Digital Scrapbooking 101 BLOG

What To Do When Your Digital Photos Are Too Big For Your Scrapbook Page.

Posted on October 31st, 2007 by wwaddell.
Categories: Digital Photography, Scrapbook Articles, Scrapbook Tips, Training.

Hi Scrapbook Friend,

Kathy and I received a great question today from one of our members.  It’s one we see from time-to-time, so I thought that I would pass on the answer here too for all to share in.

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Kathy and Wes,

I wanted to let you know that I love your scrapbook pages.

I am having a problem importing my pictures to fit the frame.  Can you please let me know what I’m doing wrong.

Thanks for your help
Tracy

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Hi Tracy,

Great question and not an uncommon one either. As digital cameras continue to improve in both quality and max resolution, it’s easy to have your images come into your scrapbook page and cover the whole thing up.

Normally, digital scrapbook pages are made at somewhere between 150 and 300 dpi (dots per inch). Making them more than 300 dpi usually just makes for a much larger file than needed as 300 is the max true capability of most color printers… especially the ones used in photo stores and book publishers.

What that means is that if you have taken your images with a 3 or more mega-pixel camera, your images will be more than 300 dpi (effective on your page) and will be much larger than the pages you are creating.

This isn’t a problem though; you just need to shrink them down by dragging the corners when the image is selected or use the cropping tool to remove the excess parts of the image so it will fit your frame opening.

What Kathy and I do is to first open the images we will be using on the page one at a time. We then shrink them down close to what they need to be, usually leaving them a bit larger… just in case. We then save them as a new file on the computer so that we keep the original in tact. If we ever need a larger image, we still have it that way.

Now, we open the scrapbook page and import the new smaller images to the page and do the final sizing and cropping.

In the rare instance that your image comes in smaller, such as when it’s been taken with one of the low resolution children’s digital cameras, you can enlarge it by up to about 25% in most cases with out too much pixilation. By that I mean that as you make a digital image larger, the digital pixels are actually square and if you make it too large, the squares begin to show in the image. We call that pixilated.

If you need to make it larger than about 25%, then here’s one thing you can do. Print a copy of the image on a photo quality printer or have one printed for you. Then, scan the image in at a very high resolution. My scanner lets me go up to 3200 pixels. Depending on how big you want to make it, you may only need to scan it at 800 or 1200.

What that does is makes the pixels in the new digital image denser and in effect makes the image larger than it really is for your digital scrapbook page.

It’s the digital version of what they used to do to enlarge prints (and still do for really big prints) where they would make a large negative of the small image and then blow it up on the photo enlarger lens. You are just doing the equivalent digitally.

Hope this gives you some good ideas and a path to success for your digital scrapbook pages.

Just let us know if you have any other questions…

Wes

www.PrincessCrafts.com
(877) 751-6368
5505 Whipshaw Rd.
Peyton, CO 80831

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Popularity: 16% [?]

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Halloween Scrapbook Updates

Posted on October 30th, 2007 by wwaddell.
Categories: My Thoughts, Site Information.

Hi Digital Scrapbook Friend,

Kathy has just put up 14 new Halloween stationeries for FREE at: http://www.1-computer-stationery.com/.  You’ll want to get them fast.  They make great digital scrapbook page backgrounds and journaling pages for your Halloween scrapbook themed projects.

Don’t forget to look below too as we posted a great Halloween Photo Tips article last week for you.

Kathy’s also been busy with our Hi-Res individual digital scrapbook kit site.  She’s just added 5 new Heritage Keepsake kits.  Well, actually, it’s 3 keepsake kits (Copper, Gold and Silver) and 2 add-on keepsake kits with 12 pieces each that include all 3 colors.  The scrapbook kits come in both 8.5×11 and 12×12 and the add-ons are for both.   See: http://www.scrapbookkitsnbits.com/ for full details.

With Christmas/Kwanza/Hanukkah just around the corner, these kits will make some great gift pages for family and friends.  Special scrapbook pages like this are especially well suited for framing and hanging on your families walls with a beautiful matching frame.

