Scrapbooking with Hipstamatic
So I fell in love with Hipstamatic in early April and started sending pictures to various friends with iPhones, and suddenly I found we were all ignoring all other cameras in favour of Hipstaprints. And then I started promising to blog specifically about scrapbooking with Hipstamatic, but got so inspired actually scrapping with these pictures that the blog post was maybe a long time coming. So without further ado, grab an iPhone and let’s get scrapping, Hipsta-style.
About Hipstamatic
Hipstamatic is my favourite of all iPhone apps, and in basic terms it turns your iPhone camera into something that is more like film. Of course, the pictures are still digital, but it uses the technology to give you digital equivalents of several kinds of film, different lenses and a variety of flashes, all which can be switched, mixed and match to get lots of looks. (And it’s seriously a huge number of looks. You can see them all here to get an idea.)
The app is only available for the iPhone and it only works as a camera — you can’t open a photo you’ve already taken and apply the effects like Photoshop. (Well, not without cheating, which we’ll talk about in a minute.) You have to use it as a camera to take your picture and wait to see what you get — like a film camera. Admittedly the wait is shorter than developing a roll of film, but you do have to wait: if you close the app before the developing process finishes, the photo won’t exist! Because you can’t fire off a shot every second or so, Hipstamatic makes you think just a little about how you take the picture — or you learn to get what you’re given! The waiting part of the app is part of the fun more than frustration. A cute little reminder to slow down and stop taking things so seriously.
If you want to scrapbook with your Hipstamatic photos, go straight to the settings and make sure you’re set to save high quality images. Higher quality does slow the app down, but it then saves images that will print without losing any definition. It’s limited by the quality of the camera in an iPhone, but if you think about it, there are just as many megapixels available in the iPhone as in many of the cameras we used for the first few years of digital-camera-mania. And those photos printed just fine.
The app has two main screens – the front and the back of the camera. Swap them by clicking at the bottom right corner. Changing the lens, film and flash is as simple as swooshing across your screen on the front of the camera and clicking the one you want. Or shake your phone to randomly choose a combination. When you view your prints within the application (click at the bottom left on the back of the camera) you can click on any picture and see what lens, film and flash were used, so if you find a combination you love by chance, you can go back to it on purpose. My current favourite is the Float film and the John S lens with no flash, which creates an aged look like this.
Ordering Hipstamatic Prints
I love ordering photos online and it’s my default way to make sure I have plenty of photos ready to scrap at all times, so printing Hipstaprints online was one of my first big questions. The answer is that they don’t just print – they print so very well! The images from Hipstamatic are square rather than the standard rectangle, so you will need to pay attention to the settings when you order your prints to get what you want.
I order my prints at Photobox and it’s super easy once you know what to do to get your square prints. Start by uploading your images, then select what you want to print and add it to your basket. There are a few options for square prints. Photobox offers 5×5, 8×8 and 12×12 print options that already a square format, so you can pick these from the dropdown menu when you choose your photo size and just add it to your basket and be done. (I have ordered them at 5×5 and the print quality is just fine. I haven’t tried 8×8 or 12×12.)
Or if you want a smaller print, select the 4×6 or 4.5×6 size and add it to your basket. But be careful – you need to follow one extra step. The default 4×6 setting will automatically crop your picture to a rectangle.
If you want it to be a square, go to your basket and click on Print Options. Your photos will then load as thumbnails and you can see how they are cropped.
Default cropping:
Shrink to fit cropping:
Click the box that says Shrink to Fit and then Apply Changes at the bottom of the page. This will change your prints so you have a 4 or 4.5 inch square on the print, like the stack of prints above. Then you can just trim off the extra for the square print.
If you’re in the US, Scrapbook Pictures makes it even easier as they offer square prints right down to 2 inches, so you can add the photos to your card then just select your size. Easy!
Printing Hipsta photos at home
Of course, you can print these photos on your home photo printer. I use iPhoto, so I tend to just select a bunch that I want to print and choose the 2×2 size or a custom size for any other size that would fit the project.
If you use Picasa, select your photos then click to make a photo collage, and you’ll be able to print several images on one sheet of photo paper. These photos look great at a teeny, tiny size that is handy for page designs with grids or that use photos as an embellishment of their own.
Hipstamatic cheats
So technically you can’t open an old photo and apply the Hipstamatic effects to a non-Hipsta photo. But you can open any photo on your computer, display it full-screen size and then take a picture of your computer screen with your iPhone. In fact, you can probably do that quicker than you can open it and alter the levels in Photoshop. That’s what I used to create this minibook with photos taken last summer, in life before Hipstamatic.
