Speeding things up

[clarabear]

So, some days I am afraid that I am the slowest scrapper of all time. I know I am not actually the slowest because there are a few out there who would challenge me on this, but I am nonetheless really slow. I hear about people who scrap pages a day and am just amazed. How do you scrap multiple pages a day that look amazing and still cook dinner at night? I am amazed.

So....share your tips. How do you speed things up? How does your computer work at warp speed? I would love to get a page done in under an hour. Once I made a page in 12 minutes...but it was a full photo page and there was very little to add. The photo was amazing enough.

Honestly...papers slow me down more than anything. I could spend an hour changing out the papers finding the perfect combo.

 

[cellomom]

for me, I scraplift...I can usually whip out around 3 pages a night if I'm just lifting!

Also, to make it easier, I only use one kit per LO...the designs are already coordinated, and that really helps me to crank them out very quickly!

but that's just me!! ♥

 

[charlize]

Well me too ... for first years of digiscrap I tried to combine many elements and papers from many kits ... but now .... nu uh ... it'd better to have 1 LO 1 kit because as what Sally said ... I agree ... 1 kit means perfect combination of color, elements and papers .... (except for masking I guess ... 'cos it's natural).
And usually I grab photos with great exposure on face 'cos it looks good on digiscrap (and my new DLSR helps a lot with this *wink*), I still do the bigger pictures but only for blending them into the papers to get the idea of when and where the picture was taken.

 

[Bush Girl]

Sadly, Clara, I have nothing to offer, because I, like you, am a slooooooooooooooooow scrapper.

I find that from 3pm when I leave to pick the kids up from school till about 9.30pm when my DH & I finish supper, I don't have anytime to look at my computer (and the evening routine goes whole lot better IF I don't attempt to play). As I don't have a paid job, I do, in theory, have the 6 hrs when the kids are at school, but in reality, as we all know, this period is rapidly filled by food shopping, cooking, general house stuff and an hour & a half dog walking everyday.


When I first started digiscrapping I was living in Singapore with a wonderful helper doing the day to day stuff so I had time to play before the kids came home, and I was able to churn out 3+ pages a day. Now if I get that many done in a week I reckon I'm doing well. Some years ago I won the Taylormade Designs Spotlight competition for the most pages scrapped in a week - I think it was 25 - I can only imagine I didn't feed my family for that week or do any laundry to get through that quantity!

 

[faerywings]

Clara- for me its just hit or miss. Some pages just flow- I can do one in no time at all, less then a half hour start to finish. Others I can spend hours and still be unhappy and unfinished.

Templates and/or scraplifting help speed me up. Also, staying within one kit makes it easier too.

Having a clear head, and a purpose, also are big helps to me although harder to come by than a template.

Selena, 25 in one week?? Wow!!

 

[Madi]

forget about time!!
For me it works faster when I use one kit,
scraplifting works too
but most of all, if you don't like what you do, or are unhappy with your result
just give up and start over, that's what I do!

I have lots of half finished layouts!

 

[LSlycord]

Templates help...used to think of them as cheating....one kit at a time...don't do hardly any blending or extractions 'cuz those take me forever! :-(

 

[AmberR]

Turn on the Digishow. Open Photoshop. Ignore the time. Have Fun. That's what I do.

The things that (for me) make scrapping a layout take too long are:

when I'M not sure which photos I want to use.
When I'm not sure of the story I want to tell.

my trick to scrapping is motif-themed. If I know my story, I can shop my computer for themed motifs to use on the layout. If I am using a kit, I have to shop my computer for photos/story that MATCH the theme of the kit.

Once I have the photos to match the theme, or the motifs to match the photos, it's usually a quick process to scrap the layout (quick as in 1-3 hours). If I am still absolutely stumped, I turn to templates. Of course, if i know from the get-go that I'm in a hurry (like yesterday, I needed to scrap four layouts!!), I go straight to templates.

 

[Bush Girl]

Selena, 25 in one week?? Wow!!

Yeah, it nearly killed me and I couldn't face my computer again for about 10 days!

 

[taxed4ever]

For me its scraplifting too! And like Sally, I tend to stick to just one kit because everything is already coordinated. I find the thing that takes the most time is looking for elements I want to use! If I could just sit down and tag all of my elements, my scrapping life would be much easier!!

 

[yvonnahenna]

for me, I scraplift...I can usually whip out around 3 pages a night if I'm just lifting!

Also, to make it easier, I only use one kit per LO...the designs are already coordinated, and that really helps me to crank them out very quickly!

but that's just me!! ♥

Exactly:bowl:

 

[dwsewbiz]

wow, lots of good ideas here!

