Rene Marker

34 minutes ago, Julie Magerka said:

If you use the Search function on the taskbar in Windows (or the CMD+spacebar in OS) you can find anything - fast! I never go searching for what I want. Just a quick search and it turns up.

I am a visual person and like having the icons where I can see them either on the taskbar or on my desktop. I also use the stuff when it is readily available. I also dislike the search function in windows and prefer not to use it if I don't have to. But that is just me!

Scatters can be many things including paper or metal. They can be translucent or not.

If I use a scatter there are times I don't even use a shadow. But for the most part I use a very small offset (maybe 1, 2 at the most). The opacity is usually 50 or lower with a blur of no more than 10. But there are times the the scatter item is thicker so the settings would need to be adjusted just like adjusting for different types of flowers or frames.

55 minutes ago, Susan Ewart said:

I still havent tried the JPG optimizer even though I put it on my tool bar.  I use the PNG one all the time.  I think the settings probably throw me off and it's also probably not as hard as i'm thinking it is.  Do you find it more useful than resizing and saving and then changing the compression at that time.  Just wondering how it's a benefit to using it over regular resizing and saving.  If it makes my workflow faster I'm all for learn it. 

I still resize before using the JPG optimizer. I've been using it so long that I prefer it over using the save as even though it basically does the same thing. I just know what settings that work best for what I'm doing whether it is a 3600x3600 page or the 600x600 pixel size. And, it is one click to get to the settings in the optimizer. If I want to see the same thing in the save as, I have to click on options (so a 2nd click) then click OK then save (I don't like the slider). 

1 hour ago, Susan Ewart said:

Did you put One Note on the bottom bar (task bar?) I have to go diving for mine as I never use it, but seems like lots of people do so it might be worth looking at that one as well.

Yep. Like you I would forget to use it since I had to go through the start menu to find it.

2 hours ago, Mary Solaas said:

There is another highway out east that I discovered on a trip with a friend many years ago.  The monument to the road developed from Washington DC to Springfield, IL is located in Zanesville, Ohio.  It is located in a building and the monument is a beautifully done series of dioramas showing its development as time went on. 

I'm curious as to what highway this is since I live in Ohio (although the other side of the state).

16 minutes ago, Susan Ewart said:

Corrie, many months ago, did you post a picture of how you organize your scripts and other purchases from the store.  It looked like an Excel spreadsheet and it had the preview photo on it as well, and the instructions and other information (what folder to put it in etc).  I want to do a similar thing with my scripts, tubes etc.  Just having the Name and Instructions in a MSWord document doesnt work for me.  Excel has conditional sorting, and other types of sorting that will work better.

At first I was copying the text documents from each script into a WordPerfect document but that was a pain when I wanted to look up the info when I ran the script. I also have them on a spreadsheet I keep with info about Scrapbook Campus, again putting the info from the text document on it. But it was also a pain to look up stuff when running a script.

So I took the time the other day to set up a tab in my OneNote Scrapping notebook for the scripts. I have a page listing all that I have purchased and another page for my "to be purchased" scripts. I then organized them by type - Tool, Element, Photo with the main page listing all scripts bought from that category. Each category then has a page for each script where I copied the text document. I have thought about putting the preview on this page as well for each script, just haven't done it.

When I was playing with some of the scripts the other day, I had OneNote open to my scripts section and would have the info on the script I was using on my 2nd screen. Really helped since with some scripts you need a blank canvas and I can never remember which ones!

3 hours ago, Ann Seeber said:

It is my favorite, also, and I use it all the time, though I think I've encountered a glitch when working on a template that started as a PSD. One of the photo areas would not turn to a mask and went all white.?? I ended up doing the mask by hand (had to drag out my written instructions...the script has got me spoiled!)

I have only ever used it on PSD templates and have had no problems. I'm guessing it was something with the specific template that caused the glitch.

I scrapped 4 of my week in review templates yesterday and used the Raster To Mask and Merge Group Rename on all of them. Worked so well, I did bind them to my custom toolbar!

Thanks!

