Today digital scrapbookers have lots of choices when it comes to digital scrapbooking software. There are so many programs programs available that it can be hard to choose one.
Before you buy anything, it’s very important to do proper research to ensure you are buying something that fits your needs. Below are some important points to analyze before you commit with one package or another:
Easy of Use
Most softwares have plenty of features, but that alone doesn’t do any good if they’re not user friendly. A good program should me accessible even for user that are not tech-savvy, with proper documentation and easy to follow instructions.
Lots of Scrapbooking Resources
All the best scrapbooking programs come bundled with a huge selection of pre-made themes, templates, backgrounds, fonts, shapes, clip-arts and embellishments. It’s worth your time to take a look at these libraries to see if the files are high-quality and useful to you.
Ability to Import Graphics
Although you may have hundreds of resources available from the program’s library, you still want the ability to easily import photos from you digital camera, scanner and computer folders. That way you can download or buy additional images from the internet and include them in you designs.
Photo Editing Tools
Top scrapbooking softwares come with photo editing tools you can use to touch up your snapshots. The main features to look for are red-eye and scratch removal, cropping and basic color and contrast adjustments. Some also allow you to apply photo effects, such as turning you photos black-and-white or applying special filters like drawing and painting effects.
Printing And Sharing
The program you choose should make it easy for you to print your projects at home or save them to a professional printer. This process should be easy and intuitive, otherwise you may end up with lots of headaches in the future. You should also be able to export and share your projects in a variety of formats and medias, such as web albums, email, cds, dvds and slideshows.
Organization And Backup
The importance of data backup and organization cannot be underestimated! It may not make a big difference when you only have a couple of projects, but down the road you will be thankful. An avid scrapbooker can quickly accumulate dozens or hundreds of albums, and it is critical that you can safely store and easy retrieve them. You should be able to organize your projects by date and or event, burn them to cds or dvds, assign keywords and view thumbnails of each page.
Choosing the right digital scrapbooking software for you can be crucial as it will affect your approach to your favorite hobby, so take your time and get to know your options before you decide.
