To template or not to template

xboxmom

xboxmom

Active member
So that is the question. How many of you use templates and how often? I am always like I wish I only used templates because my pages always turn out so much nicer. But then I feel like that is cheating so I don't like to use them very often. What are everyone's thoughts on templates?
 
I use templates 95% of the time...I only have a limited time to scrap and I don't want to spend it thinking about composition :)
 
To template. Always. No brainer for me, even when I did some original pages before working full-time out of the house, I use to make the layout in template form first, then use it. :)

Plus, we don't want all those template artists to starve! :)
 
I think template layouts are so beautiful and so many people here use them so well! But for myself, I don't use them very often anymore. I almost always like my pages better when it's my own composition. But then I digi-scrap like I paper-scrap, so that's part of the issue, and my pages are not most people's cup-of-tea. ;) I'm OK with that - they mesh well in my albums with my paper layouts.

And that doesn't mean I don't own a lot of templates. :) Because I just never know when I might feel like using one again.
 
I template. my time is precious and I don't like to waste it fighting the composition of a layout. Sometimes I end up doing something without a template, but it always takes me three times as long and I don't like it as much.
 
LOVE them...gotta use them to at least get me started and then I may do some rearranging, deleting, etc...but it takes the guess work and time spent figuring out where to start out of it for me, which makes the process smoother and I get more done:) Template designers are the best!!
 
I love templates. The only time I don't use them is if I have a composition idea in my head before I start. Sometimes the templates look nothing like they originally started, but it makes it easier to base my page off of them. Plus there are some really talented template designers out there!
 
I mostly use templates and then sometimes, I'll do my own pages when I have an inspiring moment. I'd say maybe 90-95% of the time, I use a template.
 
I used to looove my los without templates, and I had a hard time making templates turn out how I wanted. BUT, since I took a looong break, honestly since I've been back, 99% are templates. I haven't really found my groove this time around, and templates are saving me - besides the fact that they make my scrapping faster, and they make my los so awesome! At first, I always loved Cindy's los, and for some reason, couldn't even make one of her templates turn out how I wanted, but in the past couple months, it's been easier and easier to turn them out how I want. I do sometimes feel like i'm 'cheating' like when someone comments on a specific aspect of how I did something in my lo, and that part is aaaaaalll template! :o

Sometimes I use them as is, and sometimes they're almost unrecognizable when I'm finished. But either way, if you want to use them, do it! If not, that's fine too. You can do both! lol, if templates were truly 'cheating' there wouldn't be template designers :D
 
I love templates. I mostly just use them when I'm short on mojo or short on time. I try to keep my gallery about 50/50 but it's probably closer to 60/40 (heavier on templates). I really like the way I feel after doing a layout that I love with no template. That being said though, it is so much more work to start from scratch and sometimes I just have too much on my plate to not use a template (like this past week...). Who can resist an amazing template though?? Even if there are already tons in the galleries. My family won't ever see the other ones, so it will still be special to them. :D
 
Templates. All the time. I love them! I feel I am in fact often more creative using them, because I can concentrate on the things I enjoy, instead of coming up with a new page design every time. I adore people, who do. But it's not my strong side and I have no desire to get better at it.
 
I scrapped for years without templates, but now most of the times I do use them. They save me time. I do like to completely mess them up from time to time so that it's almost an entirely new composition. And on rare occasions I still enjoy scrapping without one as well.
 
Even though I don't use them all the time, I love templates. I hate the argument that it's "cheating" to use a template. I don't view scrapping as an art contest... I am truly trying to get my family's memories down on paper so things are documented for the future. My kids don't care if I use a template or not, and outside of galleries -- nobody else who looks at my pages cares, either. How is it cheating if it helps you have more time to get more memories documented? Nope, I simply can't subscribe to that idea. :)

I use templates about 60-70% of the time (that's a guesstimate and not derived in a scientific fashion! LOL). The rest of the time, if I "freehand" a layout and end up really liking it, I just make it into a template for later/repeated use in the future.

