Hi!
If you like scrapbooking, I think you're really going to love digital scrapbooking! It's a ton of fun.
I like digital scrapbooking for lots of reasons.
First, it's not as messy and doesn't take up the storage space that traditional scrapbooking does. Everything is on your computer. I live in a tiny house, so that's a big deal for me.
With digital scrapbooking, it's really easy to make multiple copies of your pages - you just have to reprint your scrapbook page to get a second copy - and you don't have to buy multiple copies of embellishments to do that.
With digital scrapbooking, you can always work on copies, so you're not ruining your favorite photo or that perfect paper it took you days to find. And, the undo button means that anything you do can be undone.
It's really easy to share your scrapbook when it's digital by sending it to family and friends in email or on photo sharing sites.
Probably my biggest reason for liking digital scrapbooking is that I am a digital chick. I like playing on my computer and getting into the software and messing around.
The software I use is Photoshop. Unfortunately, Photoshop is very expensive, but Adobe makes a consumer version - Photoshop Elements - that's reasonably priced and has many of the same features as the full blown program. I recommend Photoshop Elements as my favorite software for Scrapbooking. There's a pretty steep learning curve with the program, but once you know the program, it has features that will allow you lots of flexibility and creativity. Also, since Photoshop Elements is probably the most popular software for digital scrapbookers, there are training videos and tutorials all over the web showing you how to use it.
A place I would really recommend in terms of training videos is Scrappersguide.com. Linda Sattgast, the woman who owns ScrappersGuide, is a great teacher and she does some very helpful training videos.
In terms of getting started, you may want to try your hand at using quickpages at first. A quickpage is a pre-designed digital scrapbooking page that has a transparent frame or frames where you can add your own photos. I have quickpages on my site (http://scrappydigits.com/quickpages/) and some video tutorials (http://scrappydigits.com/learning-center/) that show how to get started using them. But, there are lots of places that sell Quickpages online, so check them out
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As far as printers go, I do print out my pages, but it doesn't require a special printer. Any good photo printer will work fine for you. Most digital scrapbooking pages are 12" x 12", but I reduce mine to 8"x8" for printing and use photo paper. You can also use an online service for printing your scrapbook pages. Companies like Shutterfly can do that for you. And, if you want to go a step further, Shutterfly can even turn your scrapbook pages into a bound book, which is very cool.
Hope this helps!
Mary
http://www.ScrappyDigits.com