Hello everyone!
I'm very new to digital scrapbooking and I just finished my first designs ever as a part of this month's blogtrain. (If you feel like leaving me some feedback, that would be most welcome. I'm sure there's lots of room for improvement.)
Since I had no clue how to go about anything, it took me a lot of time and research to get started and I asked about some things I couldn't find answers to on my own in the "Welcome - Getting Started" forums. I got amazingly helpful advice over there but a few questions still remain. Everyone I spoke to so far has been very kind so I thought I might turn to a bit of an wider audience with my queries.
Below is what's still puzzling to me. Apologies if it sounds amateurish, I really am just getting started. Any help would be highly appreciated.
1. Journaling items. Just to be sure I understood the math correctly, journal cards in pocket card sizes with a resolution of 300 ppi (there's no dpi setting in Gimp and many tutorials use ppi synonymously to dpi (with Gimp) so that's what I've been going with) would be
4'' x 6'' = 1200 x 1800 px,
3'' x 4'' = 900 x 1200 px and
4'' x 4'' = 1200 x 1200 px,
correct? (I'm not used to inches, yards, etc. and even less to converting those into pixels or dots or whatever, sorry.) Are there any other commonly used sizes for journaling items (mats, cards, tags, etc.)?
2. Palette colors. Is it allowed to add colors to a pre-existing blogtrain palette? Not as a principal element, just for little accents, for example when coloring elements. It's perfectly fine if that's not allowed, I'd just like to know the rules so I can do things the right way.
3. Sizes. I already got valuable information on commonly used item sizes (frames, flowers, buttons, etc.), but I wonder if there's a maximum size usually used for self-drawn items and photo cut-outs? I'd like to avoid creating unreasonably huge folders for downloading. I know downsizing is an option while upsizing isn't, quality-wise, which is why I ask.
4. Papers. Do I always have to label cardstock and/or cardboard textures as "Cardstock" in my previews? I used a cardboard texture for my darker solid colors (meant as "Solids" in my mind) but are those technically always "Cardstock"? I'm asking because I don't want people to think they're getting one thing while they're downloading another.
5. Photographs. I had some ideas for journaling cards using photographs or photo cut-outs. Nothing specific, no people or faces, just generic but powerful imagery fitting the theme or mood. I noticed a lack of such items around here, though.
It's been pointed out to me that people might not want to use them because they might prefer their own pictures to be the only ones in a layout. While I get that, I still rather like the ideas I had. I played around with opacity and color saturation as well as with negative space, overlays, and typography - so it wouldn't be like slapping a stranger's photo into your personal memories, but (hopefully) like a little design piece to support the layout.
So the question is: would you use such items in your scrapbooking? I don't want to spend a lot of time and effort on designing such items if nobody would use them in the end.
Thank you for reading and for any advice you feel like sharing! 
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1. Yes, those are the correct sizes
2. For details/accents (or leafy things) you can add to the palette, but most people try to stay as close as possible. Makes it easier to mix and match parts from everyone.
3. I think Photoshop (and some other programs) have a maximum size to graphics, but I'm not sure what it is. Generally speaking, sizing your elements a little bigger (say 1.3 tot 1.5x) than the actual size you intend it to be used should be enough. If you provide element templates for other designers to use you can size up to 2 or 3 times as big.
4. I call solids just that, even though they are probably cardstock... never heard a complaint. I think both options are okay.
5. Try. Ask people for feedback or track the amount of downloads to see if it is or isn't popular. If you think it is a usefull (and pretty!) asset, than go for it!
Thank you very much, dear Melo, for clearing things up! These answers will help me a lot while designing my submission for next month's blog train. I feel like I am finally getting somewhere (knowledge-wise), now that you lovely people are explaining all the nifty details to me.
I guess I'll just have to experiment with the photographs re: question #5 when I find some time - and hope for feedback via comments. Unfortunately, I can't afford to pay for a nice file hosting service and the free Dropbox one specifically states they don't do statistics for downloads. I haven't seen any such option on the free Box one, either, but I'll double-check. Maybe I'll be lucky.
