Hello!
Long time scrapper, but new(ish) to forums & challenges. They are quite fun but I feel like I'm spinning in circles with a million different tabs open. Can you compare your process to mine and let me know if I'm making things more difficult than they need to be? I have a tendency to do that (lol). Not complaining, just curious....
1. Create layout (I use PSE & Windows)
2. Save layout to my main Dropbox for scrapbooking (this is where I keep all of my files)
3. Save a copy of the layout to a special folder for 'gallery uploads'
4. Now save a jpg of that layout to the same 'gallery uploads' folder - this will have the adjusted pixel size
5. Upload layout to Gallery
....have another tab (or multiple) open so I can see the names of items & kits used
6. Upload layout to Challenge Page
....keep Gallery open in a separate tab so I can copy the links easier
7. Find layout I was inspired by so I can tell them how great it was, and then show them my gallery upload
....prior to step 1 I also likely uploaded the inspiration layout as a pin on Pinterest
Now that I've typed it all out, I suppose it doesn't sound so bad. Maybe it just takes some getting used to?
Hi, Shannon! The layout challenges on here are great, and you're just in time for February's Winter Layout Madness. Feb will be chock-filled with so many prompts for inspiration.
Personally, I save everything on my computer, then once a month do a backup on a 5TB external hard drive. I've, unfortunately, experienced massive hard drive and other computer failures in the past, so I began backing up everything years ago. Funny how I do that now and haven't had any failures. lol Anyway, I have a folder for layouts, and inside that there are two folders: Full Page and Gallery.
If I'm doing a layout challenge, I have the Gallery in one tab and the layout challenge post in another tab, so I can easily copy and paste back and forth. I'll also open a new tab for when I go to add which Kit Used from here. Even though it'll automatically pop up if I type in its name, I always click the search option just so I can get the right colors listed by the designer. For example, I might think purple, but they have lavender tagged. I don't know if there is an easier way--I don't think so--but this is the way I've been doing it. Same process as yours!
Hi Shannon! Welcome to the forum & challenges! I can't wait to see your pages!
I've never really thought about my whole process until now
. I have been scrapping and sharing my pages for a long time, I guess it's all become a habit! The only thing I would say I do differently than you is I save all of my layouts in a folder called "Finished Pages". I save all of my layouts by year, so I have a folder for 2023, 2022, etc., and then have a folder that is for the resized, meets gallery requirement JPGs only. I will save all of my pages to full resolution at the end of the year/when I go to print. So my finished TIFF File is in its yearly album and then the small resolution JPG is in the "gallery ready" folder.
Something else that I do is create a Google document per year where I type out my credits for each layout I make so it's easy to copy and paste if I share to multiple galleries. For this year I have one for my Project Life album so my credits are laid out by the week and then a second document that is for all of my other/traditional pages that I create this year. I've found this helpful as there are times that I don't get to finish a page in a sitting, or two it seems lately, and so then by the time I go to share my page, I've forgotten some of the items I've used. Before I used Google Docs, I kept a notepad next to my workspace and would jot down the kit name and designer as I was working. The Google thing is MUCH easier to edit as I go! Having the names of kits, or pieces from here in one place also makes linking in the gallery easy too as you can search by name which I find at times is easier than looking for the id number for each item.
Thanks to you both, these are great tips and I appreciated your insight!!