Make Your Foray into Digital Scrapbooking Easy with a Starter Project

Scrapbooks have been kept for centuries!  They're not a new tradition or fad.  In fact, scrapbooks pre-date photos!  Once photos came on the scene, scrapbooks meant even more because they preserved even more.  

Scrapbooks turned into "scrapbook-ing" in the 1980s and 1990s when scrapbookers added a creative, decorative aspect.  

The 21st century has brought us digital scrapbooking.  Instead of papers, stickers, and scissors (and a lot of space to spread out in), a digital scrapbooker utilizes technology--a computer and computer software--to create books digitally, then submit them for publishing.  

I know some digital scrapbookers keep only digital versions of their work, but print has a lot of benefits that digital doesn't, and photo experts have long maintained print as one of the safest ways to store photos.  So I consider the "digital" part of digital scrapbooking in the creation only, not the finished product.

Your story is worth sharing and preserving (the benefits to the heart and soul are impressive), and photos are the highlights of your life's story.  So let's explore making that entirely doable for you!

If you're considering making the transition from paper scrapbooking to digital scrapbooking, here are some great ideas and reasons to do it (such as a book never needing a full battery in order to give you access to your photos).  

NOTE:  I am a Forever affiliate, called an Ambassador, because I love Forever so much!  This means I make a commission from purchases at my website, and being your Ambassador means I'm here to help you with questions, too.

Making Digital Scrapbooking Easy

Today I'll share with you a brilliant way to make your foray into digital scrapbooking easy:  a starter project.  

There are five things I love about this approach I'm about to share with you:

1. It's a great fit for anyone who doesn't feel very computer-savvy.
2. It's a great fit for anyone who doesn't have a lot of time to spend preserving photos and memories.
3. It's a great fit for anyone concerned about photo privacy.
4. It provides you both a digital (shareable!) version of your book (digital backups are always smart) as well as access to a professional printing service with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.  
5. Once you've completed the starter project, you'll have a taste of an easy way to digitally scrapbook.  From there, you can continue using the simple software platform (free) or you can advance to a more creative and flexible digital scrapbooking software if you prefer.  (In my opinion, this is the piece de resistance!  Finding a digital scrapbooking method that works for you makes it not just doable but enjoyable moving forward.  Fun is what makes it easy.)

There seems to be a false idea out there that preserving photos and memories is hard, is complicated, takes a long time, is only for some people but not for others.  It's simply not true.  Memories aren't just for certain people.  Photos aren't just for some people.  The feel-good benefits that come from photos, memories, stories, and connections are for everyone!

My two biggest tips for making digital scrapbooking easy and doable are:

First, use a template.  It's just faster and easier.  All the templates in the platform I'm showing you here are free, so that's an extra bonus.

Second, set aside some time.  Take some Me Time on a Sunday night or a Saturday morning to spend with your photos and memories.  As soon as you start, it will stop feeling like a chore because you will love it!  I promise.

So let's get you there with a Starter Project.  Right now, just explore the options and don't worry about how to make them.  I'll explain everything!  😊

The Starter Project:  Three Options

When you're trying something new, it's often easier when you first just get your feet wet.  I have three ideas for your Starter Project which will do just that, so choose whichever one sounds most interesting and enjoyable to you.  

I've chosen three projects that you can actually try out for free, too!

I'll give you some instructions on how to do that shortly, as well as a little tutorial video on how to make these items.  You'll love how easy the software is to use!

OPTION 1

This starter project can be done in less than 5 minutes!  This is a set of 4 cork-backed coasters.  Keep it for yourself, or give it as a gift.  Click this link to start the project if it's the one you choose.

You'll choose 3 photos, a quote or sentiment, and a little text with one of the photos.  Easy, peasy.  Really.

OPTION 2

This starter project can be done even quicker than the coasters!  This little magnet has a quote as part of the design, then you just add a photo.  Click this link to start this project if it's the one you choose.    

With magnets, you can choose a 3x4 size or a 4x6 size.  If purple isn't your thing or you'd like a different quote, there are lots of other magnet templates you can choose from here.

OPTION 3

This is a sweet little book called "Remember."  Clink the link to start this project if it's the one you choose.

The "Remember" book has a lot of different page options, each one with a word like "SMILE," "GROW," "SHARE," etc., room for a few pictures, and space for text.  Write down a few of your memories--things you remember--and find some photos you can add in, too.

