Switching from Paper to Digital?

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Switching from Paper to Digital?

I have been a paper scrapper. I played with digital last year, but I jumped in more this year with a digital Project Life.

Now I am moving across the country, and we are trying to purge, so our move is small. I am considering getting rid of the majority of my paper scrapping. I do have photos printed that I'm not sure what to do with.

Has anyone else done this? Did you regret it? Do you wish you'd done something differently?

I know I haven't been digital long, but this past weekend I was paper scrapping and it was bugging me. I wanted to write on the photo, and I wanted to add a tag here, and a button there. Of course, I didn't have a pen to write on the photo, or the button I wanted, and I had to make the tag first. I missed the convenience of resizing a photo, and not having to count out my letter stickers to make sure I had the right ones. And having to rearrange my title, because it wouldn't fit in the space. Grrr! The trials of a paper scrapper smiley

I used to paper scrap. I don't miss it. All the time wasted getting stuff out and putting it away again. I still have all my paper scrap supplies (I let my mom use them when she wants to). I do have lots and lots of pictures printed out though but I refuse to throw them out as many of them are the only copies. I do have several (30 or so) acid free archival safe photo albums with pockets that I have just slid the pictures in. This way if I want to look at them I can and when I want to find one it is easier than digging through a giant tote of pictures. As your your paper supplies I am sure you could give them away to any number of places (schools, senior centers....) if that is what you are looking to do.

If it were me, I would just box up all your paper scrapbooking stuff and keep it. If you've got little ones, you'll use it on school projects here and there over the years or making cards. I only do digital now, and I love that I can take everything with me, anywhere I go. But I still keep all my stickers and stuff just because I've invested so much.

I just got tired of all the dust collecting! I finally decided when I went to digital I did not need to keep all the paper stuff. I gave my last bit of pretty much all the paper scrapping supplies to my niece (a teacher) for her or to share with her school. I was really happy when she told me the binder machine I had they were very happy to receive - they don't have to borrow one when they need it from the church (yes it is a Christian school).

When I decided to go digi I scanned ALL of my photos and took all my scrapbooks apart scanning all of the things that were most important. I kept very few things...my Dad's letters to me when he was overseas, etc. Most I just scanned and then shredded the rest. I do know that my husband kept some of the photos but I just see them as "junk" around the house. Thank heaven for digital cameras now because most of my old photos are in such bad condition I will have to work really hard to clean them up.

Good luck on your decision!

Thanks for the thoughts.

I planned on keeping the cardstock, and my cutting machine for projects. I'm leaning towards ditching practically everything else. I don't want to pay to move and store it if it's not worth the square footage it's taking up. I know I spent money on it, which is my hesitation I think. But then again, I have no qualms about getting rid of books we read, or will never read, or movies we don't watch anymore.

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When I decided to go digi I scanned ALL of my photos and took all my scrapbooks apart

o.m.gosh!!! I would just DIE to have to do this to my albums. LoL I see all my paper pages as very special. (even the crappy firsts, LoL) I'm a very sentimental person though. Part of it probably has a LITTLE to do with the fact that my family of 6 full siblings, plus 1 adopted and then I have 7 more half-siblings. All of my full siblings, my mom raised us and when her and my step dad moved my JR year, part of our house caught fire and we lost almost all of our childhood photos. I had moved away to college and one brother to FL they year before and aside from our collections we had taken with us, and 3 albums that didn't burn because they were in a different part of the house. We lost it all, almost every memory/vacation/school photo for all 8 children and parents and grand-parents, and greats, etc. So, I really cherish them maybe a tad more than I should??? I have scanned every photo I have and sent DVD's or CD's to each sibling because they are so rare. And anytime one of us talks to an OLD friend of the family we hadn't seen for years we always ask them if you have any photos of our siblings can you please email us a copy.

