Hello everyone!  Beckie here again, bringing you a little bit o’ photography goodness today :)  I figure it’s time we tackle that photography topic that makes even seasoned photographers shake in their boots…er, I mean high heels…ISO!

A long, long time ago on the blog I did a very basic primer on photography and understanding how ISO, Shutter Speed, and aperture (that f number) work together to capture light to expose an image.  The basic idea is that you want to set those three variables in such a way that your camera meter reads “0″, or it’s perfectly centered between positive (too much light), and negative (not enough light).

ISO is something that many beginning photographers don’t like to utilize in high ranges because either a) they’ve tried a high ISO photo and it didn’t turn out well (lots of noise), or b) they’ve heard from people not to use higher ISOs because their photo will be noisy!  Well, let’s demystify and debunk some of that today!

What I’ve learned about ISO:

1.  It is true that as you increase ISO, you begin to add “noise” to a photo.  How much noise is added and when the noise is introduced (at what ISO range) is somewhat camera dependent.  However, there are things you can do to mitigate noise!

2.  Not all noise is bad.  Seriously.  It’s far better to CAPTURE the moment at a high ISO than to not capture the moment for fear of an imperfect image.  Heck, all the photos from my childhood are either orange, polariods, or glued down into an album that has a plastic cover stuck to it.  So really, put it into perspective – is a tiny bit of noise in an image going to ruin it for future generations?  um…nope.

3.  There are steps you can take to make the noise as minimal as possible.  Let’s look at some of them next!

But first…what is noise?

That, my friends, is noise.  This is a section of a really crappy photo, one shot at a pretty high ISO (ISO3200) that I under-exposed on purpose to exaggerate the noise. I also picked the worst part of the entire image to show you because you can see both types of noise…regular old noise (grainy chunky pixels that shouldn’t be there) and color noise  (colors that don’t belong there – the flecks of pinks, greens, reds, etc that you see around this sample).

Typically you’ll get regular old noise in whiter, lighter portions of an image with the addition of color noise in the darker, shadowed areas.  In this particular example, because it’s that bad, there’s also color noise over the white portion as well.

So…what can you do to prevent un-necessary noise??

NO MATTER WHAT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, SHOULD YOU UNDER-EXPOSE THE PHOTO.

That’s pretty much it :)

In fact, I’d go so far as to say that you actually should learn that you often have to over expose an image to capture it correctly. Slight over exposure is very easy to fix in editing software with simple sliders in  ACR, Lightroom, even Photoshop (here’s a post that covers basic adjustments in ACR).  And over exposing minimizes noise.

Another key reason why you need to over expose in many cases is that, well, the camera meter can be wrong. Well, it’s basically a computer so it’s never really wrong, but it can definitely tell you that something is “right” when it really isn’t.  There are two main reasons this happens:

1. Your metering mode.  I always shoot in spot meter mode because it takes a small, very specific portion of the image into consideration when it determines whether or not there is sufficient light.  Canon cameras use the area just around the center focal point and evaluate the light to give you a meter reading.   An alternative mode, called evaluative, considers a much larger area of the photo around that center focal point and gives you an “average” value for the entire area considered.  I typically photograph people – my kids – and I want their sweet little faces to be properly exposed.  Because of this, I want the camera to disregard everything around them and make sure the photo is exposed properly for their faces.  So I put the center focal point on their faces, adjust the ISO, aperture, and shutter speed until my meter says “0″, and then I shoot.

In evaluative mode, the area around that sweet little face is considered as well.  So if you have strong backlighting your meter will actually consider some of that brightness and determine that your average light value is higher than what it would get as spot metering on the face alone.  As a result the face will come out darker.  You can find many resources on-line to further (better?!) explain these modes, including your camera manual, but for now stick to spot or partial metering (partial metering is kind of in-between spot and evaluative).

2.  The color of your subject.  This one is really, really important so I’m illustrating it below.  Your camera is designed to give you a meter reading as if you are taking a photograph of middle gray (18% gray).  White reflects nearly 100% of light, black reflects nearly 0% of light, and middle gray is – you guessed it – in the middle.  But the world, fortunately, is not shades of gray.  Here’s a very common example/problem…WHITE.

