Digital Scrapbooking Software Review

There are a number of factors to consider when looking at digital scrapbooking software. You'll need to decide how much you want the software to do. Are you just interested in something that will put pages together, or do you want photo editing capabilities as well. You will need to balance ease of use with features and flexibility. You will need to consider budget because software can run from free to hundreds of dollars. We have used a number of programs over the years and have researched others as well. Here is a PARTIAL list of the software programs available for digital scrapbooking and our observations of them. These are our honest opinions, but as with any reviews, your experiences may differ.

We will begin with a general observation that seems to have been true over the years : any software that has the word scrapbooking in the title is generally for beginners and will quickly be outgrown. That is not to say that they aren't useful or that layouts can't be created with them, but as time goes on, beginners become intermediate users and intermediate users become advanced users. As a general rule, these programs can't keep up.

Our top choices are :
• Layout only software for Beginners - Actually, we probably wouldn't recommend one. If we had to use one, Broderbund's Creating Keepsakes Scrapbook Designer is the one we would rate the highest.
• Top choice overall for Beginners - Microsoft Digital Image Pro. Hands down the easiest program that won't be immediately outgrown by the user.
• Top Intermediate Choice - A toss up between Corel's Paint Shop Pro and Adobe's Photoshop Elements. One has more power, the other is easier to use.
• Top Choice for Experienced Users - Photoshop. It's not number one in the graphics industry just because of good advertising.

Let's look at some of the choices, and some of the pros and cons of each.

Group One - Layout Software

This first group is for those who are mostly just looking for a layout program. These programs come with sets of ready made elements and layouts (though most will let you use other kits and elements you have downloaded). Since the majority of these graphics are not of the best quality and have an amateurish look, we would not recommend making your purchase decision based on how many graphics come with the program.

Broderbund's Creating Keepsakes Scrapbook Designer - An easy to navigate program that we consider the best choice in this category. Comes with many templates and elements and you can import your own. A common complaint with Broderbund is that the same elements are packaged in their other products such as PrintMaster. A big plus for this program is that for a "scrapbooking" program, it has good photo editing tools.

HP Creative Scrapbook Assistant - A decent beginner's program, though it lacks some basic photo editing tools. Altering templates can be difficult. In addition to the supplied embellishments and backgrounds, you can import your own graphics that you have downloaded from elsewhere. Another limitation is that shadows cannot be added to elements.

PhotoMix - This program was designed to use templates (additional templates can be downloaded or purchased from the PhotoMix website). You can use elements and papers that you have downloaded elsewhere, but they will have to be moved to the proper PhotoMix folder and renamed. The pros for this program are that it is pretty easy to use. But, we feel that it is too simple. There is little flexibility and the tools are very limited. There are better programs that are as easy to use.

Scrapbook Factory Deluxe (SFD) - This program has an easy to use drag and drop design and good photo editing tools. It has lots of templates, but again, many are of limited value. It lacks the ability to add drop shadows in the latest version (3). We have found SFD to be a sluggish peformer.

Scrapbook Flair- The biggest thing going for Scrapbook Flair is that it is free. Other than that, we feel it is too limited. It lacks the ability to add shadows except on text, there is no way to edit embellishments other than resizing them, layouts will lack depth and realism.

Scrapbook Max - Another decent program aimed at beginners. It is fairly easy to use with its drag and drop design. It has good photo editing tools. The templates are easy to adjust. Even so, it is a limited program. Shadows are limited in that you either have them or don't, and there are no controls for changing the size, transparency, or color of the shadows. It is also VERY slow.

Group Two - Photo Imaging Software

The programs listed above are most suitable for beginners and some of them have limited photo editing tools. The following programs have more photo editing capabilities, more flexibility, more power for the user, and in some cases, a larger learning curve.

Microsoft Digital Image Pro (DIP) - Someone once reviewed that the only thing wrong with this program was the word "Pro" in the title. We agree that this program is not really in the "Pro" league and does have its limitations and flaws, but this is the program we highly recommend to beginners. It does have limited flexibility, but it is easy to use with clearly labeled tools and helpful hints. It has most of the things a beginner would need and use for scrapbooking and photo editing. You do have to search for some of the tools (some are shown in a left hand box and some are in a top menu), and we found where some of the buttons were located hindered a smooth workflow, but overall, this program has many more pros than cons for the beginner.

