[fertilepress]

Live chat schedule!

Ummm... I forgot to add the schedule to the last post. Sorry about that. Here it is:

Chats last 30 minutes. All times are Eastern Daylight Time

Thursday, Jun 18
1:00pm, 7:00pm and 11:00pm

Friday, Jun 19
11am, 7:00pm

No need to register. I'll be waiting at ReneeTV at the appointed times.

later..

let's chat!

Tonight!

9pm ET

The Digital Scrapbook Place

Don't miss this opportunity to ask me anything about digital scrapbooking or scrapbooking in general. And if that doesn't float your boat, then don't miss this opportunity to ask me anything at all!

Be there, or be square!

later...

even more chat questions...plus a design lesson!

"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple."
                                                     Dr. Seuss

• LadyByTheBay asks: How do you get digital designs? Is this something that anyone can do by scanning their favorite scrapbook items? If so, do you have tips on how to scan them, (size, quality, etc)?
  • Believe it or not, there's a whole cottage industry that has grown providing digital scrapbooking elements. These include digital backgrounds, embellishments, quotes, etc. Almost everything that's available to the traditional scrapbooker is available in digital format. It's generally frowned upon by the manufacturers to scan in paper products and reuse them in digital format. But that's a personal issue I'm going to stay away from. There's lots out there in digital format already for you to use. (One of my favorite digital designers is Kristie at Shabby Princess.) My book comes with a CD that contains four complete digital album kits with over 400 digital elements. These include custom designed (by me) digital backgrounds and embellishments. You can even download samples from the Simple Scrapbooks website. Some advanced digital users are choosing to design their own digital elements.

• LisaJane asks: I've just begun (the last 2 months) teaching myself Photoshop 7. I basically sit with guidebooks in my lap while I practice and make mistakes and learn. So far, so good, I'm learning something new everyday and it's so much fun. I would like to know if you have any suggestions on good books for Design in Photoshop. Not another users guide, but a book that deals with the artistic side. Is there such a thing?
  
  • Not that I'm aware of. But I think the reason is that there is nothing about design that is unique to Photoshop. There are lots of excellent books about design...and the content of those books apply just as well to Photoshop as they do to any other tool, digital or otherwise. The closest thing I've ever seen to what you're asking are Hillman Curtis' books, and those are really about new media design, not Photoshop. But now that you mention it, it would probably be nice if there was a book out there that combines the two. Hmmm...

• Lynne asks: I'd love to know how you get that nice grey line around your layout/photo posts -- really looks beautiful! Nice finishing touch!
  
  • Oh, that's so easy! Do you use Photoshop? It's just a simple little drop shadow (with reduced opacity) and a very thin stroke around the perimeter of the image. If that makes no sense, let me know and I'll try to explain it better.

And since you've been so patient...here's a wonderful interactive lesson on color theory from Poynter.org. You'll love it!

later...

more questions...

"The greatest gift is not being afraid to question."
                                                   Ruby Dee

• Carmen asks: My daughter wants to study graphic design in college. Can you recommend a good school for her?
  • Well, just like any other college recommendation, that's a difficult question to answer. There are, of course, those that consistently rise to the top of everyone's "Top Design Schools" list. Three that immediately come to mind are (not in any ranking order): California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), Pratt Institute in NYC, and Rhode Island School of Design (RISD, affectionately called "ris-dee"). And, if money is no object, the Yale University School of Art has an impressive graphic design program. A friend of mine got his graduate design degree there...and it was no easy task to get in! Before deciding on a design school, though, you and your daughter should take a look at the graphic design career guide at the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) website. The info is a bit dated, but still relevant. Also, take a look at the National Association of Schools of Art and Design website. NASAD is the national accrediting agency for art and design and art and design-related disciplines. Hope this at least gets you started. Good luck to your daughter!

