I have a friend who is really on top of picture taking and scrapbooking. Every year she takes pictures of family parties, events and general everyday living then she puts it all together in a book at the end of the year. Okay, so this just sounds like the scrapbooking we all do right? Well, she takes it a step further and makes it more like family history keeping! She creates a spiral bound, 8.5 x 11 book for every member of her family. In this book there are several pages for each family member and their pursuits throughout the year. She also includes family vacations, get togethers and just fun stuff. I have to tell you that this friend is the party queen and she hosts fabulous event parties for Easter, Mother’s Day, etc. She includes the invitations and pictures of these events. Is there any better way to remember the year and create a wonderful history for posterity at the same time?

Here are some tips to create your own yearbook. First of all – take lots of pictures! You can’t have a quality yearbook unless you have great photos to put in it. Don’t just take pictures of the stuff you think is important. Take pictures of everyday events – Mom cooking dinner, Dad mowing the lawn, the family playing the Wii. It is the everyday events that make memories and these things will endear you to your future posterity. Think about it, isn’t it the stories of everyday life that you enjoy most about your ancestors? Make sure you take notes and record the who, what, why, where, etc. No one likes to look though a scrapbook and play guess who!

Next, to avoid an overwhelming task at the end of the year scrap the pages throughout the year. If you stay on top of it, you will remember the details of the events and you will have less stress at the end of the year. You will just need to print, bind and wrap! A ready made gift that you have created with love all year long.

When printing your book you can rely on professional printers to create a beautifully bound book. Or you can print it yourself using a high quality printer (I like HP Photosmart printers, but everyone has their favorites!). Make sure you use good quality paper like the Epson Double Sided Photo Paper. This paper is high quality, shows the colors brilliantly, and since it is matte you won’t have a glare.

NOTE – Anything you print with an inkjet printer is not waterproof so if it gets wet you will get smears. To prevent this, put your pages in sheet protectors or treat it with Preserve-It Digital Photo & Paper Protectant. This is a spray that will create a water and fade proof barrier on your inkjet printed photos. Just to test, I printed scrapbook page on the Epson paper and then sprayed them with Preserve-It. I then ran the page under a faucet and it didn’t run or smear. Of course you would never put a photo under running water, but I was a skeptic so I had to test it!

Start now to create a wonderful keepsake for your family and friends. Not only will you be giving them a wonderful gift of memories, you will be creating an invaluable history of your family.

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If you ask anyone in the graphic design or professional photography field, they will tell you that Photoshop is the best photo editing and graphics program on the market. True, it is a fantastic product with a wide range of capabilities. But, these are people that use it every day. What about the average user who wants a program for digital scrapbooking that also helps them get the most out of their digital photos?

While Photoshop is the industry standard for professionals, it has features and capabilities that will never be used by the casual user. So why spend hundreds of dollars on a program that has features you won’t need or use?

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Let’s take a look at Photoshop’s little sister – Photoshop Elements. Photoshop Elements and Photoshop are both made by Adobe. They have similar interfaces and both are capable of photo editing and graphics work.

When deciding which program to buy, you need to look at how it will be used – and how often. Most consumers want a program that will allow them to edit their digital photos – remove red eye, adjust color tone, etc. They also want a program to use for digital scrapbooking or digital card making. While both programs will do these things, Elements is a user friendly program that is easy to learn and use.

One of the major differences in the two products is price. Photoshop retails at around $650, while Photoshop Elements is priced at $99. This makes Elements much more attractive to the average consumer.

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Adobe designed Elements to have all the Photoshop tools that the average user would need. It is named Elements because that is what it has – the core elements of Photoshop. Some people mistakenly thing that Elements is a ‘dumbed down’ version of Photoshop. This is simply not true. Elements is a product with a different focus than Photoshop. There are many online tutorials and forums that are dedicated to learning both Photoshop and Elements.

In the end, it is really a matter of choice and budget. Both programs will give you everything you need for photo editing and digital scrapbooks and cards. So, which will it be – Photoshop or Elements?

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