The ironies of technology ...

Today, I decided to tackle that Adobe Photoshop program which I read alot about in those digital scrapbooking page but have yet mustered the nerve to master all the features. My know-how of photoshop is very rudimentary. To open and close a jpeg. file. Ask me to edit ... sharpen my image, add accents or texts and I'd be bewilderingly and ignorantly LOST!

However, those 'how to' videos on About.com on how to use some of the features on Adobe Photoshop CS2 has since shed some light on that rather intimidating Photoshop program - that's been long occupying space in my hard drive - yet hardly ever used. Admittedly, features are still a little foreign to me ... and alot of what am able to do are more lucky stabs in the dark ... ask me to repeat the steps and I'd be somewhat clueless.

What I've discovered however, all that graphics work on computer slows it down dramatically. I half expect to see my nails grow at th rate those image layers take effect!! In the long run, that can be downright frustrating and that's not something one looks for in any hobby!

Ironically, traditional scrapbooking still affords greater productivity than true blue digital scrapbooking. Instead of WAITING and staring at the bottom of computer willing those images to load and take effect in the quickest time possible or making many uncertain pointing and clicking and undo-ing; traditional/hybrid scrapbooking gives me the freedom of browsing through those precious stash of paper, printing out bits while leisurely flipping through scrapbook magazines, organizing those assortment of embellishments and accents, talk on the phone, check my email, do a facial, bake a cake - all in the same amount of time I use twiddling with Photoshop and its Elements!

I suppose, with my present state of equipment (this cranky 4 year old computer), hybrid and traditional scrapbooking is possibly the most suitable for me, that is. Now with the few local online scrap shops that's sprouted in the country, lamenting about exhorbitant shipping charges no longer applies.

Am not going to give up on mastering Photoshop just yet. I'd probably give it another go now and then. But am not convinced just yet on making that total transition to digital scrapbooking - although I absolutely LOVE the stuff those very talented people on those digital scrapbookig forums have come up with!