Digital Scrapbooking
Glossary of Terms
Your complete guide to the language of Artsy Digital Scrapbooking and DigitalART by Anna Aspnes Designs.
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The signature Anna Aspnes Designs method for seamlessly blending photos with digital art to create expressive, painterly layouts. AnnaBlendz is the heart of the aA creative philosophy — your photos become art, not just snapshots on a page.
Includes a series of AnnaBlendz Artsy Photoshop BrushSets (ABR and PNG file formats) and downloadable self-paced Blending Classes for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.
Artsy digital kits or page sets are the cornerstone of the aA product range. Each ArtPlay Palette includes a thoughtfully curated collection of color and theme-coordinated digital products: 9-12×12 background digital papers (artsy and solid), 16 Photoshop and Photoshop Elements brushes 12 transfers and overlays, and 12–15 dimensional embellishments, all delivered in .jpg, .abr, and .png formats. Smaller versions of these kits are available as MiniPalettes.
ArtPlay Palettes may be acquired individually or as part of the ArtPlay Collections that include coordinating WordART, MultiMedia element clusters, FotoBlendz clipping masks or Frames, and a predesigned Artsy Layered Template. Companion sets, such as ArtsyTransfers, ArtsyKardz and Notions also support the ArtPlay Palettes.
Artsy card known as ArtsyKardz files are delivered in .jpg and layered .psd format for use in Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. Available in three sizes: 3×4 inches, 4×6 inches, and 6×6 inches perfect for pocket page memory-keeping.
The layered ArtsyKardz format enables the individual layers to be manipulated, recolored, and customized. Clip a photo to any layer to create mini blended photo art cards or combine with a FotoBlendz clipping mask. Use them also as journaling spots, pocket scrapbooking inserts, greeting cards, gift tags, trading cards, or clip into frames within templates. You can also arrange them in groups to create a foundation for your memory-keeping pages.
A 12×12 pre-designed layout in .psd format featuring painted masks, frames, elements, and text boxes, designed for Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Affinity by Canva and Paint Shop Pro. Simply clip your photos and digital papers or transfers to the various layers, then recolor as preferred, for a quick and beautiful artsy memory-keeping page.
Artsy Layered Templates coordinate directly with their paired ArtPlay Palette and Collection. They include all layer styles, brushwork, titles, and text boxes shown in the preview.
Digital pencil or pen lines with full transparency, delivered in .png (and sometimes .abr) format. Also known as hand-drawn swirled lines and scribbles, ArtStrokes add organic, hand-crafted energy to any layout. Find them in ArtPlay Palettes and BrushSets.
Multi-colored, multi-layered blended elements delivered in .psd format for Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements and Affinity by Canva. Unlike ArtsyKardz (which stay within a rectangular boundary), ArtsyTransfers have blended, painterly edges that integrate organically with your layouts.
Recolor layers, resize or rotate, toggle visibility, or further modify using Blending With Brushes. Slot the layers around a FotoBlendz clipping mask to creatively and artistically blend your photos into your digital scrapbooking pages. Every ArtPlay Palette and Collection has a set of coordinating ArtsyTransfer companion set.
Digital scrapbooking with an abstract and contemporary artistic presentation. Rather than a traditional, element-heavy approach, Artsy Digital Scrapbooking emphasizes blending, painterly textures, and the integration of photos into backgrounds, creating layouts that feel more like fine art than a traditional memory page.
This philosophy underpins every aA product. The goal is always to elevate your photos and tell your story in a way that is distinctly, beautifully yours.
The art of seamlessly assembling multiple images and art elements into a single, unified composite using graphics-editing software. Blending is the defining technique of the aA style, making photos feel like they grew organically out of the art, rather than being placed randomly on top of it.
Common blending approaches include using FotoBlendz clipping masks, applying Layer Masks with soft brushes, adjusting Blending Modes such as Multiply or Soft Light, and the Blending With Brushes technique taught in AnnaBlendz classes.