In the series of photos below, I used spot metering and metered off the large white flower hanging down to your left.

In the far left image, my camera meter said I had the perfect amount of light to capture my image – assuming I was taking a photo of something 18% gray!  But I wasn’t…i was taking a photo of red and white flowers.

So – to prove my point – I changed my shutter speed, kept everything else the same, and took another photo when my meter was to the first dot past “0″.  This is called over exposing by 1/3 stop.  That image is brighter overall, and looks better than the one on the left.  I continued this, reducing my shutter speed to add 1/3 of a stop each time, until by the fourth photo I was one full stop over-exposed (according to my meter!).

The FOURTH shot is the best!  Want to know why?

This screen shot says it all.  My histogram shows that very little data in the image is blown (hitting up against the right wall of the histogram), and the portion that is blown is highlighted in bright red in the image itself.  It’s all stuff I don’t care about!  the back lighting in the window, the bright parts of the reflection on the floor…I’m far more satisfied having the flowers nice and bright even though some of the other portions of the image are blown.

Even if this post wasn’t about shooting at high ISO, it’s really important to know that a good SOOC (straight out of camera) image looks more like the photo on the right than the one on the left.  I could scrap this photo as-is without having to do a single thing to it!  Heck, if I really loved it (which I don’t, LOL), I could print it for my wall and hang it up.  Learning to master white balance and exposure in camera, without relying on editing, is the single most important thing for a photographer to accomplish :)

ok – so now we’re ready to tie this back in to ISO…

Here’s a close-up of the noise from the first and fourth images from the exposure sample above:

The general brightness is just much better in the image on the right, but if you look more closely you can see a few other differences.  The image on the left has color  noise on the bottom portion of the white flower while the image on the right doesn’t.  Also, the noise is much heavier, almost “bigger” looking in the neutral space behind the flowers in the image on the left.  The +1 stop photo has much finer, smaller noise.  And keep in mind – ALL of these images were shot with ISO3200, a relatively high ISO setting!

So – wrapping this up (you’re quite a trooper if you’re still with me, LOL!)…

1. PROPERLY expose your photos.  That sometimes means “overexposing”.

2.  Do not sharpen images with noise – it makes it SIGNIFICANTLY worse. I usually fix noise and then do some sharpening if it’s necessary, but they two kind of counter-act each other to watch closely as you make adjustments.

3.  Learn to use noise reduction in your editing software.  ACR has it, as does LR.  I regularly use the noise sliders in LR to reduce noise.  It’s so powerful, in fact, that it can virtually eliminate the noise altogether.   Here’s a before and after with noise reduction applied:

{After settings in the LightRoom noise reduction panel:  Color +18, Luminance +28).

4.  and final…do your own ISO test so that you know how high  you can go with your ISO with confidence.  Do a test just like I did here!

That’s all I have for you today!  Please don’t hesitate to ask questions or to share your own experiences in the comments section!

Join SP tomorrow for the launch of Project SCRAP 2012! Yay!

BeckiePhotography, Uncategorized 8 Comments

Hello everyone!  This is Kim here today with a bit of scrapbooking inspiration.  It’s that time again… the beginning of another year.  I know the beginning of a year makes us think of all sorts of things, but for us as scrap bookers, it often means the beginning of scrap projects!  I don’t know if that makes you excited or intimidated or both!!  I do know that sometimes the thought of starting a big scrap project can be overwhelming and I get asked a lot by friends how I get “organized” to start a scrapbook.  Since these people know me and my obsession with taking pictures, I think what they mean is “How do you take the mountain of photos you have and make that into a scrapbook?”  I’m not sure I have a simple answer to that question, and really there are lots of ways people organize their photos and scrapbooks.  But I am going to share a few of my thoughts on scrapbooking with you and hopefully you can take some inspiration from these thoughts to help you get started in scrapping 2012 (or whatever project you are working on).  So here it is… my “top ten” list of scrapbook advice!

