All posts tagged: tutorial

Behind the Scenes: Principles of Design – Static and Dynamic Composition

Published by Sula H.

Since (digital) scrapbooking is no less than another form of graphic design, I thought that once a month I’d start to share some insight into the principles and rules of graphic design. Lots of things can be learned in this area, and I’m sure that knowing a little about these rules and principles will help us create even better pages in the future. Now, keep in mind, I’m no artistic pro. All I know about this is self-taught with a few tips by professionals here and there, and I’m making no claim that what I have to say is exhaustive by any means. My goal is simply to share some insights with the hope that it will help us become better scrappers.  But if you are a pro and have something to add to what I’m going to talk about, feel free to do so. So, today I want to talk about a very basic principle of composition – the principle of static and dynamic composition. Static Composition In a nutshell, static composition means that …

Behind the Scenes: Using Photoshop Brushes on a Scrapbook Layout

Published by Sula H.

Brushes. They are an essential tool for many aspects of graphic design. They also are a great asset on our scrapbook pages. I love brushes. They can give our scrapbook page more dimension, since they usually are applied directly on the background and therefore can serve very well to make the other elements pop off the page a little better. They can add grunge and texture to your page, which can define the tone of your layout. They can be used for emphasis, or in order to draw the observer’s attention to a specific area on the page (see layout below). Originally, for today I had planned to prepare a tutorial on how to use photoshop brushes. But when I started googling this to do some research, I realized quickly that there are actually tons of great tutorials that explain everything you need to know about brushes. So, doing another one would be quite redundant. Simply google for something like “tips for photoshop brushes,” and it will bring up a range of various websites with …

Enable Me: Ideas for Titles

Published by Sula H.

You may remember that a couple of weeks ago, I posted a tutorial on how to make your titles stand out. Back then I promised to hook you up with some great resources to inspire you and help you find the right title. So, today’s the day. Many of us experience this at some point: you finished your page, it looks great, but you just don’t know what title to use. You don’t want to refer to the much over-used “something-something- Memories,” yet again, or any of the other oh-so-typical phrases that you see all over the galleries. But your brain is having a blockage. You just can’t think of any fun or interesting title, you’re stuck! But there’s a way out of your dilemma. There are lots of scrapbooking websites (traditional and digital) out there that offer lists of suggestions for titles. Many are sorted by occasion/topic/event etc. which makes finding a title four your page really easy. Just find the topic that matches the theme of your layout and check out their inspiration. …

Behind the Scenes: Unfocused Photos

Published by Sula H.

Who of us hasn’t experienced this: you take a photo, and at the time of shooting expect it to be a great shot. But as soon as you upload it onto your computer, you are in for major disappointment as you realize the imagine is “useless” – it’s out of focus. If you haven’t, I’ve had my fair share of moments like these in the past. Maybe it wasn’t even me who took the picture, but someone else who didn’t know how to handle my camera well. Whatever reason it was, many times when we realize a photo is ruined, it’s too late to go back and re-take the picture. But there is good news for all of us who do have those kinds of pictures sitting in our folders. We still can redeem them. Even though one major rule of photography is to make sure to take sharp, focused photos (the clearer the details the better), there is another rule that says, you can break any of those major rules and still have great …

Behind the Scenes: Handwriting Fonts

Published by Sula H.

A while ago I started talking about fonts. While back then we covered a little about typewriter fonts, today I’d like to share some insight into handwriting fonts. After all, we create scrapbook pages in order to keep our memories, which means journaling is part of the process. Also, we like for our layouts to look as close to the real deal as possible, and what better way to achieve that look than by adding some handwritten sentiments to the page? Let me take it even a little further – what better way to journal our memories and thoughts than to use our very own handwriting? Now, there are lots of handwriting fonts out. Some for free, others need to be purchased. Again, a great source for some fun and interesting handwriting fonts is dafont. But I’ve also found other handwriting fonts at other websites by simply googling the search term “download free handwriting fonts.” Some of my favorite handwriting fonts are: But of course, there are many more fonts that would look great on …

Behind the Scenes: Looping Elements

Published by Sula H.

