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How Do You Choose the Best Digital Scrapbooking Software? Find Out the Top 5 Most Important Things To Look For!

View PDF | Print View | Html View Written by: Gracie Madsen
Total views: 16 | Word Count: 843 | Date: Tue, 10 Nov 2009 | 0 comments

Digital scrapbooking has many advantages over traditional paper scrapbooking. You can save a lot of money by eliminating the need for all those expensive tools and supplies, plus you avoid having to pay for expensive papers and embellishments - that you're only able to use one time! Then, there's the time savings. Getting setup to do paper scrapbooking, plus all the cleanup can take longer than the scrapbooking you get done! However, if you're using a digital scrapbooking software program, you just start up your computer, and you're scrapbooking in seconds.

However, not all digital scrapbooking software programs are created equal! Some programs look great in their marketing material, but are ultimately disappointing. On the one hand, some digital programs are extremely confusing to use with cluttered interfaces and an overwhelming array of tools. You quickly learn that such programs aren't really tailored for scrapbooking; they are often merely re-branded general purpose image editors.

On the flip side, be aware that you can buy digital scrapbooking software that isn't flexible enough for you to express your creativity. While "easy to use" is good, "simple" isn't exactly the same thing. You'll find a number of products that are limited to only a handful of templates, and worse still, you can't customize them to fit your vision. And finally, while many digital scrapbooking software programs are reasonable priced, there are some products that are really quite expensive. You don't need to use the same tools as a professional graphics designer in order to get excellent results for your scrapbooks!

So how do you know when you've come across digital scrapbooking software that's good quality, a good value, and most importantly, will work for you and your digital scrapbooking project? Here's a check list of the top five criteria to look for as you wade through the digital scrapbooking software choices:

1. Free trial. Look for a program that comes with a free trial so that you can check out exactly what the program offers. The best programs will offer a full-featured trial so that you can try everything out and not have to guess at what you might be able to do should you purchase the software. A digital scrapbooking software program that does not offer any sort of free trial should be avoided.

2. Full Creative Control Over Your Pages. Your digital scrapbooking software should have options to let you begin a new scrapbook from either a blank page or from a fully-editable template. This gives you the flexibility to really express your creativity, yet when you just want to create a quick page or brag book, you're able to still add your own creative touch to it.

3. High Quality Scrapbooking Elements. Does the program come with top quality scrapbooking content, like digital papers, embellishments, backgrounds, and template pages made specifically for scrapbooking? And remember that in this case, quality is much more important than quantity. Some programs come with a ton of clipart items, but you'd never actually use any of it for scrapbooking layouts - they're not the right look for scrapbooking. Who cares if you get fifty thousands pieces of clipart that looks like generic clipart? Make sure the program you choose comes with professionally-designed items, ideally by top digital scrapbook content designers. A good digital scrapbooking software program will also show you everything that is included with your software on their website.

4. Online Discussion Forums. The program you choose should offers free access to their online community discussion forum. This is where you can ask questions 24 hours a day about the software, and get answers back from both the staff and other users of the software. Even more importantly, you can read the honest opinions of others about the software program and its capabilities. Be cautious about any digital scrapbooking software program that doesn't have an open discussion forum! The size of he forum, will also tell you something about the software. Some products have tens of thousands of users, showing you how popular it is!

5. Scrapbooking Tutorials and Instruction. Look for free digital scrapbooking tutorials on the company's website. You want to see visual demonstrations about how to use the software. Also look for an extensive User's Guide and Help File available from within the program. That way you can always get answers to questions, at any time (even if you're scrapbooking on a plane!) that may come up as you go.

You have quite a few choices out there when choosing your digital scrapbooking software. Narrow down your choices using the above list, and you'll be in much better shape than just walking into a store and buying the "fancy box". Just make sure that the products you look at have a free trial version, that they include pro-quality scrapbooking elements, feature fully editable pages, and give you access to an open and friendly digital scrapbooking forum with lots of tutorials and tips to get you started. You'll be glad you did!

About the Author

Want to learn more about digital scrapbooking software? Visit Gracie Madsen's site on how to choose the best scrapbook program for your needs.