Quick Pages you say? True, but I had something else in mind this time! Studio Wendy has come out with a new product called "Template Clipper." I can't resist taking credit for giving her the idea, after borrowing it from somewhere else of course! I saw something similar on a site that sold templates specifically to professional photographers. Of course they are all about the need for efficient work-flow!

But hey, even us family memory keepers have a need for speed, right?!

With Studio Wendy's Template Clipper you will basically open your template and then everything else you add to your layout will be opened using the action. The action will do the copying, pasting, placing, and then closing of each paper, element or photo! It will prompt you to name the layer and then even delete the placeholder graphic if you like! You will just need to watch this video tutorial to believe it!

 

In this lesson you will learn to use the following in Photoshop CS3:

• The "move" tool
• The "Polygonal Lasso" tool
• The "Layers Pallet"
• "Select>>Inverse" command

In under 5 minutes you can create a beautiful custom scrapbook page to insert into any digital Photobook!

 

 

Coming Soon!

This video is part "A" of a two part series on making sure your page is press-ready and printing at Shutterfly. Shutterfly's website has a detailed FAQ with links to templates and specifications. These two videos will cover the basics in Photoshop Elements.

Studio Wendy, also known as Wendyzine Scraps, sells at Scrapbookgraphics.com where you can find all kinds of products to help you check your work:

• In the video I am using one of the overlays which Studio Wendy generously provided for free to DigiScrapQuickPage.com users! Go ahead and download the Sampler Package today!
• Need overlays for other sizes or printing companies? This bundle of overlays will allow you to easily double check double check and adjust just about any sized layout for printing at Shutterfly, ArtsCow, Inkubook, MyPicTales, Persnickity, Scrapping Simply or VioVio.
• She also has other bundles with templates for creating your covers at the various photo book companies.
• This handy "action" shows you what your layout will look like trimmed.

But don't let all of this scare you, just know that when you create a photo book with custom scrapbook pages you need to design with the trim area in mind. As a very liberal rule of thumb just keep important elements 1/4" away from the top/bottom and 1/2 an inch away from the sides. The sides need a little more room for the binding because you don't want anything important in the "gutter" of your book!

What you want to look for in a photo book company is the ability to drop in a photo that fills the page, all the way to the edges. This is referred to as a "full bleed" page. Not all of the photo book companies allow this. Shutterfly is one company that does.

This video tutorial is part "B" of a two part series on printing custom digital scrapbook pages at Shutterfly. In part "A" we talk about checking the bleed area to make sure nothing important gets trimmed off. This video covers what settings to tweak in Shutterfly on each photo so that your page will look its best. And, it shows how to drop the photo on a full bleed page. It is very important to turn OFF the following two settings:

1. Easy Crop
2. VividPics auto color correction

 

The mission at Digi Scrap Quick Pages is to help get your photos into albums. For seasoned scrapbookers that might just mean easy access to templates which will help you get moving more quickly. Or, even encourage you to give yourself permission to use Quick Pages, if you find the perfect page, why re-invent the wheel?

But, for those of you that are new to creating photo books, once you master the Quick Page and Template techniques, there are plenty of fantastic resources for learning more. And, with software as powerful as Photoshop, you could probably learn something new every day! Following are some of the places you should visit: