Paperclipping: The Video Podcast | Design Your Story

So there was a little controversy and a bunch of misunderstanding regarding my point in last week’s article about templates. There was discussion in the comments, on Facebook, and on Twitter about it.

In the article I questioned whether it really is easier to use a template, and stated that I find it easier to just look at my photos to know how to crop them and where to put them.

Jennifer Wilson from The Simple Scrapper engaged me in a discussion about this on Twitter and she said my principles on how to decide on cropping and placement is the same thing as a template. She said it all comes down to semantics.

I love Jennifer. She rocks.

But I totally disagree.

The difference between templates/sketches and concepts/principles is enough that it’s worth it to me to write a response. Because that difference demonstrates the chasm between two types of minds.

• Some minds thrive in having a template, sketch, or sample layout to refer to while they’re scrapbooking.
• Some minds are stifled by it.

I thrive with conceptual ideas and principles that I can pull from my mind and apply to any photo or project. I don’t like to refer to something visual.

So, as someone who is stifled by step-by-steps, by templates, by sketches it’s beyond semantics. It’s an important distinction that could make the difference in keeping someone engaged in a hobby.

I figure there are some of you that are more like me, and that’s why you hang around Paperclipping in the first place — because we think alike and my unusual ways of doing and explaining scrapbooking clicks with you.

(Many thanks to those of you who think differently from me but still like to hang around anyway!).

There are few who teach scrapbooking in the ways that work for my mind and the minds of others like me. We’re a neglected crowd.

That’s why this is important enough for me to clarify with another post.

That’s why I don’t want my different method to be reduced to an explanation of semantics. There really is a difference.

What I Wasn’t Saying

So to clear up the misconceptions –

1. I wasn’t saying it’s “bad” or “worse” to use someone else’s template instead of your own.
   –though there are benefits to not “needing” to do so, and you can better adapt sketches and templates to your needs if you have design know-how.
2. I wasn’t saying to make your own templates.
   –Using your own templates is the same process as using someone else’s and it’s that process of using a template that I find harder than people say it is.
3. I wasn’t saying to do things the harder way.
   –My point was that there are principles that make it simpler.
4. And it’s not that I’m not used to Photoshop and templates, as one person assumed (lovely, though I’m sure that person is!).
   –I feel the same way about sketches for traditional scrapbooking as I do about templates for digital.

Jennifer said a template is like a pattern for sewing clothes. She doesn’t realize I hated trying to work with clothing patterns and gave up trying to sew because of them.

I’m sure I’m not the only one, right?

I’m saying, your photos tell you what shape they want to be. They tell you where they want to be placed. Your story can tell you that, too, but that’s for another article.

Let Your Photos Tell You Where They Want to Go

This is the big key that makes it so simple. Here’s what your photos can tell you:

• Whether they want to be square or rectangular.
• Whether they want to the right or the left on the page, or centered.
• Whether they should be higher or lower on the page.
• Whether they want a matte or not.
• Whether they want to be cropped bigger or smaller.

You can refer back to my original article on this subject for some examples how to “read” your photos’ desires as I listed above. There are points in my article about choosing non-traditional photo sizes that will help, too.

I’ll come back soon with specific examples. Maybe next week, but no promises.

What About My Flexible Templates?

Aren’t they templates and sketches?

Nope.

If you’ve been looking at my Flexible Templates the way you look at sketches, and don’t see the difference, then I haven’t explained them well and you haven’t yet seen their openness and potential for flexibility.

If that’s you, you should click here to get the scoop.

With Flexible Templates you should have a concept in your head, not a template or sketch that you’re referring to. That’s the difference that may seem small but is really huge.

What’s My Point Already?

My point is that for many of us, there is a way that can often be easier than sketches and templates. For some of us, it will be easier more often than not.

If you ever feel less adequate because when you use a sketch or template it takes longer than it’s “supposed” to, it might be worth it to learn the concepts of “reading” the photos.

These concepts may seem harder to grasp initially because they are not concrete like sketches and templates. But once you get them, photo placement and cropping and page design becomes a cinch!