I love speed scraps...they really help

 

[sberkan]

I am so not a speedy scrapper, either, though I tend to get bogged down on shadows. Since I'm currently using GIMP to scrap, shadow styles don't help me at all. Maybe if I learned my PSE, shadow styles could help me speed up my LOs . I don't mind spending time on a page but my bigger desire to be faster is because I have so many books I want to scrap (kids years, past vacations etc etc) and I don't go very fast at them!!

 

[trista]

I have basically the same advice to offer. If I get stuck on a page that is not flowing I will either walk away from the computer or set it aside and work on something else.

Lifting (even my own stuff), challenges, and templates help me scrap faster. I am also a one kit wonder. Very seldom do I mix kits - esp if I want to scrap FAST.


I am a chatty person and chat on yahoo and other messengers ALOT. I chat with family and friends and stuff but also chat with digi friends. There is just something about sharing my creative process with a fellow scrapper... Sometimes letting someone else see what I am working on will help me get over a slump. They may suggest moving this or that - new eyes are a great help. I have recently started "speed scrapping" with one of my digi friends. We each take turns giving a set of random and very loose instructions - nothing that we have to stick to, but something to get us going. We limit ourselves to about 30 minutes. There is something about being under the time pressure that really helps motivate me. It has been fun and so far we both have loved the pages we create.

 

[faerywings]

Trista, that is interesting. One of the reasons I don't typically participate in Speed Scraps or Chat Scraps is that I can't do it. I get way to distracted. There are times when I am scrapping I can't even have the radio on.
Its neat how we all tap into the "zone" so differently.

 

[Bush Girl]

Chris - I'm the same. I don't play music or watch the TV when I'm scrapping. I need silence, especially when writing journaling. And as for speed scraps or chat scraps - I so can not scrap & chat!

 

[val]

What help for me to speed up LO, is to pic a photo ( or more) and write the journaling....
and then start to put stuff in order to highlight the photos...
I know it is weird, but back ground paper comes at the end....

good luck !


v

 

[VickiStegall]

just take a look in my gallery and you'll see I have nothing to offer this conversation since it apparently takes me years to do a layout lolololololololol

but, I think I'm going to try some of these tips, I think. I seriously need to do some scrapping!

 

[hondachicc]

I can't offer much here...except what I USED to be able to do...

Before my grandchildren became my "children"...I had loads of free time and I was able to scrap 1-3 pages a day.....more sometimes if I didn't do anything else. I do see that when you have kids....that is impossible. I am lucky to scrap 2 a week now...and sometimes NONE a week. Occasionally I just let everything go and spend every possible moment scrapping, because my creative energy is bursting out and I might do 4 or 5 pages in one day.....but I am not the most creative soul...so that doesn't happen often....

 

[Javamonster]

I'm a slow scrapper, too. However, I think I've learned how to get myself motivated: I find challenges on websites (like OScraps) and see if I can fit them into my own agenda, which is to get my own pages done, say, of 2011, or of an event, or whatever. It's also helped that I decided to do Project Life this year. I'm three weeks behind right now, and I totally mindwiped about taking pictures two weeks ago. BUT getting a page going on Photoshop gets my creativity and motivation going, and warms up my storytelling. It's really helped.

If it comes down to what papers etc to use on a layout, remember that in digiland, you *can always change it out*, even years after you've finished it! You could limit yourself to a number of changes and then move on.

In my case, I pick out my photos. Then I choose a template that has an arrangement I like. If I don't want to fuss, I choose a simple layout. If I want to get fussy, I pick a fussier template (but I rarely like to do fussy). Then, plop the pictures down. Depending on the photograph and how you crop it, if you think it can handle a busy background go for it. If not, go for simple.

I tend to stay in one kit for papers, but as for doohickeys to go on the page, I'm all over the place, esp if the kit doesn't have what I want. Besides, all those extras aren't as important as the story you're trying to tell *unless they're part of the story*.

25 layouts in a week? Wow, I think I'd collapse after such a feat!

 

[snowdropz]

I've not really tried Speed Scrap... partly due to the time differences that it's held. I can easily churn out 3 LOs a day if I'm scrapping to complete challenges and also if a DT LO is required asap. I do scrap with the TV on ... I need some kind of noise. And oh, chocolates do help as well!

I do find that scrapping with one kit helps. However, if I'm doing art journaling, I do like to pull from various resources.

 

[faerywings]

just take a look in my gallery and you'll see I have nothing to offer this conversation since it apparently takes me years to do a layout lolololololololol

but, I think I'm going to try some of these tips, I think. I seriously need to do some scrapping!

I would *love* to see you do that hon!!!