My new love of scrapbooking is to do it digitally. This is a fairly new craze (at least for me) and I am really enjoying it. It takes a little bit of know how to get started, but once you have figured out the program you want to use to get started, then the rest falls into place. So how does one get started with digital scrapbooking?

First of all, you have to find a software program that will be easy for you to start with. I started with a program called Memory Mixer and then I found a program called HP Creative Scrapbook Assistant, and then I found a program called ScrapMaxi. Now, this might confuse you because I said to start with a program that will be easy for you to use. All three of these are easy and I wouldn’t recommend buying all three like I did, but I would check each one out and see which one fits your needs best.

The next thing you need to do is find some digital kits that you can purchase that will fit the needs of the type of scrapbook you will be working on. For instance, I am working on my new granddaughters’ scrapbooks and so I have been purchasing baby girl kits. With each of the software programs I mentioned above, you can purchase kits through each of their websites. Kits will generally run around $5-7 and each kit will come with background paper, embellishments, word art, alphas, etc. Everything you will need to create page layouts.

The final step is to create your page layouts and then print them out and bind them in a photo album. There are many ways to do this and I will do another article about this subject soon. The programs I have mentioned above offers you ways to print your album. For a minimal cost, you can even have them print and bind your album for you. Unless you have a great printer, this might be the way you want to go.

In a nutshell, this is the basics to get started digital scrapbooking. Of course, there is more to it, but at least you know enough to get started.

In future articles I will be telling you about a new way that I digital scrapbook. It is using the software program called Adobe PhotoShop Elements 6.0. This is more complex and I am fairly new at it, but the reason I like this is because you can import any digital image into this program, which means that you are not stuck using just one certain program and their products only. Like I said, this is a little more complex and I am glad that I started with the simpler programs I suggested above because I was able to learn using these easier programs. But now I have become adventurous in using my new Adobe PhotoShop Elements 6.0!

Make sure you listen to our next podcast where we will be talking about digital scrapbooking more extensively. Also make sure you take our poll at the right sidebar named “Do you Digital Scrapbook?”!