Welcome to the first post on our Project Life Tutorial Series! Today we will be explaining what Project Life is, the differences between physical and digital, and why it's beneficial. We will also end with some key terms you should understand before continuing on in the series!
Digital Pocket Scrapbooking is a great way to stop yourself from falling behind in your memory keeping. If you're not already familiar with Project Life by Becky Higgins or Pocket Scrapbooking, hold on tight!
What is Project Life/Pocket Scrapbooking?
Project Life by Becky Higgins started as a pocket scrapbooking system that made it easier to scrapbook your memories. In a nutshell, you can make a stylish photo album with nothing more than a binder, specialized sheet protectors, precut cards, and photos. Add a little journaling, slide the cards and pictures into the sheet protector, and you can make an adorable spread in minutes!
I started with the physical Project Life and fell in love instantly. I bought hundreds of page protectors in every style I could find, and I bought about 15 core kits. I participated in Project Life Card Swaps, where you would make custom cards and swap them with people all over the world via postal service. I lived and breathed Project Life and could not wait for the app.
What is the Project Life App?
Since then, Becky Higgins has launched the Project Life App. Its the same idea, but everything is done through the Project Life App. The app allows you to use digital cards and insert them into templates along with your digital photos. There are a lot of free card sets and templates on the app, but you also have to ability to purchase additional sets.
By the time the app came around, I was so behind in my physical Project Life (sometimes called pocket journaling or pocket scrapbooking) and was not motivated right away to start digital Project Life. However, I was looking at it the wrong way.
Digital Pocket Scrapbooking takes a lot of the time requirement out of scrapbooking. You don't have to wait for pictures to print, or search through hundreds of cards for a certain one you saw two days ago. You also have so many options with how to display your pages. You can either keep them in the app, download to your device, print the pages to put into a physical album, or upload the pages to a photo book service like Shutterfly.
What is Digital Project Life?
Digital Project Life is similar to the app, except you must have a basic knowledge of photoshop-style programs. Digital Project Life can be done with any program that can open and edit PSD files and supports layers. You use a PSD template and PNGs (usually) for your cards. In your program, you can put them together to create your layout, then export it as a flattened image.
Why Go Digital?
There are so many ways to keep your memories safe for years to come. And going digital has so many perks! Some of my favorite reasons for digital memory keeping are:
You don't have to wait for your photos to get printed before scrapbooking.
You can easily convert them into a photo book. For more info on making a physical book from digital scrapbooking, click here.
As long as you back up the original files, you can always reprint anything that may accidentally get destroyed.
All the elements needed to decorate and customize are easily organized and reusable. You will never run out of a certain card, sticker, or embellishment.
You can try out many designs quickly and efficiently, without having to reprint a picture in a different size.
How to Organize Spreads
When setting up your digital scrapbooks, you can separate the pages however you like. You can do monthly spreads, weekly spreads, or a combination of the two. You can also add extra spreads for events like holidays, weddings, and birthday parties.
Key Terms Before We Continue:
Cards: Themed digital paper, usually sized to 3x4, 4x6, or 4x4. Cards are the decorative element of Digital Project Life.
Pockets: Areas in the template that hold photos or cards.
Templates: the layout of pockets that you can insert cards and photos into.
Spread: A finished template, with all the text, photos, and cards inserted. Spreads are ready to be printed or put into a digital photo book.
P12: Stands for Project 12, which is making monthly spreads.
P52: Stands for Project 52, or making weekly spreads.
Now that you have a basic understanding of the background and use of Project Life, we will continue with the next post in our series: How to Navigate the Project Life App!
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