Creative Scrapbooking - Scanning & Stitching Scrapbook Album Layouts by Cynthia Anning

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Scanning & Stitching Scrapbook Album Layouts

by Cynthia Anning

Since you are reading this article you have obviously ventured into the world of computers to enhance your scrapbooking hobby. Undoubtedly you run into situations which merit the ability to scan layouts. i.e. contests, sharing layouts with friends through e-mail, displaying layouts on a web page, etc. If you have joined the numbers of people doing 12 x 12 layouts, than it is not as simple as just doing a one-step scan. These instructions should help you tackle the task of scanning and putting together your 12 x 12" pages.

There are so many different scanners available today, that I couldn't possibly cover every individual discrepancy. This covers the general aspects of the process. The operation of your scanner software and hardware is covered in your scanner's documentation. Also, please make note that your computer needs adequate RAM (random access memory) to scan large color layouts. I don't recommend doing this sort of thing if you are running a computer with less than 32 megabytes of RAM.

You probably have one of two different size scanners: a scanner capable of scanning letter size documents (up to 8/12 x 11 inches), or a legal size scanner (up to 11 x 14 inches). These instructions follow the process for scanning with a legal size scanner, BUT you can also use these instructions to scan with the smaller type scanner. Just use common sense to modify or add the necessary steps. The steps below look long and intense at first view, but they are actually made for someone who has never user an image-editing program. Someone who actually sits down and follows the steps, one at a time, should not have any problems.

I recommend using Paint Shop Pro, or the latest evaluation/shareware release, to scan and manipulate your layouts. You can obtain a shareware copy of Paint Shop Pro by visiting the Jasc web site at http://www.jasc.com. After 30 days, if you like the software you must register it or it stops functioning. (that's how "Shareware" usually works). These instructions will work for someone using similar programs, but it will require doing a little more work to find the functions which I refer to.

Note: Once you get used to scanning and putting together a layout, you will automatically adapt the process to a method which works best for you. The steps I have outlined blow are what I have found works best for *me*. I do not profess to have the ultimate method. Though, I do think if you view our layout section and see the scanned quality of the layouts, you will see that it works just fine.

Scanning:

1. Open the Paint Shop Pro program. (be sure your scanner is turned on)

2. Use your mouse to navigate up to the pull down menu. Click on "File".

3. Slide the mouse pointer down to "Import". Another menu slides open beside it.

4. From that menu choose "TWAIN". Two more choices pop out.

5. Choose "Acquire". This choice should automatically make the driver software included with your scanner pop open so that you can scan an image.

6. Place your layout on the scanner: (a) line up either the right or left side of the layout against one side of the scanning area on your scanner (b) scan that side (c) in the Paint Shop Pro software, save this first scanned image as a .jpg file, in a folder on your hard drive (name it something like example1.jpg) (d) close that first image before scanning the next one, this will keep your system resources from running low (e) line up second side of the layout against the other side of the scanning area and scan it. (f) save the second image as example2.jpg in the same folder. (g) close the second image.

Note: The dpi (dots per inch) in which you scan the layout is completely up to you. If you are scanning the layout for a web page most people recommend that you scan it at a low resolution like 72dpi. *I* like to keep a higher resolution version available for printing out, so I start with a 300dpi image at scanned at 50% size and I resize it later using the software.

Manipulating: (in this example I am resizing it as I put it together so that it will fit in e-mail or on a web page)

1. Open the first image that you scanned in the Paint Shop Pro program. (go to the pull down menu, chose "File", slide down to "Open" and single click on it with your mouse, navigate to the folder the images are in, and choose the first one to open OR single click on the little icon of an open folder which is underneath the pull-down menu)

2. Go to the pull-down menu and choose "Image", then choose "Resize". The Resizing window will pop open.

3. There should automatically be a dot in the section that says "Actual/Print Size". If not, then click in the circle before that section.

4. In the box for "Resolution" change the number to 150.

5. In the box for "Height" change the number to 1.5 and then close the Resize window.

6. The image will now resize to the chosen specifications. It's going to look amazingly small, so look to the left of the program window and you will notice a tool bar going down the left side. The second tool going down will be the magnifying glass. Click on it once to choose it, then click over the image a few times until it has increased in size enough to be viewable.

7. Go again to the pull-down menu and choose "Image", and then "Canvas Size". The Canvas Size screen will pop up.

8. On the top you will see "New Width" and "New Height" and below that it will show the current width and height. Make sure that in "New Height" it has the same height that the current height specifies, and then change the "New Width" to around twice the number that the current width states it is. Close the Canvas Resize Window.

9. You will see a rectangle with a dotted line as the sixth choice down on the tool menu which is on the left side of the page. Choose that. Now use that in the window with the 1st image to select the entire image: point the cursor to the very upper left hand corner of the image and click, then keep holding down the mouse button as you drag the cursor to the very bottom right of the image. The entire image should now be selected. Now you need to change to the first tool on that tool menu to the left, so that you can use it to drag the selected image to left side of the window that is in, to make room for the second half of the image to be pasted in.

10. Now open up the second image that you scanned, using the same process as you did to open the first one.

11. Once again, resize this image to a resolution of 150 and a height of 1.5. Just go back up to step 1 if you need to review that process.

12. Now go up to your pull-down menu and click on "Selections", and then chose "Select all".

13. Go to the up to your pull-down menu and click on "Edit". Then click on "copy".

14. Now, go back to the window with the first image in it and just click anywhere on the window to select the window. Go up to the pull-down menu again and click on "Edit" and then choose "Paste". This is going to paste the image that you copied from the second window, into the first window.

You are getting soooo.... close!

15. Now you can just use the mouse cursor to move the image which you pasted in around until it best matches up with the other side.

16. When you are satisfied with the placement, go up to the pull-down menu to "Selections" and then choose "Select None". Now go to the tool menu on the left side and choose the rectangle with the dotted line again. Use it to select the entire stitched-together image.

17. Go back up to the pull-down menu to "Image" and choose "Crop to Selection". This will crop out all the leftover excess area around the image.

18. Now just save the image and you are done! CONGRATULATIONS!!

If it doesn't look perfect, don't worry! This process usually takes a LOT of practice. Sometimes your two images don't seem to match up quite right and you have to try rescanning one or both of them until it works better for you. Sometimes one side will seem to be a different overall color than the other side, this is usually because some light was able to sneak into the process while you were scanning. Just try rescanning the darker or off-colored image. Practice makes perfect!