Occasionally, when I'm scrolling through my Instagram feed, I see some gorgeous scrapbooking papers or cards and I start coveting. Usually it's the Studio Calico kits that get my heart racing. And for a moment, I get a little sad that I'm not a traditional scrapbooker (paper, glue, flares, stickers etc). BUT then I remember why I love digital and I just keep scrolling through my feed without thinking twice about it. Here are my top 10 reasons for choosing (and loving) digital memory keeping.
1. No Clutter - guys, imma be honest with you for a second. I have a near-debilitating aversion to clutter. Maybe my future therapist can get to the root of this phobia, but for now, I just manage it the best I can. I remember scrapbooking traditionally as a teen and it was such a pain to get all my supplies out, spread them on the floor, then have to put them all back when I had to go do something else...so, I LOVE digital because it's all in my tiny laptop. No paper messes to be seen.
2. Reusable - psychological issues aside, this might be my favorite reason to do digital. I love that every digital element I buy or download can be used over and over! No need to hoard the good stuff! I've been slowly collecting more and more digital paper and it's just great to have such a selection of goods that never deplete.
3. Use Your Supplies for Non-Scrapbooking Things- digital elements, as we call them, are great to have for making invitations, fliers, blogs, wall art etc.
4. Resizable - this is another favorite because sometimes things are made for a 3x4 card, but I want to use it as a 4x6 card. I just Ctrl-T and drag the corners while holding shift. That transforms the digital element while keeping the proportions correct in Photoshop. I use this trick ALL THE TIME. If I like something at a smaller scale I have that option.
5. Re-colorable - ha! That is certainly NOT a word, but if you use digital products and know your way around Photoshop a bit, you can recolor almost anything. A lot of digital products use an off-white or very light gray as the background color instead of white. But that bugs me. I like a PURE white in everything, so I use the magic wand tool to select the off-white and then paint it pure white instead. Easy.
6. Easy to be matchy-matchy - now this one is a good thing AND a bad thing. If you're like me, a recovering 'matcher', then this can be too tempting. In Photoshop you can take the eyedropper tool and find the exact color of anything in a picture, digital element, etc. This can be really good, but, as you'd see in my 2012 album, I overused it. I made every spread have a color scheme and matched every brush, paper and element to each other. Waaayy too matchy matchy. BUT at least you have the option! You can be more subtle and pick the blue from the sky in one picture to be the same color blue as a stamp on a white card in the page next to it. I'm still very much working on the balance between matchy matchy, color themes and minimalism.
7. Less Expensive - not to mention any popular site where people subscribe to monthly kits (oh wait, I already did) but that stuff is expensive! I personally want this to be an inexpensive hobby. I try to do it as cheaply as possible. Which is why it's so great there are a lot of sales - some of my favorite brushes I got on sale for $.99. I use them ALL THE TIME. Like nearly every layout. Keep an eye out for sales- but even non-sale stuff is usually under $5!
8. Many Places to Buy - Digital scrapbooking websites seem to be popping up like weeds. There's so many place to buy and the caliber of products is just going up and up. Other than JoAnn and Michael's, there aren't a lot of options for paper scrapbookers to just walk in and browse for something to catch your eye.
9. Buy Anytime- Sometimes I'm in a creative rut and I've looked through all of my digital supplies and feel stuck. And this is usually around 11:30 p.m. I love having the option of clicking over to my favorite digital stores and buying something inspiring! All from the comfort of my own house. ;-)
10. Backup Files - this one should probably be higher up the list, but I'm not much of a worrier, so I don't think it's likely to happen, but what if my physical albums were somehow destroyed? I'd have my Photoshop files backed up on my hard drive. Another thing to consider is what if someday I want to make an extra copy for the kids? I save all the Photoshop files so I have the option to make photo books of my layouts someday.
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