• Jen G asks: Do you do any freehand drawing on the computer?
  • Hi Jen! I do...a little, not much, though. Most of what I do these days is design rather than illustration. But about a year ago I was working on a stylized series of fashion-type drawings -- illustrations actually -- that I intend to get back to one day soon. My "skinny black lady" (so named by my friend, Donna Downey) came out of that. At the time I was in love with the distorted and elongated forms. They remind me of African figures. And even that wasn't totally freehand. Because I don't draw all that well, and when I do draw it takes me a looooooonnnnnng time to produce anything I'm satisfied with, I have my own process for "drawing" using computer tools. Here's roughly how I work:
    • Start with a VERY rough paper sketch which I scan into my computer. This is mostly just shapes and gestures and relationships to try and get down on paper what I have in my head.
    • Using Adobe Illustrator I always start by creating shapes using the pen tool and my sketch as a guide. Then, still working in Illustrator, I reshape these shapes into figures, connecting or grouping them as I go along.
    • I use a Wacom 6x8 graphics tablet and pen instead of a mouse for illustration work. After I've got the basic shapes put together, I then do what I guess would be called drawing. At least I'm using one of the brush tools or the pencil tool at this stage. This is how I fine-tune the drawings.
    • Finally, I bring them into Adobe Photoshop to add color, gradients, shadows, etc.

The result...my business logo: Skinny Black Lady!

• Jeananne asks: After reading the questions and answers, I'm excited about receiving your CD and book that I pre-ordered. When can we expect them?
  • Thanks for ordering! I wish I could say tomorrow. The good news is that they're printed and on the way. Start looking for them towards the end of this month (October). If you're coming to Memory Trends, you can see the very first ones off the press at the Primedia (Creating Keepsakes/Simple Scrapbooks) booth. I'll post my booth appearance schedule here next week.

later...

the conversation continues...

"There is no such thing as a worthless conversation, provided you know what to listen for. And questions are the breath of life for a conversation."
                                                    James Nathan Miller

• Laura asks: I'm new to digital photography and digital scrapbooking (have done the "traditional" scrapbooks for years). Can you recommend the best way to organize the photos and which is one of your favorite photo software programs? It's overwhelming at first, but I can see becoming a digital scrapbooker!
  • Photo organization is always a challenge, for both digital and traditional scrapbookers. And for me, it extends beyond photos to all sorts of digital media files -- clip art, pre-designed elements, etc. For years I've used Extensis' Portfolio which has a robust set of features that allow me to catalog my files anywhere (even offline) then quickly search for the element I need. It runs on both Mac and Windows platforms and there's a 30 day free trial version available at their website. If Portfolio's $200 price tag is more than you want to spend -- and if you're a Mac user -- then iPhoto is a great price-performer. Sorry, but I don't know much about what's available on for Windows users. As far as photo imaging software, I strongly recommend Adobe Photoshop Elements -- especially for beginning digital users. It's a great intro to the Photoshop world at a reasonable price. My book comes with a 30 day trial version of Elements 3.0.

• Karen asks: Do you have a favorite software program you use for digital scrapbooking? For someone new to digital scrapbooking, is it complicated or time-consuming to learn? What printer, photo paper, inks do you recommend? Thank you for spending your time doing this chat!
  • While Adobe Photoshop Elements is perfectly fine for digital scrapbook page design, I use Photoshop CS2. It has a more robust feature set which I need when I'm designing backgrounds and page elements. One of the reasons I wrote my book was to give beginning digital users a way to learn while designing pages. Throughout the writing process I tried to think from a beginner's perspective. And the people at Simple Scrapbooks had non-digital users test every single exercise. Use an Epson 2200 wide-carriage which I've had for several years. It isn't the latest model but it still works for me. I also use Epson papers and inks because I find I get the best results from them. Here are my favorite papers and how I use them:
    
    • Epson Professional Premium Enhanced Matte - For backgrounds and sometimes, even, for complete page layouts. I love the weight and sheen on this paper.
    • Epson Professional Premium Lustre Photo - I love this for printing photos I intend to mount on a page.
    • Epson Professional Semi-Gloss Photo - I only use this occasionally when I want a little extra gloss. I never use glossy paper because I don't like glare and cannot control the viewing conditions to eliminate it.
    • Epson Photo Quality - A lighter weight paper I occasionally use for card inserts and other unique projects.
    • Inkjet vellum - You can buy this in small packs from Office Depot or Staples or you can order bulk quantities (I do) online from Paper Access in New York City.
    • Anyone's inkjet acetate film - I'm adding this as an overlay element more and more these days. I love adding type treatments this way.

• Pam asks: Do you miss the "bumpy" texture of paper scrapping?
  • I love the way you worded this! :D  I don't miss it because I still have it whenever I want. I frequently "construct" my pages -- either from individual digital elements I've printed or by combining digital pages with traditional embellishments. Just yesterday I received a box of traditional goodies from Simple Scrapbooks I can't wait to dive into. If you're a digital scrapper today, try creating a page layout with just the background and photo mats printed, then mount your photos and add your favorite traditional elements. Do your journaling on a contrasting paper or cardstock and mount those, too. I think you'll wind up with a nice "bumpy" page.

