Using digital scrapbooking software for your scrapbook projects has many advantages over traditional paper scrapbooking. There’s a huge cost savings since you’ve eliminated the need for all those expensive tools and supplies, and you no longer have to pay for costly papers and embellishments that you use only once. Plus, there’s the potential to save time as well. It takes more than just a few minutes to set up and prepare your paper scrapbooking workspace. With a digital scrapbooking software program, you boot up your computer, and you’re ready to go.
As you can imagine, not all digital scrapbooking software programs have the same features or even the same ease of use. While some scrapbook programs look OK in their marketing material (some even have fancy boxes!), when you get them home, they’re not quite what you were hoping for. Even worse, some digital scrapbooking programs are extremely confusing. They have cluttered interfaces and more tools than you can imagine what to do with! Programs like that aren’t you’re best choice for scrapbooking. Oftentimes those products are just rebranded image editing applications, that have been re-marketed as scrapbook software…
On the other side of the spectrum are digital scrapbooking software programs that are very easy to use, but are incredibly restrictive. You find that you are limited to using a handful of templates and have little if any creative control over how your pages look. Though probably most digital scrapbooking software programs are less expensive than what many spend on paper scrapbooking, there are even some digital scrapbooking software programs that are prohibitively expensive for many scrapbook enthusiasts.
So, the question becomes “How do you find digital scrapbooking software that’s creative, affordable and most importantly, will give you excellent results?” Here’s the checklist you’ve been waiting for! The top 5 things to look for as you evaluate your choices in digital scrapbooking software:
1. Free Trial Download. This is a must. You want to see exactly what the program can do! A digital scrapbooking software program that doesn’t have a free trial should really make you wonder. You don’t want to just guess and hope that you’ll like the product you’re going to buy!
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. Kits & Templates Made By Top Scrapbook Artists. Don’t get taken in by products that come with 50,000 pieces of “clipart”. Do you really want your scrapbook to look plain and generic? I didn’t think so! Look for products that include professionally-designed scrapbooking embellishments, ideally by top digital scrapbook content designers. Insist on being able to see a list of everything that you get. There’s no reason why everything that is included with the software can’t be viewed 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. Tutorials and User Documentation. A top-quality program will offer free digital scrapbooking tutorials on their website that provide visual demonstrations for using the software. A great program will also include a comprehensive User’s Guide and Help File so that you can always easily access answers to any questions that may come up as you scrapbook.
So, don’t just walk into your local big box store and plop down your cash for the mystery software in the fancy box! Use the above list to narrow your selection, and you’ll end up buying a digital scrapbooking software program that you really enjoy! Once again, it should have a free trial download for you to test out, it should have fully customizable pages so you can express your creativity, it must come with real “top quality” scrapbooking elements, it should have an open and honest forum for you to interact with other scrapbookers and the company should provide tutorials for you on their website. If you look for these 5 things, you’ll find a great scrapbook program that you’ll enjoy for years to come!
Want to find out more about digital scrapbooking software? Visit Gracie Madsen’s site on how to choose the best scrapbook program for your needs.
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