But the other part for me is that I see even my firsts paper scrapped pages as my history of growing into a crafty, somewhat slightly creative person. and I'm just a tad of a life history sap. LoL ;-D

I've also been very happy with my switch to digital. For me it was more of a forced change since I couldn't get any products I needed to do paper, and I might in the future dabble a little in paper, but I love how digital has no mess, I can make my own stuff and the finished product doesn't take up any space. Uggh, those finished paper scrapbooks take up so much space. If I ever see mine again I will also be tempted to scan them and toss them.

I'm glad I've switched to digital, but I've also found that my kids love playing with the paper and stickers and stuff I collected over the years before switching.

Something else I've found, I make my layouts digital, but when I have them printed, I like to add bits and pieces to the album, so it's not entirely digital. If I know in advance what I want to do, I leave a spot blank on a layout so I can add on a ticket stub, or a bit of wrapping paper, etc. But I don't use any of the old paper and stickers and embellishments and stuff.

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When I decided to go digi I scanned ALL of my photos

Oh, Janet, I'm afraid to ask...how long did that take you? I have a stash of pictures from my paper scrapping days that I want to scan but even before that I have approximately 40 years of photos from my MIL's house. We saved all the pictures (most of which are not in albums) but we don't have proper storage space for them, so we're going to scan (& back up in 3 different places) & then trash the paper copies. Ugh. I don't know how long this will take us. We're working on it here & there, but I fear it's going to be a process YEARS in the making.

Back to the original question: I have only been digital scrapbooking since June '12, but I don't regret it so far. Sometimes I do wish I had the tactile features of paper scrapping. It's fun to make something look acrylic or felty, but when I'm looking, I sometimes wish I could actually feel that texture. HOWEVER, I love that I can stop in the middle of a page, save, and just come back when convenient without leaving a mess behind or having to clean up to use the table/floor space. I never would have gotten caught up on scrapping my memories if I stuck to paper; it just wasn't happening.

I have kept some of my supplies in the idea that maybe I will occasionally add real-life embellishments to a printed page or just for various unforeseen crafts. Still, if I can make that craft via Photoshop, I'll do it. I don't miss the mess!

I guess also I am old school - in the fact that I don't "have" my digital pages or any of my pictures until they are printed or in a book. I don't know if there will always be the technology to look at them on a computer or whatever.

I also must say that in my scanning process some of my photos I could not get off the photobook page without destroying so I just scanned the whole page and still have to cut and save each one separately. Oh, and my sister made each of us kids a really special book one year for Christmas and I scanned not only the photos but also the page so that I could pretty much follow her layout when I do it digitally and I will have her writing in it because I scanned it. One of my photobooks was one I had gotten from my BFF and it had a fabric padded cover and was beautiful...until it got so full of dust that you could not remove. For that one I also scanned pages because she included stickers and stuff and I want to include those things when I make it digital. It was time consuming but in my mind well worth it. And all I have to do is look on my hard drive when trying to find a photo vice finding it in a book and then having to pull out the scanner. Also, the biggest advantage - no STORAGE taking space that I do not have!!!!

And...anything in frames on the wall I took down and scanned but the originals are still on the walls!

@Lady Phillippa as I recall it took me a few weeks. I was not really mobile due to foot surgery in 2011 so it gave me the time. Since then I have also collected family member's wedding albums and paper photobooks/scrapbooks and scanned them for all the family members. I have never had children and retired on Dec 31, 2011 so I have a lot of time to do this. I am still bugging my younger sister to let me scan her slides - she has probably half a room full of storage boxes (top to bottom) of slides, many in carousels, that I need to scan. Slides take longer than paper photos but I know many included me and other family and I really want to get my hands on them. She is very particular, especially of handling, and she wants to put some in order before she lets me do this. She also as an Epson 700 which lets you scan 12 slides at one time (vice my 4) and I know it will take quite a bit of time...but then I am retired.