Digital versions of the pictorial rubber stamps and ink tools used by paper crafter also provide expressive painting tools for digital artists. Delivered in collections in .abr and .png format for use in Adobe Photoshop, Elements, Paint Shop Pro and Affinity by Canva.
Each ArtPlay Palette includes a coordinating BrushSet. Additional standalone companion BrushSets (such as PaperTextures, Stitching, paint Splatters, AnnaBlendz Artsy blending brushes and theme-specific collections) are also available. Use brushes to add texture, mask photos, create backgrounds, support a story theme or add hand-crafted marks to any layout.
A technique in which artwork is created from an assemblage of different forms. The word “collage” comes from the French coller, meaning “to glue.” A digital collage is created by arranging and blending multiple images using graphics-editing software, assembling a cohesive whole from many parts. This may have a traditional paper look and feel or take on a more digitally blended montage approach.
The combination of multiple visual elements from separate sources to create a single unified image. Every blended layout in the aA style is, at its core, a composite, using photos, papers, brushes, and elements unified into one piece of art.
A digital approach to modern memory keeping, which combines photos, personal stories, and digital artwork using a computer and graphics-editing software such as Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements or Affinity by Canva. Digital scrapbooking preserves your memories in a form that can be printed, shared, and treasured for generations.
A 24×12 inch layout comprising two 12×12 pages displayed side by side , as they would appear when printed and bound in a photo book or album. FotoInspired templates or Albums are designed specifically for this format, offering cohesive spreads that tell a story across both pages.
A series of clipping masks with blended and/or distressed edges, designed for use with the clipping mask function in Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, or Affinity by Canva. These files come in a variety of shapes, sizes and formats, including single layer .png and multple layered .psd that coordinate with each ArtPlay Palette release.
Photos clipped to the FotoBlendz conform to the blended organic shape of the clipping mask layer(s) to seamless and artistically blend into your digital memory-keeping and scrapbook page backgrounds.
A photo-centric approach to scrapbook layout design in which a large number of photos make up the majority of the composition, with minimal use of digital art elements. FotoFocused layouts are ideal when your photos are the star — from action-packed events, travel adventures, to everyday family moments.
A series of light-enhancing elements delivered in multi-color .png format, designed for use with blending modes in Adobe Photoshop and Elements. FotoGlows alter the mood of a layout and add a magical, ethereal luminosity. Move a FotoGlow onto your canvas, apply a blending mode such as Hard Light or Vivid Light, and duplicate the layer to increase intensity. You’ll also find these in MultiMedia clustered embellishments.
A collection of pocket-scrapbooking style template packs that brings the aA artsy aesthetic to weekly documentation and event scrapbooking. FotoInspired templates include a variety of masks, frames and elements designed to be combined with ArtPlay Palettes and Collections to make photo-heavy storytelling quick, beautiful, and entirely your own.
FotoInspired ValuePacks bundle multiple templates and coordinating products for complete album creation.
A digital canvas or page on which artwork is created. In digital scrapbooking, a layout is typically 12×12 inches at 300 dpi, to ensure high quality and output when you print your pages. Layouts serve as the final output of your creative process: a page that combines your photos, digital art supplies, and personal story into one cohesive design.
A Clipping Mask uses the contents and transparency of one layer to control the visible area of the layer above it. In digital scrapbooking, this makes adding photographs to FotoBlendz masks, ArtsyTransfers, and Artsy Layered Templates fast and effortless. Go to Layer › Create Clipping Mask, or use the keyboard shortcut Alt/Option+Ctrl/Cmd+G.
A Layer Mask acts like a transparent sheet placed over a photo or graphic in Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements or Affinity by Canva. Using black paint to hide, white to reveal, and gray to partially blend, you can non-destructively control exactly which parts of a layer are visible. This is the core of the Blending With Brushes technique and ideal for seamless photo integration.
The process and result of creating a composite photograph by cropping and assembling multiple photos into a single unified artwork. A photomontage differs from a collage in that photos are the primary (and sometimes only) raw material, combined and manipulated to tell a story through imagery alone.