If finding photos is a little overwhelming for you because you haven't organized them yet, here's an idea:  Go to a local park and take some nice scenery pictures.  This is just a book of your memories, and you're just getting your feet wet making a book.  You can save the photo organization for later if that's easier.  

By the way, my goal here is for your Starter Project to be free if you're new to Forever, but I know there are several options for sizes and bindings available for books.  If you choose the 8x8 softbound book during a 50% off sale, you'll still be able to get it for free!

The How-To:  Instructions

Follow these simple steps to make your Starter Project (hopefully for free!).

1. You'll use the free templates at a simple platform called Create & Print by FOREVER.  First, open your free Forever account here.  
2. Next, check your email for an email from Forever so you can verify your email address.  If you're new to Forever and you verify your email address, you'll be emailed a $20 Welcome Coupon that's good for 60 days.  You'll be able to use it for your Starter Project!
3. Now watch this 5-minute tutorial video about how to use the Create & Print software (formerly called Design & Print).  I like to say that the learning curve for the Create & Print software is almost a straight line!  This allows you to get projects done in a jif.
4. Choose the photos you'd like to use in your project.  Upload them to your Forever Storage (cloud storage for photos and videos).  If you're uploading from your phone, this tutorial video will help.  If you're uploading from your computer, this tutorial video will help.
5. Next, click on whichever Starter Project you've decided on:  the coaster set or the magnet or the "Remember" book.  Make the project!  👊  I'm your Forever Ambassador, so reach out if you have questions.  photoandstorytreasures@gmail.com
6. Once your project is completed, go to the "Deals" tab along the top of the page at the Forever website.  Check to see if your chosen product is on sale.  You should be able to use the $20 coupon to get these items for free if they are 50% off.  Everything is on sale all the time, and sales vary between 35%-50%.  If you want to wait until your item is 50% off, you certainly may.  Whatever the sale is, use the sale code you see there so you'll get the sale price at checkout.
7. Now, go back to your email and get the coupon code for the $20 Welcome!  Apply that $20 Welcome code in your cart as well.  You should have the sale code and the $20 welcome code.  You will pay shipping, but hopefully you're getting your lovely Starter Project for free.

Next Steps

Now that you've gotten your feet wet with the Create & Print software, you're ready to do some digital scrapbooking to preserve your photos and memories!

You can keep on using Create & Print by Forever for travel books, yearbooks, Reasons I Love You books, and much more!  

There are hundreds of templates in Create & Print, and new ones are added all the time.  Old ones are retired periodically, so if you see one you like, snap it up and get started!

And, of course, you have also seen that you can make plenty of photo gifts and home decor using free Create & Print templates, too!

If you love Create & Print, then my work here is done!  😊  Set aside the time, use Create & Print templates, and you're ready to become a regular digital scrapbooker.  I like creating yearbooks every year, and you can find a lot of different designs by typing in "yearbook" into the search bar or just clicking here to explore.  

However, if you liked Create & Print OK but haven't met the love of your digital scrapbooking life, let me introduce you to Artisan digital scrapbooking software by Forever.  

It has many of the DIY elements of traditional paper scrapbooking (like using embellishments and alphabet stickers and "ripping" papers).  There's a LOT of room for flexible pages and for creativity.  You can see the basics at an introductory class I taught a few years ago:

It's my personal favorite because I can do things like this with it, playing with fonts and creating my own pages (whether from scratch or from blueprints) and choosing my own digital art and designs:

If you think you might fall in love with Artisan like I did, you can start a 30-day free trial here and read all the computer system requirements.  (Mac users need a partitioning program.)

What Will You Do?

I love that these options mean there's something for everyone, that you can get it all with both photo privacy and a 100% satisfaction guarantee, and that you can really be your own digital scrapbooking hero!

Tell me--what will you do?  Which of the three Starter Projects will you choose?  Which of the digital scrapbooking options will be Your Thing?  Let me know in the comments.  You're going to love the world of digital scrapbooking, especially with Forever!  

Who do you know who is looking for a simple way to get into digital scrapbooking?
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How to Convert Traditional Scrapbooks to Digital Books

It's pretty amazing that we now have the capability to digitize an old scrapbook!  Isn't it?  Something that used to be a one-of-a-kind object can be duplicated.  