Back to all the new scrapbook stuff…

Kathy also just finished uploading the End-of-Month sets.  Many of you have been asking when she was going to add some more of the pastel sets.  Well, here they are in both the Soft Expression 8.5×11 and Printable Pastel 12×12 sizes.

Autumn 11 through 14b and Halloween 7 through 10b are now ready for all our Platinum Members to start downloading.

WARNING!

Kathy is removing Autumn 1 through 4 on the Printable Pastels and Soft Expression sites by the middle of November.  So, if you want them… get them now, before they are gone for good.

Just one last note…

We mentioned that our Platinum Members now have access to our new PrincessCrafts Genealogy 101 eBook for free… well I’m putting the finishing touches on the new website today, so if you are one of the few that is not a Platinum Member, but still want to learn how to use Genealogy to enhance their heritage and family heirloom scrapbooks, then stay tuned for the PrincessCrafts Genealogy 101 Book grand opening.

I plan on letting our readers here get it for next to nothing…

Happy Halloween everyone…

Kathy and Wes

www.Princesscrafts.com
www.MyPrincessCrafts.com
www.TwasTheNightScrapbook.com

Popularity: 14% [?]

1 comment.

The Inspirational Story of The Wooden Bowl

Posted on October 22nd, 2007 by wwaddell.
Categories: My Thoughts, Scrapbook Tips, Uncategorized.

Hi Digital Scrapbook Friend,

Just a quick note for you today.  We recently talked about using the FREE digital stationeries from www.1-Computer-Stationery.com to create our Halloween and Christmas Holiday party invitations and/or holiday family news letters.  We also mentioned that they make great digital as well as printed hand scrapped scrapbook backgrounds.

That said, I wanted to show you what I did today with one of the really great inspirational eMails that I get from time to time.  I think it makes it much more fun to pass this one around than just the plain old text message… don’t you.

The Wooden Bowl

I guarantee you will remember the tale of the Wooden Bowl tomorrow, a week from now, a month from now, even several years from now.

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year old grandson…

The_Wooden_Bowl.pdf

Feel free to “Right Click” on the link above to save it to your own computer and to pass it along to everyone you know.  You can also just send them the link to this page and let them download it for themselves.

There’s lots of other FREE Inspirational Stories, Jokes and Funnies on the FREE Digital Staionery Website. 

Kathy & Wes

www.PrincessCrafts.com

Popularity: 16% [?]

2 comments.

10 Halloween Photo Tips

Posted on October 20th, 2007 by wwaddell.
Categories: Digital Photography, Training.

10 Halloween Photo Tips – Wes Waddell

Halloween is spooky, but taking Halloween pictures doesn’t have to be.  From a jack-o’-lantern’s scary face to your child’s frighteningly fun costume, the Halloween holiday offers unique picture-taking opportunities all to it’s own. These tips will help ease your mind and take off some of the stress this unusual season presents for an amature photographer and scrapbooker.

1. Tell a Story

Every halloween costume tells a story.  Make sure you capture it.

Show your child turning into a clown or frankenstein – or whatever costume they dream up.  Take photos thoughout the transformation. Get photos from the same angle, if possible.  This lets you create a mini flip book style digital scrapbook page album when you are done.

Keep your camera handy when you go out too.  You just never know when the perfect trick-or-treat event or moment will happen.

2. Avoid Flash Reflections

When using a flash, especially a built-in one, avoid windows, mirrors and other reflective surfaces in your backbround.  I’m sure you have seen lots of images with the bright flash reflected in the printed photo.  This glare can ruin an otherwise great Halloween photograph.

If you can’t avoid the reflection completely, try to stand diagonally from your costumed little angel so that the reflection is angled away from you camera’s lens.

3. Move in Close

Don’t be afraid to move in close and fill the viewfinder or LCD screen with your little costumed Harry Potter or Fairytale Princess.  Step in close if your camera’s zoom feature isn’t powerful enough.  This is how you emphasize what is important and keep out the rest.

