complete.
There is much satisfaction in digging through all the little cut outs and stickers and paper choices to create your book. I find these types of choices to be much more limited with digital scrapbooking.