I am hoping to get them sooner than later because all should realize that photos and slides no matter how much you take care of them they still FADE! So if everyone does nothing else at least scan your non-digital photos so that hopefully they will last forever! DVDs are supposed to last at least 100 years! When I copy to DVD I put them away and only keep them on a HD for use.

I just found a bunch of photos that I had printed, waiting to go in books. I liberated myself by throwing them all away! lol However, I did also scan in all my negatives and any photos I didn't have negative of. Now I think I'll really throw all the negatives away, too. As for scrapbooking supplies, I've kept the paper, told my girls to use anything they want, and I've sold or am in the process of selling stuff, too. It's been really great to gain more storage space for my other craft supplies by cleaning out unused stuff. This weekend I've been flipping through all my old scrapbook magazines (like several years worth) and tossing them, tearing out or quickly digitizing anything of interest.

@Kimberly, I can see we are a lot alike!! And yes, it was so liberating!

Kimberly/ Janet: you girls are killing me!!!! LoL tearing up, shredding, throwing away... aggghhh... ha ha

I started scrapbooking around the time digital was starting. I was at a scrap retreat and it freaked me out the amount paperscrappers have to lug around to scrapbook. I love that i just need a computer and external hardrive. At scrap retreats I take up so much less room that my paper scrapbook friends. Glad I went the digital way.

@Krista: That's exactly what I do at a scrap retreat. Only digital unless I'm working on hybrid Christmas gifts or something specific for a wedding gift etc. I only paper scarp at home in my nice, organized sewing/scrap room... that use to be the home office and now belongs to me, uh''hmmm {clears throat with absolutely no shame at all} smiley

One thing I love about my paper scrapping and crafting room is that hubby is very artistic: paints, draws, polymer clay, he loves to be creative, so I get to spend extra time with him doing fun stuff that most women probably don't get. So I won't ever get rid of my "stuff".... it keeps us together in a different, friendship, creative kind of way. smiley

I do both. I love the process of creating with paper, scissors, etc. It is very therapuetic for me. However, I love the versitility and quickness of digi but I don't like to be seated at my computer all the time. I will continue to do both. I make annual albums of our family events and I include digi pages and traditional pages in the albums.

I also use my paper supplies a lot for card making and other crafting plus for the kid's school projects. Last night I was helping my daughter make a poster for a presentation. Thank goodness for the die cutting machine and my stash of 12x12 paper and ATG gun and washi tape!!!

I do both paper and digital. More digital these days just because of the limited time I have with starting a new job. I have an entire room full of supplies, plus I'm a tool freak, so I have lots of nifty toys that I couldn't bare to give away or sell (especially my Craft Robo). I am going to try downsizing and will be making a bunch of stuff to sell, but I don't think I will go full out digital. It is a lot neater doing it digital, except for the mess my hard drives are in (and my husband doesn't see that mess), so my husband is also happier when I do it digitally.

I'm moving more and more into digital only, but I do leave the occasional space for a ticket stub, etc without scanning it. I like the originals of tickets, trail maps, found items. I also have a gazillion photos that I had printed (from digital photos!) when I still paper scrapped. Since I also have digital copies, I use those for more creative paper projects, experiments, cards, and what-have-you. I cut and recombine in ways that have nothing to do with the original. You might let your kids have a go at some of those photos. Mine used to make some very funny things. I must say that I think my mom looks great sitting at the Thanksgiving table next to my Aunt Shirley's body with our cat's head. smiley

If you are looking to get rid of your paper, you might check this thread - she's looking for donated paper for a non-profit art education center. Could be a tax deduction.

Working with paint and paper is a totally different experience for me than working digital. I love the sensation of cutting and gluing and painting and the thrill of finding a piece of junk mail with a graphic that I know will look awesome in my art journal. I'll probably never get rid of my physical art supplies.

Besides, I find that the two things feed into each other in my work flow. A monoprinted paper gets scanned in and used as a digital background or element or a page I've created digitally gets printed out and taped into my art journal where I add marks with pens or watercolor crayons or what have you.

