This may be a dumb question, but if you make your own digital scrapbook kits (to sell), where do you get your graphics? Do you make them yourself (your elements), or do you purchase them with a commercial use license from one of the many places online?
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Never a dumb question!
For me its a combination of some commercial use, making things myself and using public domain items from old books/periodicals. If you are using a commercial use or cu4cu you have to really watch the terms, esp if you offer your kit for commercial use. That got pretty frustrating for me so I only use a handful of commercial use things - pixelscrapper being the one I use the most.
Here is an example of my blog train mini and how it came to be :
- I got this from a graphic at thegraphicsfairy
If you want overlays, besides pixelscrapper, HG Designs are quite generous & have some really nice ones. Not all of her items are commercial use friendly but you can find so many that are. If you are making a kit "personal use only" most of your cu4cu out there items can be used as long as you follow each designers terms. For me that got overwhelming to keep up with so I stick to just a handful of things. I try and make my own patterns and elements. Also most of the old books have been from either my personal collection or from archive.org.
At first you may have to rely on outside sources a little more heavily, but as you keep doing and adding this and that you will begin to build up a reserve of items that are yours. Hope this can give you a few ideas that will work for you! Happy Designing!!
Sourcing from out of copyright books is a great idea, and there are lots of hidden gems to find in old books. They have to be very old though (70 years after the death of the author in most countries).
Jessica, thank you so much! I really appreciate the way you broke down your blog train mini, that just helps clarify things in my mind. And your stuff is so pretty!
Thanks for the great info, Stephane. Knowing that it's 70 years after death is going to be a big help to me.
Your welcome Jo! And yes every country has different laws for this but in the US, before 1923 is considered public domain.
https://copyright.cornell.edu/publicdomain
Honestly I almost always use 19th century as its my Era so I know its good.
I'm right there with you, Jessica, I love the 19th century. I think I was born in the wrong era!
Alright, I created my first ever scrapbook kit, a mini based on the challenge "Brought to You by the Letter A" over in the Designer's Challenge forum. I am absolutely open to all helpful criticisms and advice!
I wasn't really sure what I was doing, so I took inspiration for the colors and theme from a picture of a hummingbird I found online.
And here are two page layout examples I made with the kit, the first being my daughter Julie and the second being my paternal grandmother:
Please, helpful hints, tips, advice, criticisms!
First off, Jo, I love these colours! I think my favourite element has to be that gorgeous filigree frame. Lovely flower selection, although I think your "larkspur" might actually be foxglove (digitalis) instead.
I am not a designer and am very new to digital scrapping, so please feel free to ignore my input here if it offends, okay? I like your crystal bird but to my eye, the gold draws the eye to it too much... perhaps a paler gold, rose gold or silvery shade would tie in better with the papers? Also the colour of the pretty birdhouse is a rather smoky muted shade of blue. Perhaps change the colour to a shade more similar to that of the blossoms or one of the greens? Again, just my opinion...
The only real flaw I saw was in the arrow... the edges are rather jaggedy. If you smooth them out, I think you would have a very nice piece.
All in all, a beautiful kit with some unique elements. I would not have thought it was your first kit... I have seen kits online that were not as well-made as yours. Well done!
Madge, thank you so much for the kind words! I'm so glad you like the colors; I pulled them from the hummingbird.
I was wondering if the crystal bird might not work, and I can't believe I never thought to change the color of the blue birdhouse! lol And the arrow, I have no idea how to make the edges not jagged. I used a brush and just made the arrow myself, then added styles to it, but I could not figure out how to make it smooth; I don't know why it wasn't smooth to begin with when I made it myself and didn't extract it from anywhere.
I appreciate your critique of this kit, I've found it very helpful!! Thanks so much!
Jo, I am glad my comments helped... since I am not a designer, I am always hesitant to comment. I also know that someone outside sometimes sees things that are missed up close. And it would be a shame not to use the crystal bird... it is so pretty. Could you recolour it or slightly desaturate it to knock some of the brightness off? Even if you lost some of the pinks and blues, it might work...
Regarding the arrow, I don't have any experience with PhotoShop. but maybe someone here knows how to smooth the edges?
I'll give that a try with the bird and see how it turns out. Again, I really do appreciate your help.
Jo, Check out this tutorial about jagged edges. https://www.digitalscrapbook.com/forums/digital-scrapbooking/tutorials/what-are-jagged-edges
Thank you Beth, I just checked out the tutorial and I'll have to give it a try. I appreciate you!
Hi Jessica,
Thank you so much for this post! It's a fascinating look into design that I didn't even know I was looking for until I found it.
I came across this post just now, and just wanted to add that I often use my own handdrawn designs. I've been drawing and painting just the 'oldfashioned' way since a long time, but since a year now I've been also drawing digitally on a drawingtablet. I know that's maybe not for the very beginner-designer, but I find that it's so much fun using things you draw in your sketchbooks for your scrapbook layouts. So, if you like to draw, that's a good way to get your elements and you don't have to worry about terms of use and copyrights etc.
This is a very usefull thread for me. Thanks to all.
I'm new to Scrapbooking all though i've been making papers, elements and quickpages for many years now in my PSP. I've also made a lot of scripts for PSP, but never really thought about where to find elements for kits. (I have always been affraid to do something wrong, not understanding rules and copyrights an so.)
I've tubed things i've made my self (when i crochet and sew things), flowers from my garden or furniture i've photographed my self.
So thanks for the hint on how to make kits.