Please Help!!! I'm Frustrated!

[mommy2MTK]

Hi...again. Ok. My husband and I worked on this for 2 hours tonight and we finally quit....frustrated. First, the program is awesome. It only took me 10 minutes to scrapbook quite a few pages of the "baby girl" layouts. (I only have the premium content right now...waiting on the CD). Anyway, I have been told by many to make sure the sizing is 1280 x 1007 pixels, 300 dpi. WELL.....There isn't a selection with these numbers! There are a lot to choose from....just not these numbers. Where is everyone getting these pixels from???? Second, I was trying to make the page I did an 8 1/2 x 11 or 12 x 12 and everytime I pick one of these options, it puts everything at the top left of the page.

This is what I'm trying to do.....create all my pages from SM and then transfer them over to Picaboo or sbtoshare.com to have them print them for me and bind them. The problem is not creating the pages in SM....the problem is sizing them to 8 1/2 x 11 or 12 x 12, which are the two sizes I want but everything on the page ends up small and on the corners!

PLEASE HELP so I can get started!!! Thanks so much to everyone that responds!

Tammy

[Lorne]

You don't have to use the Presets on the page Size tab...you can enter any numbers you want into the fields.

If you want 1280 x 1007, just type 1280 for width, 1007 for height, and change Size Units to "Pixels." (That last part is important, or you'll end up with a page that is 1280 inches x 1007 inches, which is just crazy huge, I mean ginormous!)

1280x1007 is kind of an odd size, though...is that a typo?

300 DPI doesn't really matter except for printing...it basically tells the printer how "close" to print the dots (a.k.a. pixels).

See chapter 6 in the user's guide for an explanation of what difference the DPI makes.

BTW...when you say it puts everything in the corners, do you mean on the paper, when you print? Or inside Scrapbook MAX! on your computer screen?

[mommy2MTK]

Lorne,
Ok....I understand now setting the height/width to whatever I want to. I played with it again just now. First of all, I've had quite a few people say they use 1280 x 1007 w/300 DPI. So, I tried that this morning and it puts my layout directly in the middle of a white page in a box to where you can only see a bit of the actual layout. Yes, I thought it was an odd size too but wasn't sure. Then I went back and chose 8 1/2 x 11 on the preset tab since that's the size scrapbooks I want to use and it makes everything off kilter. The layout then becomes about 3/4 of the page (UNLESS from there, I have to then click and drag everything on the page to fit...like my pictures, the embellishments, etc...which nobody has mentioned).

Finally, what size other than 1280 x 1007 do people use? Everyone else I'm talking to says once they click this then it's automatically done perfectly. My layouts get totally screwed up when I try to resize and then I can't fix them to fit nicely on the page. I know I'm not an idiot and I'm completely computer literate so why can't I figure out this sizing thing???

Thanks for your help!
Tammy

[Lorne]

Lorne,
Then I went back and chose 8 1/2 x 11 on the preset tab since that's the size scrapbooks I want to use and it makes everything off kilter. The layout then becomes about 3/4 of the page (UNLESS from there, I have to then click and drag everything on the page to fit...like my pictures, the embellishments, etc...which nobody has mentioned).

Changing the size of the page sometimes changes the "shape" of it too, for example from square (8x8) to tall (8x10). The relationship between the width and height is known as the aspect ratio.

When you change the page size, you're asked if you want to resize and reposition all your objects too...if you answer yes, Scrapbook MAX! will resize everything to look as good as possible, without changing the aspect ratio of your objects. (If it didn't do that, photos would end up looking stretched or squished.) Instead of changing the aspect ratio of your photos and stuff, it resizes them to fit on the page and then centers the whole layout (if it needs to).

So basically, if you change the shape of your page, your layout will end up either horizontally or vertically centered.

Finally, what size other than 1280 x 1007 do people use?

Scrapbooking is usually done on square pages, I think just for aesthetic reasons. 8x8 inches 200 DPI is a really good size, because it prints out fine on a regular 8x10 sheet of paper, and it actually prints out really nice up to 12x12 inches.

If you're going to be printing on 8x10 paper, and you don't want to have to cut the paper at all, then make your pages 8x10.

But every scrapbook you make is your scrapbook. So make it whatever size you want -- even 1280x1007. After all, it's not the size of the page so much as what you put on it that matters.

If I had to pick just one size, though, I would recommend 8x8 inches and 200 DPI, because it will give you the all-around best results.

[mommy2MTK]

If I want my end result to be albums of 11 x 14 or 12 x 12 (like my older photo albums are) then I'm trying to get my page layouts to be this size also, right? I would think I could just make the layouts from SM, change the size to 12x 12 under the preset tab and boom....it all fits. But, it doesn't seem to work like that. Mine is blown up so much that I can't see everything or it repositions itself to the very corner of the page within the layout.

I didn't notice when I was resizing that it asked me if I wanted to reposition everything. After I resize, the only option it gives me is at the bottom of the page. It says either "OK" or "Cancel". I'll keep playing with it in hopes of figuring it out! Thanks for all your help (and patience!!)

Tammy

[Lorne]

Sounds like you aren't using the latest version. The layout resizing was added in version 1.0.3.0.

If you start Scrapbook MAX! and choose Help > About Scrapbook MAX! from the menu, it should say "v1.0.3.0" in the upper right corner.

You can choose Help > Check for Update to get the latest version.

[kristyc1994]

Glad I read this - I needed the upgrade, too!

I was having the same problem resizing.....I realized that even though I just order the program a few weeks ago - there was an update already! This forum is so awesome! )

[lynspride]

I have just found out about the upgrade also. I didn't seem to have any trouble resizing though, i am currently using 21x15cm (A5) for my current projects so i can laminate them and make books for my son. I am really enjoying this program and think that the support and forum fantastic. The sharing of templates and embellishments from the community is a great idea and i hope to one day share some of mine. cheers