One other thing I've been wondering - and sorry if you're not the right person to ask, maybe someone else could chip in then? - is the time frame for posting blog train submissions over the holidays. I'm not sure how well wi-fi will work where I'm spending Christmas and New Year's. Will that be taken into account or will I be "disqualified" when I don't have everything up and running by January 1st?
Again, thank you kindly for taking the time to answer my qestions. I really appreciate it!
Late submissions are always accepted: Marisa usually leaves the blogtrain post open at least one week after the deadline. If you post a message in the post saying you'll be running late, she will hold off on closing the thread (unless you take way too long).
Hey Cindy!
I second Melo in almost everything, let me just add some of my personal opinion here:
2. Palette colors If I were you, I´d get used on the beginning to stick to the palette. First because some of them may be a really creative challenge. Second because as Melo said, some people think it´s simpler to mix and match when all designers do so, third because let´s supose that you deceide you want to keep on going to digiscrap design - you may want to sell at collaborative stores or play along on other site´s designer contests: On that cases you may found yourself in need of keeping the colors exactly as they are (in contests or store colabs). If you really want to add more colors to your palette you may make an add-one. In my golden designing times, sometimes I used to add a color or two to a blogtrain palette to make a full kit some months later.
This being said, if you feel the urge to add some other color somewhat in DigitalScrapbook.com blogtrains, yes you can do it!
3. Sizes. A super huge ellie has around 10 inches, but it´s an exception. Most frames/doodles have a maxumum of 8 in. A straight ribbon always have 12 inches so people can use it from one side of the paper to the other, as it´s done on paper scrap.
The best way of getting used to the size of stuff is to digiscrap a lot. With your kits, with other kits, being on cts... I still think that a good designer should have digiscrapping experience, even if she/he is not really good at it...
4. cardstock Either I name "paper01" "paper02" etc for all papers or use "solid01" "solid02" for the solids and "paper" for the paterned, depending on the size of the kit.
5. Photographs. I guess you should try. But if you´re not going through a art-journal-y style I am not sure if people will use them. I had some papers with textures photographed and scanned, and I don´t think it was worthy the work.
That should make it possible for me to still post my part, then. Thank you for letting me know!
Thanks so much for the additional advice, Lórien! Especially the info on #2 and 3 was most helpful. You're certainly right, a lot of my insecurities might have already dissolved themselves had I gotten any experience with scrapbooking beforehand. Just, right now I only have the time to either learn a) to scrap or b) to design and the muses all lean towards designing so who am I to disagree? The experience won't hurt, though, so it'll go on my to do list.
#4 probably shows that I tend to overthink things and worry too much, but I dislike the feeling of not being sure whether I'm doing things right. So I'd rather ask one detail to much than too little. I'm glad to know that the rules don't seem to be overly strict here.
I'm still internally sighing about #5. But I get it, photographs are simply not a preferred medium. I feared as much. I might give it a try someday and hope for direct feedback from active scrappers, but for now I'd rather focus on those items that might have a better chance of actually being used. Designing is a lot of fun but it still takes a ton of time for me to get things done and I'd rather not waste all that energy and time on items of questionable worth.
Again, thank you! You really helped me out here.
I'm not a designer like the other ladies that have answered you but only scrap with the kits... so my opinion will be only as an end-user of the product.
On #5 I think it really depends on the style of the scrapper. I'm not sure what you mean by pictures, but I like scrapping with picture elements. I will put some links here of a few styles I use so you know what I mean. But I think this is "kind of" what you are referring to. Using them as a neutral embellish, background, very soft type element, project life, tiles, journal cards, etc. It's hard for me to explain in writing exactly... so that is why I will share some examples in links with traditional supplies I use for you.
PaperHouse Snapshots are a favorite to use.
Photos made into Epoxy Stickers
Photos turned into Project Life Journal Cards & Titles here... like the hot air balloons, the beach, the sky. (if you click on the pic when you get to the page, it will make it much larger, too.
Note: As far as using someone else photos to scrap my page, I probably would never do that. But I love them used as elements on my page or as titles or part of a background. Hope that helps!