Paint Shop Pro (PSP) - This is a program that began its life as a free program and was one of the very best photo and paint programs available on the PC. It is no longer free, but has been called "an affordable Photoshop alternative". JASC was bought in late 2004 by Corel. Corel's vision was that PSP would be a Photoshop killer. It doesn't quite get there, in our opinion. This is a popular program with a pretty large user base, which means that there are a lot of tutorials, scripts, and support for the program. Like the next two Adobe products, Paint Shop Pro can grow with the user. Filter, plug-ins, and scripts that add more functionality to PSP are available (both free and commercial). There is more flexibility in the way you can organize your workflow, and tools have more controls to better achieve what the user wants rather than what the software program decides you want. But we find the design and layout confusing, and the program is much slower than DIP, Elements, or Photoshop. Even though PSP is slower and the interface less intuitive, since PSP does have slightly more power than Elements, for the intermediate user, it would be a toss up between PSP and Photoshop Elements.

The next two programs are from Adobe. Photoshop Elements (PSE) and Photoshop (PS). While it is understandable that Adobe would want to capitalize on the Photoshop name, they certainly confuse a lot of people by putting the name Photoshop on the Elements package. While it is feature packed, Elements is not in the same league as Photoshop. One very nice thing, though, is that the interface for the two is very similar, so going from Elements to Photoshop is much easier.

Photoshop Elements - It's often called "Photoshop Lite", which isn't exactly true, but there are many similarities. PSE has excellent photo editing tools, a very large user base with lots of tutorials, training, books, and support available. As is the case with PSP, for Elements there are a lot of plug-ins, actions, and filters available - both free and commercial. The biggest advantage Elements has is its similarities to Photoshop, so many of the advantages of Photoshop apply to Elements as well. The user interface for Elements is user friendly without being too frustrating to experienced users. In our opinion, Elements has the ideal balance between ease of use and flexiblility. It's new file browser is not universally liked, it lacks the ability to truely type text on a path, and while features like face tagging and auto red-eye removal are fantastic tools - they don't always work as advertised. As we mentioned earlier, PSE would be a toss up with PSP as the program of choice for the intermediate user.

Photoshop - Photoshop is the standard in graphics and post production houses everywhere for good reason. Just about anything you can imagine, can be created in Photoshop. It's tools are extremely powerful and flexible. It's user base is huge, so there are more books, tutorials, organizations, and add ons for Photoshop than any other graphics program. It has the reputation of having a very steep learning curve. Not so, in our opinion. It is no harder to learn than any of the other graphics programs. But because it is so flexible and powerful it can take a lifetime to master - and having a program that can grow with you is not a bad thing. The latest version of Photoshop is Photoshop Creative Suite 2 (PSCS2) and it has some amazing new tools, but there are a large number of digital scrapbookers who find Photoshop 7 ( 2 versions back from PSCS2) more than sufficient. Photoshop is the most expensive program reviewed here, but, in our opinion, the expense of Photoshop is offset by the increased productivity and creativity you'll gain. It is the choice for serious graphics and digital photo users.

One more program to mention is G.I.M.P., a free graphics program that has much of the power of Photoshop. It's user base is smaller so there are limited tutorials and support. If you are comfortable with that, then GIMP is a wonderful alternative to Photoshop.

Hopefully, you've found this review useful. There are a lot of choices available to the digital scrapbooker. Consider your digital scrapbooking software an investment. Determine what you are wanting the software to do and spend what it takes to get it done. In the long run, you will have fewer frustrations and your layouts will be ones you'll cherish. We recommend that rather than get a too simple program that lacks features, take the extra time to learn a program that can grow with you. For beginners, that would be Microsoft's Digital Image Pro. Intermediate users will find the best program for their money to be Corel's Paint Shop Pro or Adobe's Photoshop Elements. Experienced users will find that Adobe's Photoshop is the program to match their skills. Keep in mind that many of the programs reviewed here have free trial versions that you can download and see if they suit your needs. Find the one that you are happy with and join the digital scrapbooking world! Should you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us!

© 2006 Dee Doo's Digital Scrapbooking. All Rights Reserved. Dee Doo's Digital Scrapbooking , your source for unique digital scrapbooking items. This article may be included on your website or in email, provided it is published in its entirety, including this credit and link.

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