Now for a little more about each of my top ten items. 

 Consider what the purpose of the scrapbook is:  What is it you are trying to capture and want to remember when you look back at your book?  For example, the baby books I have done for my children were meant to capture their first year in detail.  I wanted to include lots of little stats like what they weighed and when they first rolled over and what their first food was.  These books will be given to them when they are older so that hopefully when they have children and enjoy all those milestones, they can look back and see their own.  However, when I create my family yearbooks, I don’t include quite as many of those details.  Point is, think about what YOU want to show in your book, and let that help you decide what is important to be included.

 Set certain times to sort through pictures and pick what will go in your scrapbook:  This is one of the most important things I do myself to stay organized through a year of taking pictures.  Why?  Because our lives are busy and if you don’t set a goal for yourself and be intentional about it, it probably won’t happen.  (This is my experience at least!!)  For me, I stop at the end of each month and look at all the pictures I’ve taken.  I copy all the pictures I want to include in my scrapbook to a certain folder in my computer I’ve set up for this.  The folder can be deleted later when the scrapbook is done so you don’t have two copies of the same pictures.  But I find it helps me to have the pictures I want to scrap set aside in a certain place. 

 Keep a running list of layouts/pages you want in your book:  Once I have my folder of pictures for the month, I go ahead and organize them so I know what pages they will go on in my scrapbook.  Because I am a list person, I keep a list of the pages I still need to work on.  One good thing about this is that it helps me make sure there is not a single page layout that will not have another single page layout to print next to it.  In grouping my pictures, some things are easy.  If there’s a big event like a birthday, I know those all go together in a birthday layout.  Some things are harder and take a little more creativity to decide how to group them.  This is one of the things I have come to love about Project Scrap 2011.  I can take several of the “random” pictures from my month that I love and intentionally include them in my book with a journaling overview of our month.  I intend to keep doing this as we start up Project Scrap 2012… coming this Thursday!

 Be realistic about how much time you have to scrap: Let’s face it.  We love to scrap, but it’s not the most important thing in our lives.  So I think it’s important to be real about the amount of time we have.  Two things can help you be real about the time you have to scrap.  Number one, pick a reasonable number of pictures to scrap.  For me, I may take 200 photos each month, but I only have 50-75 that make the cut for my scrapbook!  There’s no way I can scrap every photo I take!  I say that just as an example.  Your number may be different than mine, but make a realistic decision about what you will have time to scrap.  Number two, remember that it’s OK to simplify the design of some of your pages.  You may not be able to create a masterpiece layout for all your pages in the time you have.  I very often do some “collage” style pages with simple design when I am getting behind on my scrapbook.  Although I love to spend a lot of time on a layout and think over every detail, I can’t do that in every page of every project.  It’s OK to simplify!  And I might add that there are great products in the Shoppe that can help you too.  Take a look at the piece-a-cake pages and easy-as-pie templates for some great ways to get layouts done more quickly.

 Write down things you want to remember as they happen: If you like to include journaling in your scrapbooks, it is helpful to record things as they happen.  There are a ton of ways to do this and different ways work for different people.  I would just encourage you to be intentional about doing it!

 Try not to get behind:  Let’s face it.  It can be hard not to get behind!  When I mentioned that I look at my pictures at the end of each month and figure out which I’m going to scrap and group them by pages, I would love to add, “Then I go ahead and scrap all of the layouts from that month.”  Sometimes that may happen.  Other times, it just can’t happen!  That’s why I like to do what I can to stay organized and keep a list of what I want to work on.  But I will say that I do attempt not to get too far behind.  It’s always my goal!!

 Research book printers and pick one before you start:  SP talked about this in her post to close Project Scrap 2011.  She had a lot of great advice, so I won’t repeat what she said here.  I do agree with her that it is best if possible to know what printer you will use before you begin a project and to follow their bleed and trim guidelines.  It will save you time and headache later.  One other comment I would add about book printers is that I find it helpful to know what their page limit is.  One popular book printer I have used works great when I am doing a shorter book, but will not work for my family yearbooks, which go over their 100-page limit.  You may not know how many pages your book will be at the start, but you don’t want to be surprised when you go to print and find there is a page limit.

