I want to start designing

my4boys

New member
I was just wondering if anyone had any good ideas where to start...books, sites, etc.....I really don't have a great knowledge of Paint Shop Pro yet but I am willing to spend the time and figure it out....Any suggestions would be great.
 
Good luck!

I tried my hat at it a few months ago, but I realized I don't have the time or energy to put into it, and I'd run out of ideas SUPER fast, lol. Now I just dabble in mini-kits every so often and give them away on my blog.

I know commercial-use.com is a great place to buy things you can use to make your own stuff though.
 
Well, I know nothing about PSP and what tutorials/books are available, but if it's like Photoshop, there are so many out there, not necessarily scrapbook related, but that will stretch your skills and really help you to get to know the program. I think just doing as much as possible like that, and trying to use all that knowledge to figure out how to make something you want will really stretch you and you're suddenly capable of so much more than you realize.

I'm not very good at following my own advice, and I really need to get my Photoshop mojo back. I was getting quite accomplished with it back around V.6, but then I stopped for a few years and I need to get back on track in a big way. Doing any tutorial I could find, even if it wasn't necessarily exactly what I wanted to do expanded my skills so much back then though, and I was suddenly doing all sorts of cool stuff I didn't even think I'd learned.

Scrapbook-bytes has some excellent PS tutorials that are scrapbook specific. I think there are PSP ones there as well, but I'm not certain.
 
I have been dabbling in it some too. There are a lot of great resources out there with designer tools, etc. Some places I love are Atomic Cupcake, commercial-use.com, digiscrapwarehouse.com. They all have a lot of designer tools and information. You will have to start sharing with us any goodies you make! LOL!
 
Sweet, I will go there and check it out, thanks!!!!! I do know just the basics of PSP but that is about it. I also do have dome commercial items that I have purchased in hopes of starting something but that is as far as I have gotten..
 
Dabble, doodle, and mess around. That's my advice. There weren't really many of the "tools" available that are available now when I started designing.. So really, that's all I did. I played around with different ideas, and I drew my hiney off :D :D The more you practice.. the better you get. I'd start off small.. and see where you can go from there :)
 
Dabble, doodle, and mess around. That's my advice. There weren't really many of the "tools" available that are available now when I started designing.. So really, that's all I did. I played around with different ideas, and I drew my hiney off :D :D The more you practice.. the better you get. I'd start off small.. and see where you can go from there :)

Thanks Lauren, I will do just that and see where it takes me......
 
I have been dabbling in it some too. There are a lot of great resources out there with designer tools, etc. Some places I love are Atomic Cupcake, commercial-use.com, digiscrapwarehouse.com. They all have a lot of designer tools and information. You will have to start sharing with us any goodies you make! LOL!

Thanks for the info Becca, I used to belong to Atomic Cupcake when I started this digital thing but the commercial use stuff only works with Photoshop and I don't use that....... I have not been to digiscrapwarehouse though. I shall check it out.
 
I've been using PSP for nearly 2 years now, and IMO, if you want to design scrap stuff, then it would be beneficial to upgrade to PS. PSP can produce some really simple stuff, but so many of the "tools" only work with PS.
 
I've been using PSP for nearly 2 years now, and IMO, if you want to design scrap stuff, then it would be beneficial to upgrade to PS. PSP can produce some really simple stuff, but so many of the "tools" only work with PS.

That is what I was afraid of but I really do not have the $$$ for PS now so I guess it will have to stay simple and maybe someday I will upgrade.
 
You could always go to PSE too. I was a DIP user for several years and just made the switch. At first, I'd go back and forth and now, I'm sad to say, my DIP gets ignored!!

I'm still learning, but I'm seeing a huge improvement from when I first started. In fact, I'm completely re-doing my very first kit that I ever made!!
 
Really? I always thought most designers were PS users. Interesting... Makes me wonder what I'm doing wrong.
 
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More reasons NOT to give up then...thanks ladies. I have been surfing the web quite a bit and found some really great tuts and stuff...wish me luck on my adventures
 
digi scrap warehouse is GREAT! just wanted to throw in my two cents.
i'm a new designer as well, and i'm just figuring out how to do stuff. but once you get the hang of it, it's all pretty easy.
 
That is what I was afraid of but I really do not have the $$$ for PS now so I guess it will have to stay simple and maybe someday I will upgrade.


I design woth PSE4, it was only $80 at Wal-Mart! You can use a lot of AC stuff in PSE...not EVERYTHING that works in PSCS works in PSE, but quite a bit does!
 
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