Check your camera’s manual for the flash effective distances.  Too close and you can wash out your image… too far and everything’s lost in the darkness.  Use your fill flash setting if you have one and want the area behind to be more natual and dark looking.

4. Stay Within Flash Range

This goes hand in hand with tip #3.   Typically, flash units on most digital cameras run from 6 to 10 feet with a max of around 15 feet.  Subjects (your Halloween Costumed child) outside this range will tend to be too light if too close and too dark if too far away.   Try and stay within the limits stated in your camera’s manual.

Note: Even though you may be within the stated flash range, weak batteries can still result in dark images and disappointing out of focas photos.  Install fresh batteries or charge them fully before you head out, especially at night.  It’s dark out there and your flash is going to be busy.  You will want to take the extra batteries with you too… just in case.

5.  Act the Part

Have your child really get into the part of the character they are playing.  Snap the photo when your little football star is about to throw the winning touchdown pass or while your little witch is casting her favorite halloween spell.

Don’t be afraid to add some action to your images.   If they are dressed as a cowboy, have them ride their horse or rope the fence.  Your little ballerina can leap and twirl away as you snap the photos.  You’ll get natural smiles and movement and they’ll have a ball acting it out.

6. Capture the Mood

Halloween is a natually spooky good time.  This is the perfect time to use the warm orange and yellow glow of the sunset and jack-o-lanterns to set the mood of your posed and candid photographs.

Try turning off the flash (or cover it with colored plastics) and take a few spooky glowing shots.  Use a tripod or a steady object to help keep the camera from moving and bluring the images.  Use the night time setting if you have one.

Silhouette your kids in their halloween costumes against the light sky or full moon.  Use the light glow from the pumkin to light up your childs face close-up.   Don’t forget the flashlight can light up your face too for a spooky night time image.

7. Set Your Camera Right for the Night

The vast majority of your Halloween photographs will be taken at night, so be sure and switch to the Night Portrait mode if your camera has one.   This way your camera will be able to take advantage of what light is available in the background.   This makes for longer exposers though, so take that into account and steady the camera or have a tripod handy.

Note: When taking pictures in low light (not just at night), cameras are prone to move during the longer exposure times.  To avoid as much of the blur as possible, press the shutter button gently or use a tripod (or other flat surface such as rocks or fence).  You may also want to consider using the self timer.  That timer will also let you get into some of the images too. 

8. Use Natural Light

Great Halloween photos also happen during the day.  Get out early (and get a head start on the candy…), late afternoon light is great for taking people portraits.  Get them out in the falling leaves and into the corn fields or gardens where the pumkins grow.  Dusk is the perfect time to start the spooky images while you can still see some of the backgrounds. 

Fill Flash settings are also a great help just as the sun is going down to light up their little faces and still catch those final golden rays over the mountains.

9. Shoot Your Jack-O-Lanterns the Right Way

Try carving bigger openings for the eyes and mouth.  Bigger openings mean more light and more light gives you a better image after the sun goes down.  Also, the bigger the pumkin, the bigger the face.

To really capture the eery glow coming from your Halloween Jack-O-Lantern, turn off your flash and let the natural orages and yellows take the limelight.  To avoid the blur of a moving camera, you’ll need to use a tripod or other secure surface to take your glowing images.

You’ll also want to snap a few shots at dusk to take advantage of the natural mood lighting of sunset.

10. Create a Ghostly Picture

Don’t believe in Ghosts?  You can create photographic proof using your own camera.  The results are surprisingly and ghoolishly good.

All you need to be able to do is to set your camera’s shutter speed to about 8 seconds or manually hold it open that long.  Have your child or subject sit on the portch with the pumkins for about 4 to 5 seconds. 

Then, have them quickly move out of the camera’s image.

This lets your camera create a bit of a double image and usually makes the child or subject look transparent or ghostly.

You’ll have to experiment with this a bit and you’ll need an old camera as most digitals don’t let you set such long exposer lengths.  You can also have them move out of the image very slowly if you want them to have the appearance of a ghost on the move.