 Don’t forget the simple moments:  It’s sometimes the everyday pictures and moments that will mean the most, so make a point to capture those too!

 Stick to your style:  I admit that I forget this sometimes myself.  There is a lot of GREAT inspiration shared on blogs and galleries, especially our Shabby Shoppe gallery.  And you should use that to inspire you.  But you should not feel that your layouts need to look like everyone else’s.  Make them your own!  Create layouts that will make you proud because they come from your creativity.  And related to this, I would encourage you if you are new to scrapbooking not to become discouraged if you can’t do everything you’d like to from the very beginning.  Trust me, if you could see my first digital scrapbook, you would see how simple I started out!  But you know what?  It still records that year of my family’s life and I am glad I have it.  So feel good about what you create!! 

  And last but not least… Have FUN!!  That’s what it’s about, right??

I hope there’s something I’ve shared today that helps as you get started with your next scrap project.  I know many of you are getting ready for Project Scrap 2012, which SP will kick off here on the blog this Thursday!  It really is a great way to know that you are not alone in scrapping your year.  There will be beautiful (FREE!) templates given away each month and lots of inspiration along the way.  I can’t wait!!

But before then, stop by tomorrow for another fantastic post by the very talented Beckie.  I always look forward to those!  Have a great day!!

KimInspiration, Tips and Tricks, Uncategorized 17 Comments

Hello and Happy New Year!  Beckie here :)  I know, I’m a bit late with my greeting – but this is my very first post of the year and I just couldn’t begin today’s post without saying that first!  I had a wonderful holiday break – I got to spend lots of time with the family and I even had time to read and play with my camera quite a bit!  One of the joys of the kids getting older, I suppose – a little time for ME every now and then, since the kids entertain themselves a bit more!  Anyhow, I’m happy to be back and eager to bring this week’s little slice of inspiration…the Layout of the Week!  You won’t be disappointed by this one – it’s a totally gorgeous layout created by whites19 called “Kairos“.

There were so many WONDERFUL layouts in the gallery this week and, as usual, I had a very hard time making my selection!  But after I read the text I knew this was the layout for me :)  My scrapbook is filled with pages of bright, happy, smiling faces…but our lives are so much more than that.  I have been thinking that this year I want to journal more and document REAL life (something I’ll cover soon in an Inspiration post!) – and this layout by whites19 perfectly nails the theme of what I hope to create for myself this year.  A lot of the good-amazing-incredible moments and maybe even a few of the bad ones…but a whole lot of the reality that is our lives <3  Read the text to see what I mean (there’s a link in her layout credits!).  Whether you’re a parent or not, there’s an interesting perspective there to be gained.

And, of course, in true whites19 fashion…the layout itself is a stunner :)  All that delicious text…and the cute little hearts thrown in there to break it up.  The stitching around the edges and the perfectly delicate flowers and elements around the border.  And the title in the center with the photos in the letters – perfection.

Congratulations whites19!  Check your e-mail for your $10 Shabby Shoppe gift card!

I’ll see you back on Wednesday, but be sure to stop by tomorrow when Kim brings you a little New Year’s organization inspiration! 

BeckieLayout of the Week, Uncategorized 9 Comments

Hi everyone, Rosy here today with a super simple hybrid project for you!

I’m going to start by saying that I’m not much of a hybrid person.  One of the reasons I love digital is because it eliminates the need for cutting, glueing, and taping all of those little pieces together, but when I saw this post, the idea inspired me to use my digi-scrapping supplies!

Ever since Isaac started using legos for his building/tower making needs, we’ve had this extra set of blocks that haven’t been getting much use, so I gave them a new purpose as simple puzzles.

