paper: Scrapbooking photos edited with a phone app | pretty paper. true stories. {and scrapbooking classes with cupcakes.}

Looking over what I’ve scrapbooked in the last year or so, what is your percentage of photos taken on your phone versus a camera that is just a camera? If we don’t count that one year of Project Life documentation, my actual camera is still winning, but the gap is closing – it’s probably forty percent phone and sixty percent camera for me. My dedicated camera still wins simply because the quality is better and I’m better at using it, while I tend to reach for my phone when I need to snap something quickly and I aim purely for the speed and my composition and exposure and anything else pretty all just goes out the window. So I edit. Of course there is an app for that. In fact, there are roughly eleven zillion. I asked today’s guest designer Gretchen Henninger to share how she edits her phone photos and my entire plan was that we would show you at least two apps because there would be two of us and there are roughly eleven zillion apps so it would be a start.

We both use the same app. Of course we do. Let’s see how many of you are already using this one too!

Here’s my original photo. I wanted to snap a picture that showed this entire packhorse situation of backpack and toddler, and preferably with a happy face on the toddler. That means I have to be quick, so this is what I ended up with. It’s crooked and the colour is pretty bland and perhaps someday someone will wonder why you can actually see my photo in so many of my pictures but it’s going to keep happening because I can’t get on board the with entire concept of a selfie stick, which is something for a whole other day.

My first edit to this photo was to straighten it and crop it, both of which I just did right there in my camera roll.

Then I loaded it into PicTapGo, which looks like this. It’s basically the phone version of Totally Rad Actions, the Photoshop editing plug-in I’ve been using for a long time. You don’t get that level of control, but you get a lot of options and every single filter can be layered and dialled up or down in intensity. You can also save combinations of filters you like and the app will automatically show you the last three combinations you’ve used without you saving anything, so if you want the second photo to match the first, you don’t have to repeat all the steps. That’s what I did with the two photos for this layout. When you’re happy with the edits, it’s just a click to save it to your camera roll or post to social media.

I printed both photos on a single 5×7 sheet on my home printer and scrapped them with papers from the Dear Lizzy Happy Place line. I hadn’t been sure what I would use this line for until things were a bit more spring and summer here, but then I realised how much I love the greens in this collection. I need to go back and get more sheets of the green patterns. The shades are really lovely, and I am totally saying that the tropical fruit pattern fits perfectly with journaling about how I now can’t leave the house without multiple snacks in my bag. Even if on days when it’s packed this full, the snacks must be sturdier than tropical fruit. I’m still going with it.

Now I edited my photos because they were just a bit lacklustre from being taken so quickly, but Gretchen has a specific challenge situation she finds herself in not uncommonly. Basically because her husband is a rock star.

I love using my camera phone to capture everyday moments, or evenings out when carrying a full-sized DSLR would be a nuisance. I edit almost every camera photo I take with PicTapGo. With a few quick taps I can lighten, sharpen, and crop a picture and have it ready to post on social media or print for scrapping.

I struggled with the lighting in these photos that I took of my husband on stage. I played around a bit and decided to use the Metropolis filter, which converted the photo to black and white and sharpened the contrast.

With the distracting colors gone, I was able to pick my papers and get to work scrapping this fun event. I decided to use a star-studded background: Miss Kate Camping Overlays, cut on my Silhouette, and a mix of product from Shimelle’s True Stories collection and Simple Stories’ A Charmed Life.

I added emphasis to each of the stars by layering them smaller embellishments like Studio Calico wood veneers and buttons. After all, my husband is the star of my life.
-Gretchen

We’d love to hear what apps you love for editing photos taken on your camera before you scrapbook them! Even if you’re another PicTapGo fan!

Today’s Guest Artist: Gretchen Henninger loves knitting, hiking, and photography. You can find more from Gretchen on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and her blog.

Read more about: american-crafts

09 March 2016

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