I still do both. I love creating special pictures, printing them and creating layouts for them or finding the right paper to mat it. I create or do special projects with the intention of creating a book, for either myself or for someone.

I scanned my wedding pictures years ago. Before I even knew Photoshop and before the nice high res scanning that is done today. Although the scans turned out nice, they do not compare to today's technology. If I had destroyed the originals I would not have that option.

For my parents pictures, I have been scanning them. I don't have the space to store the originals, but my brother does. So when I am finished they are going to him.

Perhaps you have someone that is willing to store these items for you until you are settled and are able to ship them to you. Getting rid of the paper is not so bad, but the tools and pictures. To replace these items later is not so easy.

For those that have scanned and destroyed originals. Have you taken caution to store all of your scans on secondary or even third backups as well as storing everything off site. An example although it is with music will still show the importance of backups. He took his small drive of music with him while on business to listen to while on the plane. He thought that leaving the drive in the hotel safe would protect the drive while on business. What he did not know was that the save was magnetic. It whipped the drive clean and there went his music. That was his only copy. A lot to be gone. If he had not shared his music with family he would have been out of all.

The question here is do you want to get rid of all? If no than perhaps there is someone willing to store for you until you visit or send to you later.

@Judy: That is my fear especially since my family has so little left due to 2 fires. I always forget about the fact that magnets can erase our hard drives, credit cards, mps players... but that is so true. Hubby's even had to replace his id card at work a couple times because of this (that strip on the back that stores all the info to unlock certain buildings and rooms. smiley

@Judy I did get rid of most of my photos after scanning to digital. I have several backups. First and foremost, I have Carbonite witch is an off site backup (and when I got a new laptop it worked great!). I also give copies to family members and I keep DVDs also as backup. I also have backed them up on an external passport. Oh, and I also invest in ESET for my security so that hopefully I am safe from viruses to cause my computer to be infected! I have a safe but hope one day to get an in-the-ground safe to keep treasures like my photos safe. Oh, and some of the the photos my husband did select to keep. Trust me I know what a loss is as in 1999 we were robbed and I "lost" tens of thousands of dollars of my precious jewelry, pretty much all of it could not be replaced as they were very unique pieces. I think it would be the same to lose my photos as it really hurt my heart and although it has been 13 years it still saddens me! Almost all of what I lost was gifts from my husband and family!

Janet you really are unboard and have taken care to safegaurd your precious memories. It is a lot of added time to secure everything, but in the end it is worth the peace of mind.

Janet: I am so sorry this happened... I know it has to change the way you look at things when something like that happens to your family. I know it did ours. Thank God none of you were home or harmed during the robbery! smiley

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Trust me I know what a loss is as in 1999 we were robbed and I "lost" tens of thousands of dollars of my precious jewelry, pretty much all of it could not be replaced as they were very unique pieces. I think it would be the same to lose my photos as it really hurt my heart and although it has been 13 years it still saddens me! Almost all of what I lost was gifts from my husband and family!

I've pretty much made the move, but I've yet to purge my stash... I can't bring myself to get rid of hundreds of dollars of scrapooking supplies! Not to mention, my Cricut! Good luck to you, OP!
I hated, though, dragging everything out, keeping my kids out of it, putting it all back. And the MESS! SMH... I need to toss, I know!

I think paperscrapping is good for gifts and displays. I mean, no matter how impressive the 3d effect is on the computer, it's still amazing to look at pop-ups, real embossing and such, hanging from your wall, on your desk. etc.

@wren emerson That's what I feel too! You expressed it perfectly!

Yes, to me it is two totally separate things. I wish I had discoverd digital years ago though, because my paper stash took over the house.

We recently moved...not across the country, but to a different state. I still have a lot of my paper scrapping supplies, but I did purge quite a bit before the move because I knew that I wouldn't use them while waiting for the dust to settle.

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