Frustrations - and hopefully a few solutions...

[Kayla Lamoreaux]

We asked what you found frustrating about digital - we are starting this discussion first because hopefully some of the solutions we can give you will help alleviate your frustration and point you to some resources you will find helpful....

Learning Layers - Check out this video -
Digiscrap101 The Basics goes over the basics in Photoshops Elements - including layers, rotating and transforming layers, bringing new elements into a layout, etc.

Using Templates - this is covered in the DS101 class video - Templates in PSE - explains how to use templates step by step in PSE

Don't Know Where to Begin...We have included all of the video and class materials here in our discussion group - they are a great place to get starte. This includes all the class materials and videos from my Weber State University four week class. The Class is taught using Photoshop Elements if you go step by step through the videos, you can learn a lot!

Solutions to these frustrations will come during this course (including some new video tutorials directly addressing your frustrations!)....
- SAVING - formats, sizes, etc.
- Organizing Photos
- Organizing Digital Products
- Layout Design Basics
- Little Tricks and Shortcuts
- Pressure to get it done now and feeling that you never will be caught up!
- Layout Journaling
- Finding Time to Scrapbook

So that is where we start - a LOT of material to cover - comments and questions are welcome!

[Debbie]

Hi Kayla,

I'm curious to know whether or not you're using your iMac to make these PSE 6 tutorials? I know we can run Windows on our Intel Macs and even though I don't do that on my iMac, I am wondering if you do? Or do you have a PC and a Mac? I'm thinking about maybe getting a Macbook and installing Windows on it so that I can buy the Windows version of PSE 7 which will be available this month. That way I'll be able to get the stuff I'm missing in the Mac version of PSE 6, like the Organizer. I know that PSE 7 won't come out for the Mac anytime soon.

One other thing... I have watched video tutorials from other websites like naods.com, scrappersguide.com, etc., and what they do for us Mac users is include the alternate key commands for the Mac in the video tutorial. I found it does help me a lot to hear them refer to the Mac while teaching on the PC.

Thanks, Debbie

[Kayla Lamoreaux]

Great suggestions - thanks for your feedback! Right now I am running boot camp on my Mac to do tutorials but most of the tutorials so far were created on my PC. In the future we will definitely be mentioning both.

If you decide to buy PSE7 and run Windows on your MAC, you will want to remember the cost of Windows - you have to buy Windows to run it - luckily I had an upgrade we weren't using from a PC that died - but I had to have a full version in a DVD drive USB'd to the imac with the upgrade disk in the imac - long story.

Also if you have a version of Windows around and you install PSE7 - I HIGHLY recommend VMWare fusion - it makes sharing files between platforms a breeze and so seamless - very nice software that will make your life so much easier - trust me - it has been a long month!

If you go this route let me know and I will share more of what i learned!

all the best,
Kayla

[Pink Monkey]

I'm looking forward to learning how to organize my digital products. I don't think my system is working very well. I can't find things to use for layouts.