What do you most wish you'd known?

deebirks

deebirks

New member
When you started digi scrapping?

I am new; I started to learn digital scrapbooking in November of last year and by January I was doing Project Life instead. By February I wasn't even doing that. I hadn't scrapped in months when I jumped in with both feet at the Summer Games here and now I'm 1000% hooked!

I've learned so much in the one month I've been here -- I can't believe how much I'm learning everyday from all the ladies here. It's amazing how much more I enjoy the process when I'm starting to feel that I might actually get a grasp of how to do it.

I just learned two days ago that I can put the credits in the file info of the page itself instead of keeping OneNote open or a notebook on my desk. It's little things that you pick up along the way that make things so much easier and more enjoyable that you wonder why you didn't know that from the beginning.

What have you learned that you wish someone had told you when you were new?
 
Shadowing. Seriously. If I'd learnt that a whole lot earlier I would be much happier with my layouts back then.
 
That's hard because I've learned so much, and there are a billion things I still want to learn! I'm on CS5 and when someone clued me onto "auto-select" I was thrilled. I did not have it on, had no idea it was even there, and sorting through my endless number of layers to find something became so much easier! Also, I didn't know about control (or right) clicking on layers to copy/paste styles until recently. I was doing each shadow individually, and that has made my life easier, too. Oh, and layer masks. I used to try to use the eraser, and using layer masks is so much better :)
 
farrijc said:
Oh, and layer masks. I used to try to use the eraser, and using layer masks is so much better :)
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I'd forgotten that! When I started, I was resizing and erasing, resizing and erasing. I was just about in tears. Then I saw an Ali Edwards tutorial and her pictures just popped into the template. It was like magic. I was astonished.
 
jacinda said:
Shadowing. Seriously. If I'd learnt that a whole lot earlier I would be much happier with my layouts back then.
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Absolutely. The worst part is that I thought I was shadowing -- I mean, I was clicking on drop shadow and using the default settings so I thought that's all I had to do.
 
And how can I forget resizing elements? Some of my first pages have huge embellishments slapped down on them because I didn't think of the scale of everything else, I just dragged and dropped things the way they were.
 
I think the biggest thing I wish someone would have told me was to not buy so much! I bought so much I never used when I started scrapping!
 
That is okay to have your own style, even if it's not what is 'current' at the moment. For awhile, I got really caught up in not owning my own thing, thinking I had to be like everyone else, and once I realized that, it helped me really enjoy my scrapping again.

That was a really important lesson for me to learn back when.
 
Let's see ... detaching layer styles; liquify; bold shadows; saturation of the entire canvas; high pass (for sharpening); naming conventions of pages for organization; use of the linear burn layer mode for shadowing acrylics; leaving comments on pages I add to my favorites; using TIFF (vs. PSD) to save space; grouping; etc ....
 
I agree about the shadowing. Fortunately, there are some great shadow styles you can use to get started. (Jen Barrette has a set here on SSD!)

There are lots of great tutorials out there. SSD's blog has some great ones! (the Digi Files and Scrapper's Guide have wonderful lessons and tutorials too -- and you will often see SSD folks in these 2 places.). And I would have to say that the people here on SSD are awesome about answering questions. I would also say it is helpful to check the galleries here -- you can learn a lot that way!
 
Shadows for me as well. I have been working on improving mine for a while now, and I am finally starting to feel satisfied with them. The thing I like most about scrapping is that it is a continuous learning process which means it is also a growing process. The page I love today will be the one I try to improve upon tomorrow. :)
 
SeattleSheri said:
Let's see ... detaching layer styles; liquify; bold shadows; saturation of the entire canvas; high pass (for sharpening); naming conventions of pages for organization; use of the linear burn layer mode for shadowing acrylics; leaving comments on pages I add to my favorites; using TIFF (vs. PSD) to save space; grouping; etc ....
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Wow, Sheri, I've been digi scrapping for 8 years and I'm still wishing to learn a lot of this stuff! :)
 
I wish when I first started I was made to just focus on enjoying the hobby... don't compare your pages to others... remember your reason for scrapping to begin... are you doing it for creative release or to record family history. As a very competitive person, I was constantly comparing my pages to others and who got on what CT teams and really stressed myself out... haha. I still have a bit of that competitive edge... not proud of it... :D

Oh - and how to use clipping masks (creating and then simplify.... then for filling in the center of a frame, select, move to a new layer to create a mask for odd shaped frames... that took me a bit to understand - I guess I'm slow... :o
 
Hmm...I'd say dropshadows and journaling! A lot of my first layouts were just for me to practice with my program and that was where my enjoyment lay. But I wish I had journaled a little more or at least dated my layouts :p
 
mrshobbes said:
Hmm...I'd say dropshadows and journaling! A lot of my first layouts were just for me to practice with my program and that was where my enjoyment lay. But I wish I had journaled a little more or at least dated my layouts :p
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I was just about to say the same. I really regret I didn't journal on those early pages. And I agree on the shadowing. That makes such a huge difference.

On the other hand, I kind of enjoyed the entire learning process. It was, and still is, an amazing experience to get to know my program, discovering new possibilities, trying out new techniques and really finding my style!
 
Freckles said:
On the other hand, I kind of enjoyed the entire learning process. It was, and still is, an amazing experience to get to know my program, discovering new possibilities, trying out new techniques and really finding my style!
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This! My main motivation for getting into scrapbooking was to deepen my knowledge of Photoshop - I felt I was stuck and didn't move on. And boy, did it help!

Things I wish I used to do from the start - shadowing. And tagging and knowing how to open files in PS from ACDSee. Only learned it this year and that is SUCH a help. Also, discovering actions and most of all, discovering RadLab helped me loads with my editing skills. But as Kim said, it's fun to keep discovering new things all the time and see a progress with what you do.
 
journaling. Alot of my earlier pages did not have anything about the "story". Even if the photo does not coincide with an event I still like to write something.

Also that you can still record important days and events and feelings without having a photo. I love photoless layouts now.
 
Definitely a lot that has already been said. Journlaling/memory keeping and dating my pages. So important to me!! I also agree about wishing I didn't get caught up in the competitive side of scrapping or trying to be like other people. I have since let go of all that and I am soooo happy!!! I love just making pages for me and not caring if it's "in" or not.
 
Honestly!?!?! To not care so much what other's thought of my pages and that if I loved them that's all that matters!!! To realize I am scrapping for me and my family and not for anyone else!!! :thumbup:
 
mummytothree said:
Honestly!?!?! To not care so much what other's thought of my pages and that if I loved them that's all that matters!!! To realize I am scrapping for me and my family and not for anyone else!!! :thumbup:
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Exactly!

And don't worry about making it on Creative teams, if you get them, great, but don't let it rule your life! Your kids won't care how many teams you were on, just happy you have all your family memories documented!
 
If I want to put the pages in an album chronologically, it's much easier to do if they're dated (yeah, I know, should be fairly evident without being told).

The inspiration and desire to scrap will always come when you're at work or somewhere else that makes it impossible care do at that moment.
 
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