No hurry though if you are doing it for me. I don't use the script very much. In fact, today was the first time!

Well, that explains the problem I had earlier with saving the files.

I was playing with some of the scripts earlier and like I said when I went to save the template, the compatibility had changed to PSP8. I know I didn't change it.

But I just thought I'd go through some of the scripts that I had tried out and check the compatibility after running the script.

First script I tried: Open A Copy.

Just used it on a photo. Checked the compatibility.... PSP8! My compatibility before running the script was X8-2021.

Changed the settings back to X8-2021 and double checked by trying to save a blank image. Correct settings.

Did a second test. Ran the Open A Copy script then checked compatibility... PSP8.

So is there something in that script that is changing the compatibility in the save as option?

I was saving a template that I have been using all of 2023 that has one vector text layer. Simple text... 2023 in Calibri font size 22 and bold. I was using PSP 2021.

I have never had a problem with saving this template since my compatibility is set to X8-2021 Compatibility. But I kept getting the vector error message. I finally thought to look at the compatibility and it was set to PSP8... and I didn't change it!!!

So my question is what changed between PSP8 and PSP2021 in how text is handled in the program that would cause the vector issue. I don't think I ever used PSP8 either.

Well, haven't had a chance to play with all of them but the one script I did use I'm kicking myself for not getting it sooner... Merge Group Rename.

I always drag and drop my photos into the layer palette of the template I'm using so it keeps the image name but I always lost that when merging the group so would have to rename the merged layer. Now I don't have to ?

51 minutes ago, Marie-Claire said:

Rene, As for one note, I've seen that you don't need office for it, but what I don't like is, if I understand correctly, that everything is online. I don't feel very comfortable with that.
 

It is not online for the most part. The notebooks are saved on your hard drive. I do not use any of the online features of any Microsoft programs aka OneDrive. I have copied notebooks from old computers to new computers on my own. If you choose to sync your notebooks between computers or other devices (iPad, tablet, phone), then yes online is needed. I don't do that. I even have 2 computers (desktop and laptop) and I do not have them sync. I don't need everything on my laptop that I have on my desktop. When I do need something on the laptop I use a thumb drive to transfer the info.

36 minutes ago, Suzy said:

i have heard of One Note, but I don’t pay for MS Office 360, just an old Version of Office, so I don’t think I actually have access to it.

One Note is a free Windows app. Don't have to have any version of Office to have/use it.

I've started using it again and have set up a notebook for Scrapbooking. I am working on getting all my notes from various places into it. So far my PSP tab in that notebook has the most information in it.

I have learned over the years to embrace clusters but I really am a clean and simple scrapper. However, a small cluster can help add a pop to the page and sometimes helps to hide an imperfection of a photo. A well done simple cluster can actually be used as a border for a photo, like the sketch in this challenge.

I still cannot cluster heavily like some scrappers do but then their reason for scrapping (which they admit to) is for an artistic outlet. Some of them use the same photos over and over. I am a storyteller and my photos tell a story so I do want them to be front and center on a layout. But I have found that small clusters can really add a little extra to the layout but not take away from the story.

Here is the layout that my cluster was used on. The template had the paper strip under the 3 photos as a journaling strip. I had a large amount of journaling so instead of making it super small and unreadable, I chose to use it for the cluster. The template used was a freebie at one time by Scrapping With Liz.

I was working on a layout for my cousin with pictures from Hurricane Ian so thought I would use this cluster sketch to add to it. There was a space on the template where it would work since the template had a paper strip. I just used elements from the kit I was using (Stormy Weather available at Sweet Digi Scraps). Background paper is not the paper from the layout though.

Yeah, my email was sent as well.

21 minutes ago, Cassel said:

We got the notification in September. I brought it up in the Campus newsletter too.

Corel had acquired several programs over the years that were not graphic programs (WinZip, WordPerfect, MindManager, Parallel) and it kind of didn't seem to match the Corel/graphic association I guess. Now, it seems like the name Corel is staying associated with the graphic programs (CorelDraw, PSP, VideoStudio, Painter, etc.) but the others won't have Corel associated directly. So Alludo is kind of the "parent company" as they stated.