When it comes to traditional scrapbooking, many things seem to fall into place just naturally, while with digital scrapping nothing is coincidence. Everything that is on the page is there, because we deliberately placed it there. For example, while on a traditional scrapbook page you can randomly scatter elements by just throwing them on the page and adhere them wherever they fall, you can’t just “throw” things onto your computer screen, and hope they’ll stick with your digital page. It just doesn’t work that way. Another thing, that comes rather easily on a traditional page is the looping of elements, for example through a ribbon. You just tie the ribbon around the element, and place it on your page. Not so with a digital ribbon. Wrapping a digital ribbon takes some extra effort and knowledge of your graphics program to achieve the desired look. But no need to worry – it actually isn’t all that difficult. Let’s take a look at this page, for example: If you take a closer look, you will see that …

Enable Me: Journaling

Published by Sula H.

Let’s talk about journaling today. It’s something that all of us scrappers have to deal with at some point, and I know, many of us are struggling to make our journaling meaningful. Me for one! I’m a member of a font designer’s CT (Darcy Baldwin, for those of you who know her), and just the other day, I had been wondering – how can I make her fonts shine more on my pages? In other words, how can my journaling become more center stage on my pages? A big question, but there is hope in sight! Lot’s of great journaling prompts can be found on the web, and though many of them are not even meant for scrappers, we certainly can take the inspiration and turn them into something useful for our pages. And then there are those great scrapbook journaling prompts. I stumbled over one great inspirational blog last week, when I was listening to the paperclipping digishow (published for The Digi Files). One of the guests in that show was Sara Gleason. Now, …

Behind the Scenes: The Rule of Thirds

Published by Sula H.

One of the most basic rules for photography is the Rule of Thirds. It works quite simple, but can improve your image dramatically, when it comes to proper balance in your composition. The Rule of Thirds also can be applied generally in graphic  design, which makes it quite a useful guideline for us scrappers as well. Now, keep in mind that when I use the terms, “rule” and “guideline” it doesn’t mean these rules are set in stone. Maybe the most important rule in graphic design is that “rules are meant to be broken!” So, when talking about the Rule of Thirds today, I’m not saying all your pages have to abide by this guideline from this day forward. It is meant as a tool, helping you to get better results when taking a photo, or putting your page together. But you may just as well ignore this rule, and still create a great scrapbook layout! Still, as it is a rather useful tool, in our tutorial today, we are going to look at How …

Behind the Scenes: Titles That Make Your Page

Published by Sula H.

Being totally honest, who of us doesn’t struggle with the title sometimes when we work on a page? There are so many things that can either make or break a layout, just because of poor use or placement of a title. Now, I have to admit, I’m not a graphic designer or a professional in this area by any means, so a lot of the things I’m going to share with you today are mostly based on personal preference. However, after doing a little bit of research on that topic, I find that there are a few things about working with titles that are rather useful to know. This tutorial is going to be a rather lengthy one. To give you a brief overview, I’m going to touch on: 1. Title – Yes or No 2. Character of a Layout 3. Photo Inspiration 4. Bold or Subdued 5. Determining the Size 6. Some More Basics (6 quick tips) 7. Layouts to Give You Inspiration Title – Yes or No Now, before I get all into …

Enable Me: Photo Actions by Paint the Moon

Published by Sula H.

It’s time to talk about photography again. And since photography and photo editing these days go hand in hand, let me point you to one of my favorite photo-actions designers: Paint the Moon Photography. Check out her amazing photos on her personal blog. I admit, I “stole” her photos (above & below) from her blog, but only to give you an idea of her amazing work and because I want to make you curious enough to jump right over to check out her blog yourself. But Paint the Moon Photography isn’t just about an amazing photographer. It’s also about the services she offers on her business website. Annie (as I believe her actual name is), has some amazing photo actions she sells over there and she even has several sets of freebies that will take your photo editing to the next level. Check out her place, as she has tutorials, videos and her amazing photos to share on her websites.