Like others said above, I find it's quicker/easier to scrap with a template -- and my creative/scrap time is SOO limited (sooo... I'd rather waste it on my perfectionist tendencies when it comes to elements, shadows, etc... ha!). Seriously, though, I find I can pull together a layout quicker using a template and I fuss around with it much less.

That said, I don't like seeing the same template over and over and over (and over!) in the galleries all the time, so even if I buy a new set -- I'm not likely to use it for a while... I love delving into my template stash and pulling out templates from years ago. That way, I still feel like what I'm creating is unique and fresh, but I don't have to work so hard to compose it on the page.
 
nanienamou said:
Plus, we don't want all those template artists to starve! :)
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I like your thinking. :D

I don't personally use a lot of templates other than my own because I like the challenge of coming up with compositions and such, but I'm kind of weird like that, haha.

But I don't see templates as cheating. They're a starting point that allows you to focus on other things like adding your own details, telling your story and spending more time making new memories with all the people you love. :)
 
Nettio said:
But I don't see templates as cheating. They're a starting point that allows you to focus on other things like adding your own details, telling your story and spending more time making new memories with all the people you love. :)
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Exactly. :)
 
NeverendingJen said:
I template. my time is precious and I don't like to waste it fighting the composition of a layout. Sometimes I end up doing something without a template, but it always takes me three times as long and I don't like it as much.
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Me too. I have been trying to do more layouts lately without a template, but I really struggle trying to come up with something new, that doesn't look like the last 'template free' page I did.
 
I use templates loads, I do a few pages without as well but I love opening a template and playing with it to get it my way!
 
Templates 98% of the time. I'm not a quick scrapper by any means, so I spend enough time choosing photos, papers, and elements. Even when I have an idea for a LO, I'm likely to start by finding a template that's similar and altering it since it's so much quicker for me than starting from scratch. And since templates are so easy to change, there's almost never a time when I can't find something in my stash that will work.

Before templates became popular, I scraplifted, used a sketch, or found some other sort of inspiration to help me with composition and speed things up. Combining that with the convenience of clipping masks makes me a very happy scrapper.
 
I love templates but sometimes it takes me twice as long cuase I fret over which template to use lol
 
Out of the 39 pages in my SSD gallery, 7 are from templates. So... that's about 17% of the time. Part of the creative fun for me is laying out my page. I went to college for graphic design and art... so this is what I love to do and I can do it pretty fast. If it was a hurdle or if I didn't find it enjoyable I would totally do templates all the time. :) I love using templates when I'm in a rut or if I just really love the layout of the template! Some template designers think differently than I do (like Cindy, especially) with her many many papers, so it's fun to use a template that is different from my usual style. I also love templates like Nettio's who constantly comes up with such unique ways to design a page. :wub:
 
I am a template lover. I use them a lot, especially for pages with multiple photos. I can usually come up a pleasing composition for one or two photo layouts on my own, but after that, I need help. I can't understand why any one would think of templates as cheating, but if so, I will be happy to keep on cheating. :)
 
I use templates regularly, but I'm also not opposed to flipping them, changing them, adding photos, getting rid of photos, piling on elements, removing elements, etc. I feel like there are many times when I use the same template 3, 4, 10 times, and, for the most part, you'd never know the difference.
 
i use them a lot, but i never feel guilty about it bc i make them my own. a lot of times, i'll only use the photo placement. i have lots of issues with that...
 
breakingbrie said:
I do sometimes feel like i'm 'cheating' like when someone comments on a specific aspect of how I did something in my lo, and that part is aaaaaalll template! :o
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This is exactly why I sometimes feel like I'm cheating using templates. When I get compliments on my composition and the composition came entirely from the template, then I feel like I've somehow misled people about my skillz (even though my credits clearly state that I used a template).

That being said, all my layouts this week were with templates - mostly because I had soooo much amazing stuff to work with, and I just wanted to scrap, not think about composition. AND, a bunch of the amazing stuff I had to work with were templates, so that's a win/win.