Supplies you will need:

• blocks
• printed stickers/pictures
• scissors
• packing tape

How to make them:

• Measure your blocks and open a blank document in Photoshop, or other program, in that size.
• Drag your stickers or embellishments onto your document to size it correctly. ( I used the cute animal stickers from the Bounce kit)
• I added a light color to my background so that the edge of the sticker would show and make cutting it out later much easier, but this step is totally optional.
• After they were sized correctly I dragged them onto a standard paper size document to make printing them faster.

• Print them, cut them out and then in half, and tape them on your blocks!  (I put my tape on the sticker and then cut it in half before applying to the blocks.)
  … and then you’re ready to hand them over to your puzzle loving little ones to enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by!  We’ll be back on Monday with a LOTW post!  Until then have a wonderful weekend!

RosyHybrid Projects, Uncategorized 5 Comments

Alrighty girls (and any guys that might have joined in)…we are ‘officially’ wrapping up project SCRAP 2011 - woohoo :o)  Yep…that’s right…Shabby Princess here today and I’m so excited to share our final templates (ALBUM COVERS)  for project SCRAP 2011…and photos of my finished album (along with a few tips and ideas…and lessons learned along the way, lol)!

So to start…how about the ALBUM COVER TEMPLATES?!  Kylie and I designed these sets for you guys and I love how they came out!  The first set…I selfishly designed, as I knew I did not want a photo on my cover, lol!  I know that might sound odd…as it is a scrapbooking album…and what is it all about, if not photos?  I know, I know – trust me – I get it!  HOWEVER, I personally find it VERY difficult and well, stressful (lol) to try and narrow the entire year down to one (or a few) photos!  I take SO  many throughout the year, and to try and choose just seems overwhelming!  So, I prefer to opt for a photo-free cover for my albums (unless it is a themed album – like a birthday – then I am fine putting a special pic or two on the front)!  Anyhoo – so this first set is what I went with for my personal album, and I love how it turned out – YAY!  But, no worries – IF you do prefer to have one awesome photo on the front…we have you covered there, too!  At the same time – if you like LOTS of little pics…we have that for you as well :o)  Of course, on option 3…you could also just use bunches of little paper squares and NO photos (or a mix of photos and papers, like Kylie did) - totally your choice!  And, if none of our cover options are what you are looking for…just create your own custom version – and that way you end up with exactly what you want or need (you could even re-purpose one of the monthly templates for your cover…or use one of our free temlate challenge templates)!  Just remember that scrapping an album cover is really no different than scrapping a layout…only the dimensions are different!  Alrighty…so here are our three options…all free and ready for you to download: 

 You have FOUR different DOWNLOAD options (clickable links below)!  You may download the ALL-IN-ONE, which includes all six templates (it’s about 135 megs).  OR, you may download each ‘set’ individually (three in total).  If you are on dial-up, or have an unreliable connection – I’d recommend downloading the individual sets :o)  No matter which download option you choose…we include each template in both a .psd and .tif (layered).

CLICK HERE to download the ALL-IN-ONE

CLICK HERE to download OPTION ONE

CLICK HERE to download OPTION TWO

CLICK HERE to download OPTION THREE

Project SCRAP ~ bundle ONE is now available for purchase at the Shabby Shoppe…CLICKING HERE will take you straight there!

PLEASE NOTE: if you participated in project SCRAP 2011 right here at the Shabby Shoppe’s BLOG…you do not need to purchase this product.  Be sure to check your hard drive before purchasing :o)

 So, there you have the FINAL downloads for project SCRAP 2011 – we truly hope you enjoy the cover options we designed for you!  Again, remember that you can always modify, customize and tweak…to meet your specific needs – that is the beauty of LAYERED TEMPLATES :o)

So…a few words about FORMATTING your album covers…and, PRINTING your albums/books/layouts!

