5 Digital Scrapbook Layouts For Beginners
Today I thought I'd highlight a few digital scrapbooking layouts that are a great study if you're new to layout making. Or maybe you've been making layouts for years, but need a little inspiration. Hopefully these five ideas will help.
My first tip is just put everything in the middle (or on the side, or in the corner). A lot of beginners will make the mistake of trying to fill the whole page with interesting things. But if you fall into this trap you'll just end up in with a lot of stuff and nothing specific for the eye to look at. If you make a specific cluster somewhere on the page, you'll both give the eye the information of where to look, and the surrounding white space will also give the eye a place to rest.
My next tip is to add some paper layers in a pile behind your photo. This is something I often forget about when I'm staring at a blank canvas, but my paper scrapbooking has helped me put this into focus. When I work with paper I basically take my photo and staple a bunch of papers behind it. Then I stick it on my page and call it done. You can do this in your digital canvas as well. With the shape tool just draw a few rectangles (each on a separate layer) behind your photo and clip some papers to these new shapes. Give them a slight rotation if you're feeling daring, or leave them straight if you like the clean look.
My next tip is to make it big or make it small. Adding a surprise in sizing will bring some excitement to your digital scrapbooking layout.
A key tip used across all graphic design is the triangle rule. Cluster your main points in three spots that can be connected like a triangle. This is important to remember if you don't want to follow the first tip I gave of just making one spot. If you want to fill more space on your layout make sure there's a path for the eye to travel and places for it to rest. This triangle rule is a must for me when I'm making my pocket pages. There's a lot going on, so it's important to make sure there's some sort of path to bring you through the entire layout.
My last tip for today is to make some sort of grid to help you arrange your stuff. Even if it's a small two by one grid, or you end up moving things significantly, starting in an even grid arrangement can help you get more stuff in with it looking like a mess.
I hope you found at least one of these tips helpful. Let me know if you use one of them!
(And before you go, make sure to take a look at our great collection of SVG files and graphics - they often seem to get overlooked, and there are some superb ones. If you don't know much about SVG, we have a section in our new article that will tell you a bit more about them - https://www.digitalscrapbook.com/what-is-digital-scrapbooking)
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About Me
Hi There! I’m Marisa Lerin and you’ll see me around at DigitalScrapbook.com a lot. I started this site in 2010 soon after I discovered a new love in digital scrapbooking. DigitalScrapbook.com has gone through some significant changes since that time and it’s grown into this lovely community site you are seeing now. I am daily surprised by the turn of life’s events that has led me down this path. If you're new to the site, welcome! Here are a few tidbits about me that I hope will help you get to know me better!
I’m originally from Minnesota, USA, but spent a good chunk of my childhood living abroad (in Bolivia and Hong Kong). I returned to Minnesota to attend university, got married and then moved overseas again (Korea, then Jordan and 1 year of traveling). My designs are heavily influenced by these many nomadic years. I am currently back in the USA, now living in the great state of Oregon!
I have no official training for what I’m doing, since I decided very wisely (haha) to study physics in university. I am always learning new things about digital scrapbooking, and this community has been immensely helpful for that!
If I manage to stop digital scrapbooking you will probably find me watching TV, reading or baking. I also enjoy writing for the blog here at DigitalScrapbook.com where I talk about whatever happens to be catching my fancy at the moment.
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Recent Comments
Great tips
Thank you for this Marisa, for a newbie who tries hard, this is invaluable. SVG's are great too
These are really good tips! Thanks
Thanks everyone! Glad you found it helpful.
this is really great advice! i'm hesitant to actually start scrapbooking, since i'm a perfectionist and i really dislike when i don't feel great about my first project in a new hobby, so i really appreciate posts like this one!
GREAT article, Marisa! I would have LOVED this when I first started, because it does sometimes feel like you're just throwing things at the canvas and seeing what sticks, at least at first. Nice job!
As a newbie digital scrapper and a beginner level paper scrapper, this was such a helpful post! I'm gonna come back to this when I need help on a layout that doesn't feel quite right. Thanks!
Great tips Marisa!