Cassel

Let's start a new challenge for all of us. We might often be the ones taking pictures but we are not the feature of our layouts, so let's change that since we ARE important and we have lots to say. Every month or so, the layout will be about YOU, and a prompt will be given. If you have taken the Story Week Challenge, you will find some similarities but it won't be the same. For the first layout of this challenge, tell us something about your birth city/location. And if you can associate it with something that happened around the time of your birth (in the year or decade), even better.

It is nice to see that snow globe tutorial used for something other than Christmas. A great example of how one technique can be customized for something else. Good work!

In school, I learned to play the flute (I think in English they call that a recorder). That was standard in music class, however, I never learned anything else as far as music is concerned. Are you musical? Let's chat.

For my first week, here is Markus watching my son "torture" the piano 😉

It is kind of the idea, but there is no real REQUIREMENT. It is more like a 'suggestion'. And no, you don't need a script. If you want to add a date to your photo, you can. If you want to have a date/week, that is similar, you CAN use a script to create your own set of overlays, but if you are comfortable with PSP, you can surely reuse the same one and just edit the date/week/color as needed.

It is often called a CHALLENGE, but it should not be a STRUGGLE. I have seen this interpreted in many different ways, and honestly, what if you skip photos even for a few weeks? Unless you are tracking something super specific (ex: weight loss using a particular program, the growth of your flower garden), who would know that you took that picture this week or that week? I am actually planning on joining this and showing Markus in different settings around me, throughout the year. 🙂

Do you want to challenge yourself to take photos every week in 2024? Maybe you want to practice your photography skills, or just try to capture "ordinary" daily occurrences. Let's just encourage each other. This is a no-pressure thread, and you can share the photos you took or the theme you are going for (if you are going with a theme). And if you don't want to share the photos yet, and only showcase them once they are in a montage or a scrapbook page, you can just say that you did it. Who is in?

Whenever you create a project, you will likely want to use some text. In this case, you might be looking for some interesting fonts to showcase titles or dates. This month, I am suggesting a monoline font that is simple and even in thickness. You can get this free font HERE. Although this font does not have any additional glyphs, it has all the accented characters you would want to write in just about any language.

Suzy is hoping to do such a challenge, so maybe you can be photo-buddies. I have seen challenges where participants had to take a photo based on a specific prompt, while others were open. In the Maniacs FB group, there is one challenge/theme every week. If you want to use that as inspiration, you can join. And instead of having an overall theme (vacations, flowers, etc.), it could just be "a year in my life" or something of the sort. No fancy theme, but daily life.

That is fine. Thanks. You can share it in the What are you working on? thread too! 🙂

I'd love that too. When I have time, I can try to dig more stats, for previous years, but the platform has changed so I am not sure how easy that would be.

I don't know about you, but it will take me a little while to get used to write 2024 instead of 2023! So, what have you been doing at the end of 2023? And what about the start of 2024? Let's chat!

You can use a picture tube of a thread. There might be one already available in PSP, depending on your version, or you can create your own with the String tutorial in the list of tutorials. Then, it is a matter of adding some darker shading on the right side and lighter shading on the left side. I am pretty sure that was illustrated in a class, at one point, but I really can't figure out. If you want, you can add that to the Q&A for this month, and I'll add the idea to a possible full-length class, later on, all about buttons.

In January, our monthly theme is FITNESS. Are you doing a particular activity to keep yourself in shape? Do you use any type of equipment? Any app? Any pre or post-exercise routine? I think we should be able to find several words for that topic. Let's go!

The theme for January is FITNESS. On the first of the month, it is often the day to start resolutions, and for many, it has to do with fitness and health. If that is you, what is the resolution? If it is not you, maybe you have other layouts on hand or that you can create around all kinds of fitness activities. Let's go! Post your project in the gallery.

Those are bootcamp projects, not Template workshop projects.

It should be the same as 2 years ago, although I am making the handouts for the DIAMOND members.

A new workshop will soon start. Are you in? It will start on January 15th. This workshop is FREE for everyone, so spread the word. This workshop is meant for beginners and advanced users alike. Beginners will find a simple way to get started to create their scrapbook projects. Advanced users will find that templates can spark your inspiration and help you complete projects on a deadline. Did you find this thread before the registration page? Here it is.

As my first post for 2024, here is a summary of 2023 from the Campus. We could not have done it without you all.

If the name starts with BrushTip_ they are NOT scripts, so they don't go there. Whatever file starts with BrushTip_ has to be in the Brushes folder and has to have its "twin", that will have the same name without the BrushTip_.

It is a new month and new projects. Show off what you are working on in January be it a scrapbook page, a collage, a tutorial, or anything else you want. We are curious and want to see, learn, and get inspired. These threads are quickly becoming a fantastic source of inspiration, support, and friendship. Keep them coming! Remember to size down your image to about 600x600 pixels and save it in .jpg format before posting it (if you are creating a double page, you can resize it to 1000 pixels in width if you don't want to post the pages separately). Here are a few guidelines for everyone: when you post a project, give as much information on your sources or techniques used. It will help others who are curious and would like to do the same. if someone uses something that you like on their page, ask where they got it. Sometimes, you can go get it too and it will be better quality than trying to extract it (as it would have been resized to post in the forum anyway). if it is something that they did from scratch, ask how they did it. It would be so helpful to everyone! if you like a photo and would like to “play with it”, ALWAYS ask permission. Sometimes, there are some limitations and the person is not allowed to let others use it. Don’t get them in trouble. Usually, people are happy to say yes (if they can) when you ask politely. And if you get permission, you might get a better-quality image than the resized image anyway.

PSP works with pixels. The resolution will be important for the printing/displaying. So, if you have a 4-inch image, it will be 4800 pixels wide, which is obviously going to be a larger file size than a 1200 pixels image (which would be typical of a 300 dpi). As far as resizing, it will just be easier to resize it before adding to your current project as it will be easier to manipulate.

For testing purposes, can you delete some layers and resave and then compare at which point the file size would change? Or do it the other way around and re-add layers one by one (or a few), even if you are not arranging precisely?

Large files are normal when you work on large format (scrapbook pages) and multiple layers. Fonts are typically negligible as far as "file weight". Now, I don't understand what you mean when you say that the menu items are no longer available. To save, can you use F12 instead of a menu?