December 2006 - A Lot Of Scrap

A Lot of Scrap

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A Lot of Scrap - December 2006

Organizing Digital Scrapbook Elements

December 17th 2006 00:37

Digital scrapbooking may have easier clean-up than traditional scrapbooking but organizing elements, papers and folders is just as important.

How many of you end up in a downloading frenzy one afternoon only to find your folders of digital scrapbook downloads have now turned into what looks like your child's playroom? Alphabets, papers, accents are all scattered throughout a generic folder you call "Digital Scrapbooking".

Well there is an easier way to organize and maintain your growing collection of treasured downloads.

The first thing you need to do is decide on the filing system that works best for you. You can organize kits and embellishments based on the designer. You can also organize the items by item.

If you decide to organize by designer you will then need to create separate folders for each designer you download items from. Inside of each designer's folder, designate a folder or each kit you download with the name of the kit. That way when you are designing your layouts in your favorite photo editing program, such as Paint Shop Pro X, you can easily find and use all of the coordinating pieces in that kit.

Another way of finding some calm amongst the cluttered files would be to set up folders for each type of element/item you download. Examples would be 12x12 Papers, Alphas, Brads, Word Sentiments and so on. This way if you are accustomed to downloading and using only certain kinds of items such as background papers, you can easily find what you are looking for in one convenient folder.

Here are a few examples of folders that you can use when categorizing by type of item:

12X12 PAPERS
---Reds
---Browns
---Greys
---Greens
---Polka Dots
---Stripes

ALPHABETS

Holidays
---Christmas
---Birthday
---St. Patrick's
---Easter
---Thanksgiving
---Hannukah

Solids
---Reds
---Browns
---Greys
---Greens
---Patterned

PAGE KITS
---Mini Kits
---Occasions
---Baby
---Graduation
---Miscellaneous
---Greens
---Blues
---Pinks

These are just a few examples. You can design and system that works for you. The more organized you are when creating digital layouts, the easier and faster you will complete your pages.

Article ©2006, Lisa Miller, Owner, www.thescrapprincess.com

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Preserving & Protecting Your Photographs

December 4th 2006 23:42

Storing photos will affect their lifespan. Here are some valuable tips on how to preserve your photos and how different elements affect them.

Obviously the first enemy of photographs is light. Light can damage the photos over time by causing them to fade. If you are going to display your photos a good practice would be to keep a copy and store them in a dark place.

You should keep your photographs in a cool, dark place with low humidity. The best place would be a closet on your first floor since most places in a basement or attic will have high humidty during different times of the year.

Temperature and humidity are enemies of photographs, as mentioned above. When they are exposed to high and then low temperatures, your photos will expand and contract, causing them to crack and flake. Attics and basements present either temperature problems or high humidty and you should not store your photos in either of those places.

Acid, lignin and PVC are also likely cuplrits in damaging your photographs. Acid & lignin cause them to yellow and detoriate. PVC which is contained in some albums, can break down and emit a gas that causes rapid deterioration and sticky pictures. Use only archival quality scrapbooking supplies and photo albums to preserve your photos.

Avoid touching the pictures as much as you can by handling them by their edges and do not use paperclips or binders that can scratch them. Also avoid writing on the backs of photographs with a ball-point pen. This can damage the photos from the back and cause the emulsion, which holds together the image on the photos, to break down.

These tips can help you preserve your photos for generations to come and will take the worry out of discovering that your photos have cracked, yellowed or faded over time.