A series of themed, digital mixed-media elements created from real-world sources including paint, splatters, stains, brushwork, and dimensional embellishments. The clustered MultiMedia elements add a simple simple focal point with an easy drag-and-drop approach to digital scrapbooking layouts adding motif and visual contexts to your memories and stories. These elements arrive in dual formats: multi-layer .psd and individual .png formats to offer maximum customization and accommodate multiple software programs.
MultiMedia collections are typically themed, such as MultiMedia Birds, Hearts, Flowers etc… They are intended to coordinate with corresponding ArtPlay Palette releases but can also be mixed and matched as preferred to bring different themes to your library of digital scrapbooking supplies and Collections.
A layout or template that includes more than one photo. MultiFoto is short for and simply means ‘multiple photo’ designs and are ideal for events, trips, or any story that unfolds across several images. Pair such events and series of images with FotoInspired or Album templates or a curated use of Artsy Layered Templates for a cohesive way to tell MultiFoto stories.
Broadly, digital elements with a predominantly transparent background, delivered in .png format. Overlays may be single or multicolored and are designed for layering to add visual interest, texture, and depth. Examples include the Transfers and Overlays in ArtPlay Palettes, .png files from BrushSets, and digital scrapbook page edge embellishment enhancements. Paper crafters might recognize them as the digital equivalent of transparencies or traditional rub-on products.
The art of combining personal photographs with digital art in software such as Adobe Photoshop and Elements to create a digital montage, collage, or composite. Photo Artistry is the broadest description of what happens when you use aA products. Your photos become the foundation for telling stories and preserving memories in a way that is uniquely creative and beautifully artistic.
Anna Aspnes has been helping photographers and memory-keepers practice Photo Artistry for over 20 years through products, classes, and community inspiration.
A series of products, including brushes, overlays, and frames, all featuring subtle distressed script text designed to add context, meaning, and visual interest to pages. ScriptTease elements evoke the feeling of handwriting, journaling, and personal letters layered into the art. Recolor and adjust blending modes as desired.
The same realistic, three-dimensional appearance found in paper-crafted layouts can be achieved digitally using Layer Styles in Adobe Photoshop and Elements. Apply a Drop Shadow layer style to any element, photo, or text to lift it visually off the page and add depth and dimension.
The AnnaStyle Shadows collection provides custom drop shadow layer styles calibrated specifically for digital scrapbooking in Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.
Digital elements that add depth, tactile dimension, and visual richness to a layout. Textures range from crumpled paper (TapedTextures) to canvas, linen, and painted surfaces. Use them as background foundations, clip photos to them, or layer with blending modes to add subtle surface interest to any area of your design.
Multicolor blended elements delivered in single-layer .png format — distinct from the multi-layered ArtsyTransfers. Transfers typically have less transparency than overlays, creating more defined focal areas on a layout. Their larger surface area makes them excellent clipping masks for blending photos quickly and beautifully.
A series of digital stitching brushes and elements that create the appearance of machine or hand sewing on layouts. UrbanStitchez add a tactile, handcrafted quality reminiscent of traditional paper scrapbooking. Delivered in .abr and .png format.
A series of digital sewing thread brushes and elements that create the appearance of delicate stitching and thread on layouts. Where UrbanStitchez evoke machine sewing, UrbanThreadz capture the looser, organic appearance of hand-sewn thread — trailing ends and all. Delivered in .abr and .png format.
Creatively designed word and title elements delivered in a variety of single color overlays, multi-color predesigned clusters or mixes where you can assemble to best describe your stories and memories. Formats include single word/phrase .png files and sometimes customizable layered .psd. WordART typically coordinates with each ArtPlay Palette release and includes thematically relevant words, phrases, and expressions, perfect for page titles, journaling accents, and focal point text.
LabeledWords provide smaller label-style text elements. Recolor any WordART element using Hue/Saturation adjustments, or change blending modes for seamless integration with your layout.
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