As far as FORMATTING your covers…it really all depends on the SIZE of your final book/album, and, WHERE you plan to have it printed.  Each printing lab will have different specifications for printing – when it comes to both size and bleed areas (cropping and safe zones).  So, you’ll want to find out WHERE you plan to print…and then decide on the final size.  For me…I had my album printed with WHCC and went with 10×10 book (the size I generally prefer for my albums).  WHCC offers great sizing templates (go to resources and then click on product templates…from there, select free sizing templates)…so formatting was pretty simple for me.  Basically, when you download their sizing templates – they are simple files with only GUIDES (if you do not see the guides, you will need to turn them on (in PS, view>show> guides) to show the bleeds/safe areas.  These are very helpful…and you can see what my final digital file looked like (of course I removed the GUIDES before submitting for printing).  Everything within the blue guidelines is SAFE…anything outside COULD be printed…but probably won’t :o) 

I love looking at the digital version of my cover, and then the ‘real’, printed version, lol!  I think it is a great illustration of how everything comes together!  I truly love my final album…and much of that comes from all of the time and energy spent on formatting :o)  It can be a tedious process, but well worth it in the end! 

So, when it comes to printing…again – I generally go with WHCC (White House Custom Colour).   It might partly be from habit, lol…I’ve been a customer for quite some time – but I also truly love their quality and service.  They are not the most inexpensive when it comes to printing…but at the same time, they are very competitive when it comes to pricing among the ‘pro photographer’ labs :o)  There are definitely less expensive options out there…and I welcome you to research all of them!  In the end, you will have to find what works for YOU and your budget!  In the past few years…sooooooo many printing companies have joined the market for printing scrapbooks…and a quick Google search will definitely turn up lots of options.  I do not want to recommend (or not recommend, lol) any specifically because I have not tried them.  I generally stick to pro (NOT that I’m a pro, lol…but I like the QUALITY and level of SERVICE that I receive with these labs/companies) printing labs like WHCC and MPIX.  One thing to keep in mind about these companies is that you generally have to ‘apply’ in order to become a customer.  Some of the pro labs are stricter than others when it comes to requirements (some require that you have a photography business).  This is completely understandable as they must be fair to their professional photographer customers, and keep their pricing confidential.  Anyway, that is probably way more information than you needed, lol – but I wanted to explain labs like WHCC a little more in the event you wish to print with one of them!

Again, there are many options…many times, including local companies.  Many local printing companies, photo labs and office supply stores now offer album/book options – so be sure to check them out!  More than likely though…most of us will have our albums printed via online labs.  Do your research, look for reviews and compare pricing :o)  Printing albums is an investment…you have to find the best quality that will fit in your budget and remember that the hope is that our albums are forever :o)  This is one reason that quality is so key to me…I want my albums to last, and hopefully be passed down throughout the years!  I’m definitely not saying that you have to pay crazy prices for that to be…just do your homework before you make the investment :o)

There is always the option of just having your layouts printed individually – and placing them in a traditional scrapbook album (found online or at local scrapbook/craft stores)!  You do not HAVE to have a bound book/album printed…it’s just your preference in the end!  I have lots of scrapbook pages in regular albums and love them all!  And, there are so many cute and fun album options, in lots of sizes…something for everyone and every budget!  Personally, I do prefer the bound books – but that is mostly just because of the ‘neato’ factor, lolol!  There is something so polished and professional about the books – BUT, you have a lot more flexibility when just printing pages and adding to an album!  You do not have to be so careful with page ordering…as there is no ‘finality’ to it!  Printing bound books and albums can be a little stressful – just because you do feel the pressure of getting everything ‘just perfect’ :o)  With individual page printing…you can change the order of the pages in your scrapbook album – and best of all…if you find a mistake or typo – you can just reprint that ONE page!  Generally, if I find a typo in my bound books (it happens – even though I proof several times…and even copy/paste my journaling into word for spell check lol) - I just leave it, as it is too expensive to reprint :o)  I just tell our little man…MORE proof that I am not perfect, ROFL (as if he didn’t already know, ha!)!

