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The latest buzzword in scrapbooking is "digital." Digital software programs allow your customers to create their memory filled pages without the hours of cutting and attaching all kinds of embellishments to their photos and pages. Instead, they simply arrange digital photos and graphics: backgrounds, embellishments, sayings, and journaling via the computer. And if something doesn't look perfect, they can start over—quite easily in fact—without having used one piece of paper, ribbon, or sticker.
There are a variety of programs you can stock for your digital scrapbooking customers, from titles that allows consumers to make printed scrapbook pages as well as digital albums; kits that feature everything a scrapbooker needs, from the software to the paper and album; and CDs full of themed artwork and graphics that make it easy to design color coordinated scrapbook layouts.
MEMORY MIXER (www.memorymixer.com) software was introduced by Lasting Impressions for paper inc., a maker of traditional scrapbooking papers and embellishments. Memory Mixer is an easy-to-use, yet powerful software solution for digital savvy scrapbookers, as well as those folks who want to incorporate both traditional and digital techniques into their scrapbooks.
The software offers users the option for quick or "Instant Mixes" of layouts and photos, "Quick Mixes" which are instant layouts of the pages only, with the user adding photos, or a completely manual option for creating pages from scratch. One of the great features of the software is that no matter how automatic you set it, you can still alter every item, including rearranging the photo(s) and embellishments, journaling, and more. This versatility lets users tweak designs until they are perfect.
Memory Mixer comes with a large library of templates and artwork, and theme options, and even more can be found on the company's website.
In addition to creating scrapbooks for sharing via digital file, or printing, Memory Mixer also allows users to add video clips, narration, and audio for an interactive scrapbook.
SCRAPBOOK MAX (www.scrapbookmax.com) is another software program for creating digital scrapbook pages. The software includes themed layouts that your customers can insert their photos into—but that can also be customized as needed. This is great for those consumers who don't want to spend a lot of time coordinating a layout, but still want to be able to tweak the final look. For the more adventurous, simply start with a blank page, and go from there. The software also includes retouching tools, special effects, and multimedia options.
LINECO (www.lineco.com) offers the d:book All-in-One Digital Album Kit and All-in-One Digital Scrapbook Album Kit. Each kit provides software templates, guidelines, and printing instructions; pages, and cover to create a postbound album. The d:book is a great choice for the novice digital scrapbooker, because everything that's needed is included.
PIXEL MAGIC by Digital Scrapbooking Place (www.dsplace.com) is standalone software for creating scrapbook pages. Pixel Magic includes Creative Scrapbook Assistant Software, and a bonus graphics CD, with scrapbooking fonts and tutorials. The software is compatible with both PC and Mac operating systems.
Digital Scrapbook Place also offers its Digital Scrapbooking CDs. Each CD is filled with a variety of backgrounds, digital embellishments, frames, and assorted graphics—all based upon a theme. Available themes include: weddings, girls, heritage, all star sports, and more. The artwork on the CDs are .JPG and .PNG files which can be used with the Pixel Magic program, or with one of a range of other graphics programs such as Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Photoshop Elements.
One of the great features of the Digital Scrapbooking Place themed CDs, is that if your customers already own a compatible graphics program—they don't have to purchase separate software.
author: By Diane Berkenfeld