I do like to make sure that I create several completely original layouts every month no matter what. If I don't do that then I feel like I forget how to. And, I like the feeling of looking at a page that I love and knowing that it all came from my own creativity (with the help of some amazing kit designers, of course).
 
ltarbox said:
I do like to make sure that I create several completely original layouts every month no matter what. If I don't do that then I feel like I forget how to. And, I like the feeling of looking at a page that I love and knowing that it all came from my own creativity (with the help of some amazing kit designers, of course).
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I think this is a good and important point Lydia. I've been trying to do at least one or two this month with my own composition for this very reason. I've felt very satisfied with the results which is a wonderful feeling.
 
whites19 said:
Even though I don't use them all the time, I love templates. I hate the argument that it's "cheating" to use a template. I don't view scrapping as an art contest... I am truly trying to get my family's memories down on paper so things are documented for the future. My kids don't care if I use a template or not, and outside of galleries -- nobody else who looks at my pages cares, either. How is it cheating if it helps you have more time to get more memories documented? Nope, I simply can't subscribe to that idea. :)

I use templates about 60-70% of the time (that's a guesstimate and not derived in a scientific fashion! LOL). The rest of the time, if I "freehand" a layout and end up really liking it, I just make it into a template for later/repeated use in the future.

Like others said above, I find it's quicker/easier to scrap with a template -- and my creative/scrap time is SOO limited (sooo... I'd rather waste it on my perfectionist tendencies when it comes to elements, shadows, etc... ha!). Seriously, though, I find I can pull together a layout quicker using a template and I fuss around with it much less.

That said, I don't like seeing the same template over and over and over (and over!) in the galleries all the time, so even if I buy a new set -- I'm not likely to use it for a while... I love delving into my template stash and pulling out templates from years ago. That way, I still feel like what I'm creating is unique and fresh, but I don't have to work so hard to compose it on the page.
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This... every bit of it... I about died when 3 of us babes used the same template with the same exact kit this week LOLOL... but I did switch it up quite a bit so that it was different than the others... I very rarely use a template as is... I'm always mixing it up... using less elements... adding more paper... using paper for photo spots... shrinking it... doing whatever I can to make it look like my own yet still saving time on the layout... and then after all that... I remind myself that I'm doing it for my kids and family and they don't care whether or not I use a template, as long as the story is told and the memory recorded :) and yes, I'm about 60-70% templates... and I think it's because I'm on so many template creative teams... if I were on less template teams than I'd be using less templates because I enjoy being inspired by the kit and the photos and the story... and many times is therapeutic for me to create a layout w/o a template, but it's also therapeutic for me to make a template my own instead of using it as is :)
 
here's what I mean about making it your own... 3 totally different layouts - same exact kit, same exact template... to me they aren't "cheating" at all because each of them have their own spin and style to it...





 
I go in spurts... sometimes I look at the kit and I know exactly what I want to do with it... other times, I just want to scrap and not worry about photo placement. :)
 
Cheating at what?

"Oooh sorry great-grandchild #3. You probably shouldn't look at that page. I used a template to make it, so it's not really a story/memory preserved to share with you. "

I say use whatever you want to tell your stories. They are YOUR stories. Your memories. Your pages.

eta/p.s.
I don't use templates 'cause I suck. really, really suck at it.
 
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If you had asked me this question 4 months ago, I would have said that pretty much all my LOs were from templates. But lately, I've been challenging myself to try to come up with page compositions myself. I don't view templates as cheating in the least, but I do want to keep my creativity sharp, so I NEEDED to try to think outside the template box. And like Laura and Heather said, very often, I change a template so much you'd never even know that that was the one I started out with.
 
I am totally a template lover!!! I use them a lot and I love it! Of course, I always try to give my LO my personal touch, but it's great to have a starting point! And, as you say, they are wonderful time savers! :) I do make my own compositions sometimes and I even make freebie templates out of them. :) I guess I love templates so much that I think mine can be useful too! lol!
 
This thread makes me feel so much better. Honestly, I didn't really consider myself a "real" scrapper because I always use templates. However, I 100% agree that I am doing this for my kids and future grandkids, to document our story and they won't know/care if a template was used.
 
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