Collecting Advice for Newbies

A very very noob advice: Don´t be affraid to explore your desigining program - it won´t burn your computer, or delete all your files :p But they have features that you can´t even imagine! Open a paper, a photo, and try all the resources.

Also, for photoshop users: I learn 1 or 2 weeks ago that Control + T is the shortcut for free transform tool. It made my scrap really faster.

* In Photoshop & Elements, save in layered TIFF format rather than PSD! This saves an enormous amount of space. I wish I'd known this when I started - at some point I want to go back and re-save all my PSDs as TIFFs but it's way down on the priority list. Here's a post that shows the settings to use when you save the TIFF file: https://www.digitalscrapbookingstudio.com/2012/02/layered-files-psd-vs-tiff/.

* Along these lines, no matter what program you use, when you download a template, go through the folder and delete all the identical copies in different formats, only keeping the one type that works for you. Those folders of PNG files are for people who don't have PS or PSE, so you can toss them. Often designers will offer both TIFF and PSD, I always delete the PSD (although you might want to do a quick check of the file sizes - if the designer has not properly compressed the TIFF it could actually be larger than the PSD). Many templates also now come in Page format, which can be deleted unless the program you use works best with that format.

* We've touched on this in other threads, but download a free renaming program and use it whenever you open files and find they aren't labeled in such a way that you'll be able to find the designer, kit name, and TOU for each and every item, even if they get separated from their original folder. When I started I never thought I'd be posting to online galleries and needing this info for credits lists, or making things to give away and needing to see what the terms of use are for different items. For Mac I use something called NameChanger, the PC program has been mentioned here in a past thread on organizing.

* Make a folder containing a copy of the letter "A" from each of your alphas. Then you can quickly just go through that folder when you're looking for an alpha to use. I keep a separate one with a "1" from each number set, since many of my alphas don't have numbers included. Here's an article on this technique: http://www.nettiodesigns.com/2012/03/22/from-a-to-z-organizing-alphas-with-natalie/

* In terms of actual designing (can you tell I spend an inordinate amount of time downloading and organizing my supplies! but that's a big part of the fun for me, too) if you're not sure how to begin, what to scrap, or how to lay out your page, I think it can be helpful to start with something really structured. Like a list - make a page about your 7 favorite tv shows or 5 facts someone might not know about you, or do one of those "currently" or "right now" pages (you can easily find prompts for these by googling). Here are some "ten things" templates, including a couple that are free at the end of the list: http://logyourmemory.com/2011/03/28/10-things-templates/

* Actions and scripts are your friends! Learn about what they are and how to use them early on (if you use PS or PSE). Make your own actions for things you do frequently - it really helps to take the grind out of digital scrapbooking when things are automated. The scripts I use most I got free from SpeedScraps - go explore what she's got, I bet you'll find something super useful. A great place for tons of tutorials and actions is the Coffeeshop Blog. It will probably be pretty overwhelming if you're truly new to Photoshop/Elements, but once you're comfortable enough that you find yourself saying, "I wish there were an action to do..." remember the Coffeeshop - there's a good chance she's made one! Those are free as well. All of my favorite paid actions I bought from Studio Wendy. She makes really, really useful actions, particularly if you get to the point of wanting to print up your layouts in a photobook.

* Learn how to make and use brushes! Seriously, brushes are the best thing ever. I think there's a tutorial here at PixelScrapper. Another video tutorial: http://justjaimee.com/freebies/creatively-using-brushes-for-digital-scrapbooking-video-tutorial-free-brush-sample/ and a very basic beginner tutorial (including how to load brush files) at Pernickety Prints, along with some free brushes to download: http://blog.persnicketyprints.com/2012/07/how-to-use-brush-in-photoshop.html

* Oh my goodness, the most important photo tip ever - you can make your pics look a million times better just by using blending modes like "screen" and "overlay." Here's a tutorial: http://www.karenfunk.com/2012/11/digital-scrapbook-day-blog-hop.html

* Read Peppermint's Mind-Blowing Shadowing Tutorial over at One Little Bird. If you're anything like I was as a newbie, most of it will mean nothing to you, so get the gist, bookmark it, and come back to it later!

* Learn how to use layer masks. Here's the tutorial that finally made it all make sense to me: http://www.thecoffeeshopblog.com/2009/09/coffeeshop-editing-101-layer-masks.html

I agree, that had some GREAT tips!!

Another tip to organize your Alphas. if you use PSE Organizer that comes with PSE select all items from your Alpha and look in the menu for the option 'Stack'. What this does is that it stacks all your letter and numbers into 1 stack. You than tag a keyword to it and you're done. if you need the alpha you just click on it and it unstacks again. When your done, click stack again and it's nice and tidy.

I can highly recommend using PSE Organizer as it's one of the only programs that reads .png's

When I just got started I came back again and again to the Daily Digi blog. Don't try to read it all at once, bookmark and come back, eh well... daily

http://thedailydigi.com/category/just-for-beginners/

Naming files correctly is so important for giving credit and finding the file again!

Great tips! Thank you very much! I am one of the newbies who can't help to download everything nice she sees ....and there are so many amazing creations! I will put a "STOP-Sign" on my screen to remind me of the "good habits" I should have...lol

great tips! @Violet, thanks a lot for taking the time to write all these useful tips down! really helpful, everyone!