With a digital camera, you can also get (sometimes) the moving ghost effect just after dusk with your subject moving through the night time setting snapshot.

Digital or Computer Scrapbooking go hand in hand with learning to take better snapshots and photographs. I hope that these few Halloween Photo tips will help to make your holiday scrapbook page the best scrapbook pages ever!

Happy Scrappin’

Kathy & Wes

www.HolidayScrapbooks.com  

Popularity: 19% [?]

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How to Print Borderless Digital Stationaries…

Posted on October 19th, 2007 by wwaddell.
Categories: Scrapbook Tips, Training.

Hi Scrapbook Friend,

I just got this great question from Vanessa about printing borderless digital stationeries from www.1-Computer-Stationery.com and I thought that it would be great to pass it on to you too.

Vanessa was trying to print her holiday letter, family newsletter, flyer or ???? in Micosoft Word using one of the FREE downloadable digital stationery templates found on www.1-Computer-Stationery.com. 

She was having problems getting it to print on her printer without the defauld border or margins that most document files have set.  She was having the same problem when she used the docuement template (.dot or .doc) format from the site and when she use the .PDF template on the site.  

Here’s what I told her after testing it on our Canon i9900 large format and Canon s450 printers:

First, your printer has to be capable of printing borderless prints.  I’m going to assume that your is.

Second, the default setting for printing letters and documents is that it has a border or margin built into it.  So, when you are ready to print your document, you will not want to just hit the print icon.

Instead, you will want to use the File, Print menu and enter the properties menu for your printer.  If it’s like my Canon, it will have a box to check in the page setup part of the menu to set the printer to borderless mode.  You will then probably need to experiment with how much extension to use (the amount of over print on the edges.  Set that to as small amount as possible to preserve the maximum amount of your stationery border.

Save your settings and continue to print your document.  It should now come out to the edge of your paper… mine did.  It took me 3 tries to find the min I could set on the overprint… but now I know and can use that setting from now on.

I hope this gets you going with borderless digital stationery printing.

Just let us know if we can help with any other scrapbook or digital stationery questions you may have.

Happy Scrappin’

Kathy & Wes

PrincessCrafts
www.1-Computer-Stationery.com (FREE Digital Stationery Downloads)
www.TheGreetingCardBiz.com (Start your own home based Greeting Card Bisiness)
www.HolidayScrapbooks.com (Digital Scrapbook Templates for any Occasion)
www.TwasTheNightScrapbook.com (Twas the Night Before Christmas Storybook Scrapbook)

Popularity: 14% [?]

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The Truth: WHY MEN DON’T GET DEPRESSED

Posted on October 18th, 2007 by wwaddell.
Categories: My Thoughts.

The Truth: WHY MEN DON’T GET DEPRESSEDMen Are Just Happier People– What do you expect from such simple creatures? Your last name stays put. The garage is all yours. Wedding plans take care of themselves. Chocolate is just another snack. You can be President. You can never be pregnant. You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park. You can wear NO shirt to a water park. Car mechanics tell you the truth.. The world is your urinal. You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky. You don’t have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt. Same work, more pay.

Wrinkles add character. Wedding dress $5000. Tux rental-$100. People never stare at your chest when you’re talking to them. The occasional well-rendered belch is practically expected. New shoes don’t cut, blister, or mangle your feet. One mood all the time.

Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat. You know stuff about tanks. A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase. You can open all your own jars. You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness. If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend.

Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack. Three pairs of shoes are more than enough. You almost never have strap problems in public. You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes. Everything on your face stays its original color. The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades. You only have to shave your face and neck.

You can play with toys all your life. Your belly usually hides your big hips. One wallet and one pair of shoes — one color for all seasons. You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look. You can ‘do’ your nails with a pocket knife. You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache.

You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relativ es on December 24 in 25 minutes.

No wonder men are happier.

Feel free to copy this and send it to the women who can handle it and to the men in your life who will enjoy reading it.

Popularity: 8% [?]

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