Digital Scrapbooking- where to start?

I'm a paper/hybrid scrapper. I love the idea of digital, and I've taken the time to learn to scrap intermediate/advanced pages digitally, I just find that I miss the tactile part of creating and being a true digi-scrapper is not my thing. I do find that I use a lot more digital elements, and I can customize my pages a lot more by having learned the digi-techniques. It's also really expanded how I use my cutter, so even if you change your mind and stick with paper, you'll probably still put the new things you learn to good use. I don't think digi is a "natural evolution" of paper scrapping, either. I think people just connect to their process in different ways.

And as far as destashing, you will never destash your digi supplies, but learning to organize them so they go with your personal work-flow is it's own process that takes a while to hash out! You also have to be more meticulous about backing up your files, but in a world of digital photos, I think we're all getting used to that, anyway.

Jessica Sprague (www.jessicasprague.com) has some great classes on how to use Photoshop/Elements to digi-scrap. She's great at explaining, her classes really break down the digi-techniques in a way that makes sense and builds properly, and she includes a lot of freebies and references to other online freebies. She had a free starter class that let you walk through a quick-page and see if you like the feel of it, and she has sales on her Photoshop classes from time to time. She also has a Friday photoshop mini-class type of thing. I took several of her classes, and they are not cheap, but I never regretted the cost.

If you want places to shop, there's a ton out there. The Daily Digi does 5-7 kits per/mo for $7.50, but you can only download them for the current month and have to be meticulous about backing up your files. It's a great way to try a bunch of different designers and learn about different online digi-stores, and build up a digi-stash without investing huge amounts.

Snap Click Supply has digital versions of many of everyone's favorite physical paper lines--Echo Park, Carta Bella, Bobunny, Fancy Pants, etc, and AC Digitals has any brands under their umbrella.

Designer Digitals is Katie Pertiet, and Cathy Zielske is there, too, so if you like clean and simple, that's where you find CZ, and if you like layered/shabby chic, Katie's (and Studio Double-D) are amazing. One way to learn to build pages is to look at how someone who's pre-designed a page builds their layers, and you can get layered page-templates for .99 when they intro a new one. (They're .99 the first day, then full price after that, but they have a lot of sales.)

And there's tons of other great supply sites, and those message boards are a great place to go for help. The Lilypad has a nice clean style, and does amazing Disney. I love their Disney way better than Queen and Co, Echo Park or Simple Stories, and I buy their kits then print and cut (I still wouldn't give up my Simple Stories Say Cheese, though!). The Sweet Shoppe has a nice variety of designers, and their elements have really beautiful layering. When I get really stuck, I cruise through their embellishment sections for inspiration for my paper scrapping. And there's tons of other great sites, those are just some of my faves.

So...if you have Photoshop or Elements, great. If not, download a trial version, and go find Jessica's free starter page and see if you like the feel of the digital process. There's also Youtube videos for everything, so you can watch some of those to get a feel for it, too.

Good luck!

If you like pocket pages, the Project Life App is fast and easy. I still mostly scrap with paper, but I've made pages with Project Life and Photoshop Elements. I took a class from www.digitalscrapbookinghq.com/ called Digital Scrapbooking for Absolute Beginners.

I second everything moraie said. I've taken some of Jessica Sprague's classes and found them to be easy to follow and her teaching style suits the way I learn.

I use PSE and even though I know how to create pages from a blank canvas I love starting with templates and modifying them as I go. There's a lot of flexibility with digi which can be both a benefit and a con - sometimes in paper you just have to accept that something is not quite the right size or colour but it's reasonably easy to change these things in digi which leads me to mess with things for far too long without making a decision.

I can't offer any tips on transitioning from paper to digi as I do both. I usually decide at the outset of a project if it will be a paper or digi project and then stick with that format for the whole album although I know others who happily mix digi and paper layouts in the same album. I don't think going digi has to be an all or nothing proposition.

I am a hybrid scrapper and learnt a lot from watching Cathy Zielski and Ali Edwards videos. I got Photoshop Elements years ago and use it all the time, as well as Word. I would suggest trying a few simple things before buying all the things you think you 'must have'. I know I have loads of digital files I never use. But I guess that's part of the learning process, learning what works for you and your style of scrapbooking.