Or if you have a real preference for rectangular photos rather than squares, just select a film that has a minimal frame and print your photo at the standard 4×6. You’ll get the image and colour effect, minus the frame, in a standard rectangle rather than the square. (I may have done this by accident by missing a few ‘shrink to fit’ buttons and the prints are still definitely scrappable, just with a different look.)
Supplies: Patterned papers by October Afternoon and Pink Paislee. Die cuts and small letter stickers by October Afternoon. Large letter stickers by Bella Blvd. Transparency by Hambly Screen Prints. Tapes by Pink Paislee. Glass bauble by K&Company. Ranger Distress Ink, American Crafts pens and border punch by Fiskars.
Paper scrapping with Hipsta photos
So once you have prints in hand, the scrapbooking is the fun and easy part! If you love lots of pattern and embellishment, you can use just one photo and have plenty of room for open space and journaling. This particular image is one of my favourites so I wanted to give it a page of its own.
Supplies: Patterned papers by BasicGrey, October Afternoon, Cosmo Cricket and Girls’ Paperie. Webster’s Pages journaling card. Butterflies and labels by Jenni Bowlin. Letter stickers by Cosmo Cricket, American Crafts and Bella Blvd. American Crafts pens and border punch by Fiskars.
The square nature of the pictures makes them great for grid-based layouts, which can be easily adapted to clean and simple or something more embellished. I printed this particular set of Hipstamatic images at 1.5 inches all on one 4×6 sheet of photo paper and then used a square punch to quickly make them identical in size.
See more examples of paper scrapping with Hipstamatic photos here, here, here, here and here. And if you have more examples in your gallery or on your blog, please leave a link in the comments!
Supplies: Page template and papers from Shimelle Digitals. Travel and floral embellishments by Vinnie Pearce.
Digital scrapping with Hipsta photos
The images from this app are definitely the right quality for digital scrapbooking. Just open them in Photoshop or your preferred scrapping software and copy and paste them onto your layouts. I love this app for capturing random snapshots when you only have a few minutes or can’t bring along all your camera gear – hence these shots between trains in Germany and the six shots above from a long walk along the Cornish coastline. This digital page is made with a layered page template so it came together in just minutes.
Supplies: Template, paper and embellishments all by Vinnie Pearce.
Or if you want to draw attention to a favourite image, try a page design that leaves lots of open space on the page, like this template from Vinnie Pearce.
See more examples of digital pages with Hipstamatic prints here, here and here. If you have more examples on your blog or in your gallery, please leave a link in the comments!
So I reckon that’s enough of a resource post for now! I can’t wait to hear your ideas for what you would photograph and scrapbook with Hipstamatic. Please share!
And for those that don’t have an iPhone, please don’t throw too many tomatoes. I promise I don’t make those rules.
Learn more about Hipstamatic for the iPhone here.
xlovesx
Read more about: photography digital-scrapbooking-and-hybrid-scrapbooking
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19 May 2010, 09:50
Love the idea of using square photos, I dont have an iphone, but do have iphone envy!!
Thanks for the great detailed blog post
x
19 May 2010, 10:00
Well I am out of this one. No iphone here either. Great blog post still
19 May 2010, 10:03
I bought the app when you mentioned it previously- and i love it! My fave app (along with angry birds, lol) but this is obviously far more creative and worthwhile! Thanks for sharing the info. J
19 May 2010, 11:36
Love the Hipstamatic look but I’m iphone-less too :(
I’ve recently written a blog post about how to recreate the look in Photoshop though, if anyone’s interested. The Hipstamatic also has a very interesting history, you can read about it here.
Very inspiring LOs as usual Shimelle :)
19 May 2010, 12:08
I was going to blog about hipsta tomorrow..but I think I’ll send everyone here instead because I definitely couldn’t say it any better! I’ll still show my photos, though. Great post.
19 May 2010, 12:22
I just love my iphone & hipasmatic Apps :)
Love what you have done with photos i’ve yet to order pics :)
19 May 2010, 12:45
Love the Hipasmatic apps. Just wish I could get them on my cell… will have to look at all my apps. lol
Love the layouts as well.
Hugs
19 May 2010, 14:01
I love the hipstamatic, I use it more then my real holga. The Black Key’s film is my favourite. I’ve spent a lot my my time lately re-sizing the pictures so I could get them printed smaller as the one’s i’ve had done in 5×5 weren’t great quality. Thanks for the tip about changing the settings!
19 May 2010, 15:03
I didn’t really want an iPhone until now! A super cool effect for photos! LOVE it and your layouts are wonderful.
19 May 2010, 17:24
And now another reason I desperately want an iPhone!! Apparently I have to wait for my current contract to run its course :( Funnily enough I am scrapping Diana pics tonight – can’t wait to get this app one day though – very inspiring post.
19 May 2010, 17:30
Okay, so now I think I may have to save up for an iPhone, instead of a digi-slr!!