There are also options that you might wish to look for when it comes to printing :o)  For me…a lay-flat or hinged album is a must!  This just means that when you open your book/album – all of the pages lay perfectly flat, instead of having that ‘bump’ at the binding.  It doesn’t seem like such a big deal, lol…but I’ve had both and if possible – I always go with hinged!  I’m not sure which labs offer this option, and which do not – but it’s something to consider!

 This is something you will want to know before formatting your pages for print.  I know that with WHCC…the formatting is a bit different if you choose a hinged album or book  (on both the pages and the cover).  Another ‘must’ for me, is the ability to design my own custom album cover.  While most companies offer this (for an additional fee)…some only allow you to choose from their premade options.  Again, each and every company will have different specifications for their cover formatting…so you will have to decide on the company, and then work on formatting!  Here are a few more pics of my printed album (sorry for the icky pictures, lol):

  Something else to consider when formatting your pages for printing – DROP SHADOWS and DETAILS!  As silly and insignificant as they sound, drop shadows really do make all the difference in the end!  Realistic drop shadows can make your pages come to life…and literally have people touching the layouts to see if the elements and papers are ‘real’, lol!  It happens all the time!  When formatting…I go back through all of my pages and tweak drop shadows until I find what I like!  Unfortunately…drop shadows are quite subjective.  There is no ‘magic’ setting that will work for everything, lol!  For example…papers should have a smaller drop shadow than a flower (naturally, a flower is thicker and heavier than a paper…and will produce a larger shadow)…and stitching will have it’s own look, too!  Trust your eyes – you know your own preference for shadows…so just go with it – but try to be consistent throughout your album!  Another way to add realism is with stitching…I love to work with stitching and it always add such depth and dimension to my pages!  Here are some details so you can see the results:

Now, if you are NOT going for a ‘scrappy’ look…then shadows are not really an issue…but since most of us have ‘scrapbooked’ our pages for this album – I wanted to mention it!

Another thing I wanted to show…one of my ‘extra’ pages!  You guys often ‘hear’ me saying that I have too many photos in one month – so I need to scrap extra pages!  Well, I try to keep those pages simple (since I’ve already journaled on my regular monthly pages)…and all about the pics!  Here’s an example of one of my (many, lol) extra pages:

Another thing to keep in mind…most albums need a ‘first page’!  Meaning that when you open your book/album – there will be a single page (actually the back of your ‘left side’ January page) on the right – and most printing labs allow you to customize that page.  In my books – that is generally a letter to our little man…or just a summary of the year (or if it is a birthday album – a bunch of info about the birthday, etc.) – but it can be whatever you want it to be – extra photos, one large photo, kid stats (age, weight, height, school info, etc.)!  That’s the beauty of it…you can make it whatever you like!  Here is mine:

 And finally…just a few more pics of my final album – I believe these are the spreads for November, January and September :o)

 Alright, I can’t think of much else when it comes to formatting and printing your albums!  Again – there are just too many variables for us to be able to give specific information – it ALL depends on the lab you choose for printing – and their specifications for the final album size that you choose!  If you have questions – just contact your lab’s customer service and they should be able to help and answer any questions.  I hope that you all LOOOOOOVE your final albums – and I truly hope you will share photos of them with us in the GALLERY!  You will be an inspiration to all of us :o)  The more participation…the more motivated we ALL become!  We’re int his together!  And, I know that printing this first album will be a learning experience for many…especially those who have never had an album printed before!  So, remember to enjoy the process and try not to get overwhelmed!  When you see your final, printed book – I can assure you – it will all be worth it :o) 

With project SCRAP 2011 being our first year…we were bound to learn some valuable lessons along the way :o)  And, when I say ‘we’…I really mean ‘me’ lol!  I can really only share the things which *I* learned while completing my own album…but hopefully, these tips will help you guys as well :o)