This can come in handy for several reasons.  Maybe you want to have multiple copies to share.  Maybe you want downsize and take some of the bulk out of old scrapbooks.  Maybe your scrapbooks are so old they're on magnetized pages from the 60s or 70s (which are acidic and eating away at your photos as we speak) and need to be rescued.  

Whatever the reason, if you have an old photo album or traditional scrapbook that you would like to digitize, you definitely want to do it with care.  

NOTE:  When I say "digital book," I really mean a book with a digital version that you print.  I know some people stick with digital-only versions, but photo experts maintain that a printed, hard-copy version is still one of the best ways to preserve photos and memories.  A digital, shareable backup is smart, too.

In my experience, Forever is the best place to do it.  That's because their digitizing services are rated highest in both quality and customer satisfaction, and because the quality of their print products is the best in the industry (including nearly indestructible spine bindings).  

NOTE:  I am a Forever affiliate (a decision I made because I love it so much), so you will find affiliate links in this post, from which I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you.

So, if you've been looking for a high-quality way to convert your traditional scrapbooks or old photo albums to digital books, you've come to the right place! 

There are two parts to converting a traditional scrapbook to digital books, so let's get right to it.

FIRST, DIGITIZE

Digitizing your scrapbook pages means having them scanned. You can certainly do this on your own if you like. Be sure you use a high-quality flatbed scanner, saving your images at a minimum of 300dpi resolution as JPG (or JPEG) files. Be sure the glass on the scanner is free from lint, smudges, etc., for the best scan, and make sure your pages aren't dusty. Be sure to set aside some scanning time on your calendar, too.

If you'd like to save time AND let the pros dust your pages (and remove them from the book, if needed) and use their top-quality equipment and skills, I definitely recommend Forever Digitization because I've used and loved them multiple times. They actually have the highest rating on Trustpilot (an independent platform for business reviews), too. Plus, security is an enormous deal:

You can see how the Forever Box works at this quick video showing you the basics, or just scan this QR code to watch.

For more details beyond that quick, 3-minute introduction, I made this video for you.

By the way, if your book is already a digital PDF, you don't need this digitizing step to print your old book, but you do need to convert the PDF file to individual JPG files (one per page).  This is an easy, free resource for converting PDFs to JPGs.  When you convert, select the best quality (300dpi or above).

SECOND, UPLOAD AND PRINT

Now you're ready to upload the scans (or the JPGs you converted from the PDF) and put each page into a book page.  You can do this easily with Forever using AutoPrint, an auto-fill method of creating the book.  The pages get placed automatically for you, and then you can adjust as you like before submitting it for professional printing.  

There's an easy step-by-step guide here, too!!

Note:  All of the designs you'll see in Forever's Create & Print platform are free to use.  The ones labeled "AutoBook" or "Make it fast" are the AutoPrint templates that make it easy to convert your traditional scrapbooks to digital books.  The other templates you'll see just don't auto-fill, but if you'd rather place pages one at a time yourself, you'll just need to find a template with "full bleed" pages, meaning there's no border around it, so that your whole scrapbook page can fill the whole book page.  I can help you find those non-AutoPrint full-bleed page templates if you like--just reach out.

I was so happy when the home office at Forever made this 13-minute tutorial video, "Traditional Albums to Digital Books," walking us right through these steps! 

The software programs you're seeing here are free and available to you right from your Forever account (which is free, too). Get started here.

And, yes, you can make brand new digital books at Forever, too!

THAT'S IT!

Follow the DIGITIZE and UPLOAD & PRINT steps, and you've got an old, traditional scrapbook saved digitally.  With Forever, you can share it digitally, too, with a simple link, and you can print it (and re-print it) to share with as many people as you'd like, too.

I'd love to see your end result--share photos with Photo & Story Treasures Fans, our Facebook group.  Join at that link and then show us photos or even a video of your new digital book so we can celebrate together.

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How to Downsize Photos and Scrapbooks

Can you imagine living in the mid-1800s when you might only have 5 or 10 photos of yourself or your loved ones taken during your lifetime?

One of the perks of living in the 21st century is that we can have all the photos we want of our loved ones, of special occasions and everyday events.  The downside is that they do take up space.  They take up digital space, or they take up physical space.  (And we kind of get to choose which.)

If you're looking to downsize, say for an RV lifestyle or simply downsizing your home (or even just because you have too many photos to deal with), I'll share some top-quality ways to do it that don't take away from the connections that photos and memories are filled with.

