- Working in Layers
- Working with Templates and Grids
- Composing a Page
- Design Elements
- Summary—What You Need to Remember
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Summary—What You Need to Remember
Pages, whether designed on the computer or with pieces of paper and other scraps, are composed of layers of different elements. Most computer graphics programs allow you to work in layers as you assemble your photos, type, and other page elements.
Using templates and grids helps you keep things in line, or consistently out of line, if that's what you want. You can use predrawn templates that someone else designed or you can invent your own.
Remember to consider the natural tendency of viewers to read a page from upper-left to lower-right, just as they do a page of type. You can make this eye leading work for you by placing important objects in specific places on the page and leaving whitespace in between them. The best places to put the pictures are at the junction of imaginary lines that divide the page into thirds vertically and horizontally. Don't crowd the page, but remember that a block of a contrasting color can help balance a photo. Color blocks, texture blocks, and lines, properly used, help your page design. Don't be afraid to experiment with the features in your program—you can't really break the computer.
Clip art is readily available and can also be used to maintain a style over the course of many pages. Some clip art comes with most commercial scrapbooking programs, and more is available for sale, or free, on the Internet.