•  If, like ME, you plan to have extra pages some months (i.e. there was an event or vacation or birthday or Christmas and you need MORE pages to fit all of your photos and/or journaling) – DO NOT put it off, lol!  Do the EXTRA pages at the same time that you do your monthly template pages!  I KNEW that I had lots of extra pages to scrap…and while I did scrap some along the way – I saved way too many until the end and found myself in a rush and trying to catch up!  And well, that is the whole IDEA behind project SCRAP…to scrap as we go so we never get behind!  Granted…I was still better off than any other year…but I wish I had kept up with my ‘extras’!
• If you know what size and where you are going to have your album printed…FORMAT your pages for printing EACH MONTH!  I really should have done this!  It’s pretty easy for me as I almost always have my albums printed at WHCC…and I almost always go with a 10×10 size!  But…still, I just scrapped my pages at 12×12 each month (which I always do anyway, in the event I ever want to go back and have them printed at full size…or if my mom wants a 12×12 album, etc.) and left it at that!  And, well, that WOULD have been fine!  However, in my rush to complete my album (so I could share pics of it with you guys today, lol)…it was a PAIN trying to prepare SO many pages for printing at once!  Ya see…with WHCC – when I format my pages for a 10×10 album…the final pages/sides are not true squares…so each page takes a little tweaking…especially if the design is square (like a square border, etc.).  I found that this took me a LONG time and I really, really wished I had done this each month (and I WILL this year, NO questions, lol)!  Now, the only way I would advise against this…is if you do not know what size you plan to print…or where!  Each printer/lab will have different specifications…so I would not put the time and effort into doing this in advance…unless you are certain as to these two decisions!
• If…like ME, you change information, substitute photos, or leave out personal journaling for the page you upload to the gallery – make sure to finish the REAL/FINAL version at the same time, lol!  As many of you know (and like many of you do as well), I keep many personal details private…so most of my pages do not have names, locations, etc. on them – or if they do, they are ‘faux’ :o)  I also do not post photos of our little man’s friends…or certain members of my family (at their request).  So, often – I will substitute other photos in my layouts for the blog and gallery!  No problem at all, right?  Well…no problem except for that I am often in a huge hurry trying to get a post finished…and I think I will just go back in a few days and finalize my ‘real’ layouts!  But, i’m sure you know what happens…YEP – I just get busy again and forget!  Yeah…so when finalizing my album for printing…it was a bit of a pain, lol!  I had to go through all of my layouts and put the ‘real’ info back in…find the photos I really wanted to have printed, etc.  I could have saved myself SO much time and stress by doing this monthly (are you seeing a ‘theme’ here…MONTHLY – just finish each month, monthly, lol)!  Not only the time…but everything was ‘fresh’ on my mind then.  But, when going back to LAST February…I really had to try to remember details, etc.  This year – I will be sure to save out my final version each and every month!  And, while I know this tip will not apply to many of you who do not change out personal info/photos/etc…I also know MANY of you do…so maybe this will help :o)
• In a nutshell…the point of project SCRAP is to stay up-do-date on our photos and scrapbooking…without ever having that overwhelmed feeling of being behind!  Well, in the end – I still felt that (my own fault, of course, lol) – but, I must say, to a MUCH lesser extent, without question!  These are just a few things I can (and will) do differently this year :o)  The object is to stay current – at least monthly…and put NOTHING off.  This means that by the 1st or 2nd week of each month…you have the PREVIOUS month COMPLETELY finished (pages complete…including extras and ready for final printing)!  Lesson learned, lol :o)
• If you learned any lessons…or have any helpful tips to share – we’d LOVE to see them in the COMMENTS section – thanks :o)

 Before I leave you – I had to share Kylie’s album cover pages – aren’t they so SWEET?  Just a little inspiration if you are planning to work with Album Cover Option 3 :o)

 Well, I think that does it!  And, as sad as I am to say GOODBYE to project SCRAP 2011…I am equally as happy to begin project SCRAP 2012 with you guys :o)  So…get ready, as we will be launching the 2012 project NEXT THURSDAY – WOOHOO! 

 Be sure to stop back by the blog tomorrow as Rosy shares a super fun hybrid project with us!  THANKS AGAIN – have a wonderful weekend…XOXO – SP :o)

Shabby PrincessFree (not desktops), project Scrap 2011, Uncategorized 75 Comments