Boy, do I have a treat for you!  It's actually pretty amazing what we can do with our photos and memories these days while still preserving them and making them shareable!  

Downsizing in General

Before we look at downsizing digitally and downsizing in print, let's talk first about downsizing in general.

That 21st century perk I mentioned earlier--having all the photos we want--is definitely a double-edged sword.  

It's so, so sweet to catch unexpected moments and keep them forever, like the best photo after a long day at Disneyland

or that same little one in a quick, perfect pose with his big sister after his high school graduation.

It's how we see faces of those who have passed on, how we pass down family stories (trust me, this is a great & hilarious one), 

This family story is called "handmade potato salad." 
I've never heard my grandmother laugh so hard.

and how we "meet" people we've never met.

These are the obvious, wonderful perks of being able to take and keep as many pictures as we want.

Sometimes, though, we take and keep more than we can even look at! 

Have you ever thought about that?  Do we--do you, do I?--have more pictures than we can look at?

One of the most important things we can do with photos today is downsize them so we don't have more than we can look at.  I admit I am still learning to get good at this, but if we have more pictures than we can look at, we have too many for our children and their children to look at, too, which would be a shame.  (See photos above!)

To downsize your photos, you simply choose your favorites.  Choose the ones you can't live without.  Choose the ones you absolutely love.  Preserve those.

Maybe you come from a "we don't throw anything away" era, or maybe it's just hard to part with photos.  It might take some practice.  And that's ok.

Just remember:  you want to pass on a gift, not a burden.

You want to share today's photos and memories in digestible amounts.

So be brave and be willing to pare down.  45 pictures from today's visit to the park are certainly fun and sweet, but just choose your favorites to keep.  It will make you less overwhelmed with your photos, will take up less physical space in your house, and will take up less digital space on your computer/phone/cloud.  And then those photos will be a gift, both now and later.

For specific tips on how to downsize your photos, read Decluttering & Organizing Photos at this link.

Downsizing Digitally

One way to downsize photos is to digitize them.  Digital photos still "take up space," but if you're looking to avoid taking up physical space (for downsizing a home, for RV life, etc.), choosing digital or cloud space instead is an excellent option. 

Photos taken on phones and digital cameras are already digital, but if you have boxes of printed photos, you can downsize them by making them digital, or "digitize" them, too.  

You can do this by scanning the photos yourself or by hiring out the scanning to a professional.  Find some DIY scanning options at this link (scroll down to the bottom), or consider the Forever Box for white-glove professional scanning services.  In addition to being done by professionals (which I can't say enough about), it's easy and convenient, too.  You can see the basic process in this 1-minute video.

You can get your Forever Box(es) here.

Once your memories are digitized, you want to store them digitally in a shareable way.  It really, really matters what company you choose to help you accomplish this.  

NOTE:  I am a Forever affiliate (a decision I made because I love it so much), so you will find affiliate links in this post, from which I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you.

These are the most important things to know when choosing a cloud digital photo/video storage service:

• Are my photos and videos private?  (In other words:  Will you not sell my data and/or photos? Yes, that is--shockingly--a thing!)
• Are they guaranteed to still be at your site 10 or 50 or 100 years from now so I (and my family) can still access them?
• Are they triple-backed-up using bank-encrypted security?
• Can I pass them on to my children and/or grandchildren?
• Can I easily share my digital photos, videos, and digital photobooks with others?
• Will you update my file formats (.jpeg, .jpg, .png, .tiff, .mp4, .avi, .mov, .pdf, etc.) if they ever become obsolete so that they will still be readable and accessible in the future?

The best company out there to answer all these questions with a resounding YES is Forever, and when you have the (free) Forever app, you can easily access decades'-worth and generations'-worth of family photos, videos, and even audio files.  That means you can easily share them with your friends and family!

I love that I can have easy access straight from my phone to show anyone pictures that I didn't take with my phone, like my baby pictures or photos of my grandparents' wedding.  I love that I can store all my photos digitally and securely with Forever so that they don't take up storage space on my phone.

I can access my Forever Storage from my phone and tablet, too.  

Let me show you how incredibly awesome this is!

And I love that I actually BUY Forever Storage so that I own it forever.  I don't pay a monthly fee, so I don't "rent" digital storage.  It's actually MINE.

Forever Storage is, hands down, the way to go for downsizing all your memories digitally.  

"Storing" photos isn't all there is to it, though.  It's the SHARING that matters!