• Judy asks: How do you find specific very basic instructions for using a particular program--programs don't seem to come with written manuals anymore.
  • I always find that even if the software comes with a manual I have to supplement with something that meets my own needs. I've been using Photoshop so long that whenever a new version comes out I just read the "What's New" section then dive in. But when I first learned the Adobe products I began with their excellent "Classroom in a Book" series. I think they're comprehensive and very well-written. They've got one for Adobe Photoshop Elements, too. Other helpful additions are:
    • Scott Kelby's Down & Dirty books for great quick tips and techniques
    • Ben Willmore's studio books where I always learn something new to improve my workflow.
    • Wow! books by Jack Davis & Linnea Dayton for more in-depth techniques

• mswhizz asks: Do you find digital scrapbooking to be cost effective? I worry that the amount of ink used will make the cost of printing pages prohibitive.
  • Love the moniker, mswhizz! :D  You make an excellent point, too. I haven't done a cost study on this so I don't know if the cost of a single digitally-printed page is more than a pre-printed background page. Perhaps I need to do a bit of research and see what I can find out. Thanks for the idea!

That's it for today. And don't forget, you can add questions by clicking the comments button at the bottom of this or any post. I'll add your question to the list.

later...

the chat continues!

Yesterday's chat was great! We had almost 200 attendees and over 80 questions. Unfortunately, in the 1-hour time slot I was only able to answer about 20 of them. Sooooo...

the chat continues here!

I'm going to spend the rest of this week answering the questions I didn't get to yesterday. Feel free to add questions using comments. I'll just add them to the list. Also, over the course of this blog's life, I've gotten some questions I haven't gotten around to addressing yet, so I'll add those here too.

Don't think I've abandoned the design posts. I haven't. They're just on hold for awhile. Now, let's get to the questions.

First, I promised to post the link to a site that will print 12x12 digital scrapbook pages. It's called White House Custom Colour. I'm sure there are others but I've heard really good things about this one.

• Dancejac asks: My question is along the lines of printing. I love the idea of a digital scrapbook, but still love my physical scrapbooks as well. I don't like doing a lot of double work and often feel like I have to choose if I will print all (including pictures) onto paper or print it all on to photo paper. I don't want to lose the loof of the photos looking like quality photo prints or the paper looking as it should. Is there a way to have both that I don't know of?
  • Well, it sounds like a great product idea, but I haven't seen anything out there yet that will give you both qualities in a single sheet of paper. For now, I suggest printing your photos on photo paper (I prefer semi-gloss or lustre) and your backgrounds on matte paper.

• Renee asks: Please elaborate about the profile of the "typical" digital scrapbook person...is it a higher-end digital designer type of person who understands sophisticated layout and design programs, imaging, etc. or a novice who just wants to have templates to plug their images and text into? How do you see this profile changing in the years to come and what products and services do you anticipate creating as a result of this type of customer?
  • Y'know what, Renee? I don't think there is a typical digital scrapbook person. Just like there's no typical traditional scrapbook person. But I don't think most digital scrappers come from a professional design background. I think digital scrappers are like traditional scrappers in that they are women (mostly) who have this passion for scrapbooking but who just happen to enjoy creating on their computers. As far as future products are concerned, well, that's only limited by the imaginations of the creators. I do think digital tools will become more integrated into the traditional world, but I don't quite know how yet.

• Leslie asks: What program do you use to create your masterpiece? Are there others you like?
  • I use Adobe Photoshop CS2 and Adobe Illustrator 10. I used these two programs to create all of the backgrounds and elements on the CD included with my book. I love Adobe InDesign, too, for creating themed albums.

• Brenda asks: From what I've seen of this book, you've done a wonderful job of introducing scrappers to digital...do you think more paper scrappers will give it a go? And do you think paper stores will have more interest in putting our digi designs in their stores?
  • Thanks, Brenda! I certainly hope so. I was invited by one of my local scrapbook stores recently to present at their Grand Reopening. There was a lot of interest from both customers and the owners. And the owners have asked me to consider teaching a class on digital at their store. I'm certainly going to do my part to "evangelize" about digital and help to make store owners more comfortable with this area of scrapbooking.

That's it for today! If you'd like to read the transcript from yesterday's chat you can find it here.

later...