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Call me slow . . . I hardly do anything digital, my printer doesn't like cardstock so I almost never do digi images or anything.
But the digital paper is intriguing.
If you have used it, do you print it on regular computer paper? Because regular designer paper is a lot less bulky than cardstock.
Does it totally eat up your color ink cartridges?
Do you have a favorite company for digi paper?
Can you only buy it in sets and is it really designed for scrapbooking?
Is it designed more for an online scrap layout or is it designed to print out at home?
You can print out your digi papers and use as you would any patterned paper. I wouldn't use ordinary printer paper though since it isn't very good quality. I use 3 types of papers to print my digi papers (all matte finish because I like it better): brochure paper (about 48lb), presentation paper (about 35lb), and photo paper (about 75lb). I use the first two when I want layering weight papers. I use photo paper when I'm scrapbooking and I'm going to use the full 8 1/2 x 11 size as my base layer since its heavier. Another nice thing about digital papers is, if you're proficient with a graphics program, you can change the colours of the papers to match your projects. It does use a lot of ink and the papers are a little more expensive. I worked it out that I can print a full letter size colour sheet for about 75-80 cents with the name brand ink. It runs about 40-50 cents with off brand ink. I'm using a Canon MP560 to do all my printing. It may be a little more expensive, but I like that I can print 4 card front sizes on one sheet in co-ordinating patterned papers, so I'm really only printing what I need and not cutting into a big sheet of patterned paper and having very little scraps from it. Another thing that is nice about digital papers is the convenience. I'm a nightowl, so I do a lot of my crafting at 2 in the morning. If I run out of paper I can just print another sheet because I will never run out of stock once I have it on my computer. Of course, digital papers were/are designed to use with digital scrapbooking (which I still do once in a while), but if I like a pattern, then I'll print it out and use it. There are soooo many sites that offer beautiful free digi papers too. If you google "free digital scrapbooking" you will find hundreds of sites with freebies, not to mention all the blogs you will stumble across with beautiful freebies.
here are a few links to some cards I made using digi papers. The papers on the last one is a paper I specifically designed for the card.
Peggy Sue ~ we have a digi site (digi design house) and most of the gals tell me that they take our downloaded paper images to Office Max or Office Depot and have them printed there. Some bring their own cardstock and some purchase cardstock to have it printed in. They also like this because they can create their own double-sided papers!
Apparently there is a little thing (a flash drive???) that you save the images to and just plug in at the copy shop to print! It is WAAAY too easy from start to finish!
__________________ Mischelle Smith www.mischellesmith.comFounder/CEO of The Angel Company and NOW a consultant with CTMH !
Can you stamp on digital papers? Do you need special inks (for stamping) that don't "react" with the ink on the paper? Never done this... very curious!
Can you stamp on digital papers? Do you need special inks (for stamping) that don't "react" with the ink on the paper? Never done this... very curious!
I imagine you can stamp on them. They're basically a photo. I haven't actually stamped an image, but I have used distressing inks on the papers and it worked just as it would with regular patterned paper.
If you are having trouble printing on cardstock, make sure the printer properties are set for heavier paper. Every printer program is a little different, but most of the time when you select print, there is a "properties" or "settings" button in the printer dialog box. Once you click on that, another box opens up where you should be able to change the paper weight. Most printers are designed to run a little slower with heavier papers to allow the ink to absorb and prevent jams. (the same with label paper and other specialty papers, so always change the settings to match your "media")
As far as inks, most ink jet printers use water based ink, which can run. Some brands that are designed to print photos will "set" after they dry, check your individual brand of printer. And do some testing ;-)
__________________ : : Frances : : Housework is for people without hobbies.
At this point I'm not interested in going digital so I haven't checked into it much, but I admit I've been curious, and I love to know about different options even if I don't choose to use them at this time. This thread has ao much wonderful information! Thanks so much for sharing it. Catwoman, your cards are really beautiful!
I actually use digital paper all the time in my card making. I never scrapbook, digitally or otherwise, but will often shop for digital papers because there are so many beautiful ones out there. I have quite an extensive collection, both from free sites and paid.
In fact, one of my favorite paper designers is Basic Grey, and they have an extensive digital collection from which I have purchased many sets. For some reason, none of my LSS carries much BG, and so it's difficult for me to find them in a timely manner. The digital papers are my solution to that problem. I love being able to print out one of its collections as needed, including re-sizing and cropping to fit my specific card.
I would say that when it comes to printing it's not cheap, and I tend to go through both a b&W and color cartridge a month on my Hewlett Packard Deskjet printer, which equals about $35. But I've recently discovered that choosing "Fast Draft," prints a page whose quality is hardly noticeable from "Normal," and my ink is lasting longer. In fact, now that I think about it, I haven't had to replace them this month.
ETA: I'm only talking about printing out the digital paper to use as I would a patterned paper. This method would not suffice for printing out quality photos.
As cat woman said, there are gobs of free digital papers on the web. In fact, some of my very favorite "kits" were free. The selection is endless, and the versatility is unbeatable. I love them!
__________________ Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes.
~~Walt Whitman
Last edited by rspetersen; 07-08-2011 at 10:49 AM..
I don't use digital paper very often because my printer gulps ink, but when I do I only print the part that will show. In other words, I will print a 5.25 by 4 inch rectangle, but insert a smaller white rectangle (layer) in the center under the part that will be covered up by my main image. In other words I'm just printing a frame and you can't tell it once the card is assembled.
Intrigued by printing digital papers at Kinkos! So if I purchase Basic Grey digital papers, can I put them on a flashdrive and take them to be printed? No problem with "copyright"? In general, how expensive is it to have papers printed at Kinkos or Office Max? Thanks so much for all of this information!
Sorry-one more question.........I love the Basic Grey 6x6 pads for cardmaking-if I purchase the digital prints, is there a way to make the pattern smaller=I don't want to just print a smaller piece of the 12 x 12 paper-KWIM? I am sooo computer challenged, but willing to learn!
Sorry-one more question.........I love the Basic Grey 6x6 pads for cardmaking-if I purchase the digital prints, is there a way to make the pattern smaller=I don't want to just print a smaller piece of the 12 x 12 paper-KWIM? I am sooo computer challenged, but willing to learn!
The files come to you as a jpeg file just like a picture. You can insert the "picture" into a Word document and then resize it to whatever size or crop it before you print it. I don't have a large format printer so I'm always resizing or cropping the digi papers.
Question about digital papers