If you go to Corel.com, Word Perfect is still listed as a product. WordPerfect has been owned by Corel since 1996 having bought it from Novell. However, WP has not been updated in 2 years. I had X7 and purchased 2021 just a month ago since it had some features I could use for a project I'm working on. I've been using WP since version 5.1 for DOS in the early 90's. Hate Word!

Interesting bit of information... Corel did not buy PSP until 2004.

7 hours ago, Susan Ewart said:

Just home from work and wondering how you faired through the storm (it's after midnight Mountain time for me).  I hope the worst wasnt as bad as expected.  

Thankfully, it was just rain off and on all day with some wind. I didn't hear of any tornadoes in Ohio from this storm but it had produced tornadoes west of us the day before. A friend an hour south of me did have thunder and lightning and heavy rains in her area. She has an 80+ pound dog that hates the storms. He was on her lap.

Vinegar was used to color eggs when I was a kid. Found this with a quick google:

Quote

Fill cups, bowls, or containers with enough boiling water to cover the egg, 1 teaspoon of white vinegar, and food coloring. Place the egg on a slotted or regular spoon and dunk into the mixture, turning occasionally so both sides are colored. Keep in the liquid for up to 5 mins or longer for darker colors.

I colored eggs as a child in the late 50's/early 60's but very rarely since. I might have helped cousins once in awhile when their kids were young but those kids are all in the 30's/early 40's now!

1 hour ago, Anne Lamp said:

I am in Illinois just east of St Louis Mo.  We have been lucky to not have any tornadoes (so far), just some really strong winds and a few thunderstorms and so far only that one episode of not to large hail. It did put a few pings on my car because I don't have a garage.

The tornado that hit us was actually from the front that came through your area earlier that evening.

Raining now with some gusts of wind. Severe thunderstorm warning includes the county just to the west of me, I'm sure it will be here soon. There were 2 tornado warnings in counties west of me in Indiana, possible touchdown in one of them. But looking at the line of storms I'm thinking we won't see the worst of it for another hour or so.

13 hours ago, Bonnie Ballentine said:

Here in Virginia we say, "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute. It will change."

You can't fool with Mother Nature. She doesn't like it.

For some reason Mother Nature has decided that west central Ohio is a nice target this year. After an EF-1 tornado hitting my town, 2 other EF-0 in my county and 3 EF-0 in the county north of us (other areas still be investigated), we are under another tornado watch today. Going to be a long day...

Thanks Carole. I do a lot of double layouts but hate doing them as one layout. I prefer using separate templates but I do have them open and work on them at the same time. Put a paper on one, then put it on the other so things flow between them.

And, it was always a hassle to split them for printing back when I started. I struggled with that a lot! And, if photos were in the middle, some of it was lost when printing them. That's when I learned to never put anything right on the edge unless it was something you didn't care about getting cut off. Even today with the advances in technology, things will get cut off when printing whether it is individual pages or books.

So are all pages going to be done in 24x12 sizing? 

23 minutes ago, Louyse Toupin said:

Here is my Workshop #6: Spring is here, this is the name of the song from Carly Simons, the scrap kit is 

Extraordinary Bundled Collection by Artgal Style and he title is made with the font: Showcard Gothic with a rose rope vector script.

 

Many years ago I was on ArtGal Style's creative team so I have a lot of her kits. Although she retired all of them when PlainDigital Wrapper closed down and only moved her newer kits to her new shop at GoDigitalScrapbooking. She is a sweet person and still creates really nice kits!

Nice layout.

Just now, MoniqueN. said:

Oh, ok! I don't think I have done that !

I have several shadows as presets, but sometimes nothing seems to fit?

Use one of those presets and tweak the settings. I do it all the time. I have a go to preset for papers and photo mats but quite often I will tweak the settings to get the look I want. I also have one preset that I use to start shadowing on foliage and flowers in a cluster. I tweak the settings as I work from bottom to top of the layers all the time. Drop Shadow presets are the thing I use the most in my use of PSP for scrapbooking.