Photos by themselves aren't meaningful to anyone unless we know the stories behind the photos.  Something I think is perfect about Forever Storage is that you can tag and add descriptions to your photos, like this:

The tags are down there in the bottom right in blue.  I tagged this particular photo with both of our names along with "anniversary," "Europe," and "Germany."  In Forever Storage, you can search tags, too, so if I want to search "anniversary" (or any of those tags I used), this photo will come up.

You can also see (at the right) a description of this photo.  This is the story behind the photo--our memories!  I was able to share photos with my family (using a link to this album in my Forever Storage) right after this magical trip, and they got the whole story because I added descriptions to the pictures!

I think this is the perfect way to have a sort of "digital scrapbook" without actually having a digital scrapbook.  (BONUS:  With Forever, you can have amazing digital scrapbooks, too, both digitally and in print!  Stay tuned...)

Learn more about Forever Storage here.

Before we move on to how to downsize your photos in print, I'll share with you this video where I give you all the fantastic details of Forever Storage.  

And you're always welcome to contact me if you have any questions.  I want every family and every individual with photos and memories to be able to have Forever Storage!

Downsizing in Print

Yes, there is an increasing emphasis on storing and preserving and sharing photos and memories digitally these days--and it's an excellent way to downsize when physical space is an issue--but experts say we should preserve our photos and memories both digitally and in print.

So how can we downsize our printed memory-books, photos, and scrapbooks?  Let me show you!

I was a paper scrapbooker for about 10 years before digital scrapbooking came along.  Both types of memory-keeping allow for creativity and plenty of all-important journaling (writing down the memories that go with the photos), but as it turns out:  digital scrapbooks are smaller than the old-fashioned kind.  They don't take up as much room.

Going digital is definitely a space-saver!  Those two scrapbooks shown above contain roughly the same amount of photos covering the same amount of time.  The binder on the left is a 3-inch binder, which actually measures closer to 3  1/2 inches.  The book on the right has a spine that measures a tad shy of 1/2 inch.  

And there's more.

#1 When you create your digital scrapbooks with Forever, there's both an easy option that you can do in minutes, and there's also a flexible software option that you can get very creative with, if you prefer.  (Both are printed on papers and with ink that are the highest quality in the industry.)  Choose your favorite method here:

#2 Forever automatically gives you the PDF version of your scrapbook.  (Not all companies do that, by the way.)  And the PDF has a shareable link *once you've ordered it, so if I want to show you one of my scrapbooks, I can just give you a link, and you can look all the way through the "pages" right from your phone, tablet, or computer.  (Like this: see my beach book here.) 

*This is true for books you create with Forever's free Design & Print software (the easy option).  If you created it using Artisan, Forever's digital scrapbooking software, it will have a share link as soon as you put it in your Forever account, whether you've printed it or not.  See the "3 platforms" video above to learn more.  Another option is to "share" your Forever account with close family by giving them the username and password so they, too, can see your digital books and the photos in your account.

When my sister-in-law asked me about Artisan software, it was so easy to just send her my whole 2022 Yearbook in a couple of clicks.  She looked through my entire year in scrapbook form just on her phone.

This is how you share a PDF with someone.  It's so easy:

Preserving your photos and memories digitally in printed books using one of the 3 methods mentioned earlier (in the "walk through" video) is great for already-digital photos you haven't preserved yet, but what if you have gigantic scrapbooks like my big binder (below) that you want to downsize?

Scanning old scrapbook pages and putting those scans into a digital scrapbook is one popular option.  Similar to the printed photos I mentioned in the "Downsizing Digitally" section, you can scan scrapbook pages yourself or let the professionals do it at the Forever Digitizing Center.  If you've got 12x12 scrapbook pages, finding a big enough scanner on your own can be challenging, but the folks at Forever Digitizing have that capability (with white-glove care).  

You'd need a Forever Specialty Box for your large scans instead of the regular Box, but the same process you saw in the video a few minutes ago still applies.  You can get your Forever Box(es) here.

This is a great tutorial from the Forever home office showing you how to put scanned photos in a simple book with a quick auto-fill!

If you're in need of some photo and/or scrapbook downsizing, downsizing your photos in general is a great place to start--just because we can take 500 pictures a day doesn't mean we should.  Plus, there are some excellent ways to downsize both digitally and in print.

What downsizing tip is the best one for you today?  Let me know in the comments.

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