The layouts are lovely – I like your layered style, with the bright, summery, primary colours all together. They really show off the Hipstamatic photos well.
Great post, Shimelle – thank you!
19 May 2010, 17:56
Great post, thanks Shimelle! I think when I have the money to buy an iPhone, the Hipstamatic will not be of interest anymore…
19 May 2010, 20:30
Oh this has just been an awesome post Shimelle. Thanks for all the information on how to use the Hipstamatic app, especially on how to print them out. I’m hopping off right now to go and get the app and to start experimenting with it. And then to top it all off – you’ve made some BEAUTIFUL layouts. I love both of these so much!!!
Thanks so much for all the inspiration and information
xx
19 May 2010, 23:37
How cool is this?! Wow! Unfortunately, I don’t have an iPhone, but I do have a myTouch. Crossing my fingers they will come up with an app like this for it.
20 May 2010, 04:40
I’ve just got an iPhone and all I’ve done is take photos with the Hipstamatic and Camerabag apps! Loving it! Great tips about printing :o)
20 May 2010, 11:34
Shimelle I can’t thank you enough for this post which I read last night. I have had hipstamatic for a while but not got to grips with it. Today I took some fab pics of the kids blowing dandelions on the way home from school (there on my facebook page if you want a peek :)) Thank you for all the links and ideas here – they are fabulous!!
20 May 2010, 19:13
i love this! i just wish i had an iPhone, lol :) i love the square pics and the layouts you’ve done are amazing.
21 May 2010, 02:07
Thanks for taking the time to put this post together. Great examples. Just downloaded the app and can’t wait to play with it!
21 May 2010, 10:47
LOVE your layouts! And I will have to check out this app…I’ve never heard of it!
21 May 2010, 20:28
love the hipsta.
love my HD2.
now,the hipsta guys need to create an app for windows.
awesome post,shimelle!
xo,a
22 May 2010, 11:13
There are other ways you can get non-Hipstamatic images with the same affect. The iPhone apps Swanko Lab, Lo Mob and Camera Bag will all do something similar to existing photos. Cross Process and Shake It will also pull images from your camera roll :)
23 May 2010, 00:37
This is really cool, Shimelle! I think I’ll have to steal hubby’s IPhone and start playing…
23 May 2010, 10:29
Great app. Going to download it and try it now. Thanks. Cheers jake
26 May 2010, 11:58
http://www.flickr.com/photos/michellelovesallsorts/
Here are some of my pics, I hope you like them! This is my fav app!!
28 May 2010, 08:44
Wow your scrapbooking and photos are so beautiful. I wish I had an I-phone to do this but I will play about with photoshop. Also love that you went to Cornwall on one of your pics – its a great place!
Love
Aimee
x
30 May 2010, 00:13
I bought the app and love it. I’m going to do a layout with pix I took at an outdoor event today. My regular camera had a low battery but then I remembered the app and had some fun with the settings and can’t wait to play with the images. Thanks for the info on such a fun app! Another fun app is the Photo Booth+.
31 May 2010, 08:38
Thank you so much for explaining this app. I bought it last night and have had so much fun with it!
20 June 2010, 23:08
I am revisiting this post today. I have totally been loving the hipstamtic app, mainly because i have just been able to take different and artistic photos with it…anyways, I have a post my layouts :)
14 July 2010, 04:03
Great post! I love Hipstamatic and this has given tonnes of great ideas and information!
19 July 2010, 00:38
I stumbled upon this post and love the idea. I love the Hipstamatic app (except its pretty buggy and slow). I’m thinking about using this idea with my ShakeItPhoto app pics. Great idea, thanks for the inspiration. =)
25 November 2010, 08:23
Thank you so, so much for this blog! :)
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5 December 2010, 23:55
I love this App, and what you did with it is beyond cool! Thanks for the inspiration as always!
9 December 2010, 00:29
hey Shimelle, this may be a stupid question but how do you get your hipstamatic photos into iPhoto?
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6 May 2011, 09:37
I just wanted to mention that for Android users, there is an app called Retro Camera which works like Hipstamatic. The other Android possibility is Vignette, which lets you not only take photos in app, but also import regular photos & apply filters.
I remember reading this blog entry before I had the Android and wondering how I could replicate this with the phone/camera I had…but then I switched to Android and found Retro Camera! :) Great article; Thanks!
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3 October 2011, 23:02
If you want to get the Hipstamatic effect in Photoshop, you should check out: http://www.misterretro.com/filters/retrographer
It does what Hipstamatic and Instagram do.
25 October 2011, 17:13
Great post! I just wanted to chime in and mention that you can now get your Hipstamatic or Instagram (2.0) images printed at larger square sizes and then mounted to cool substrates like aluminum, acrylic and bamboo at a site called Bumblejax. Here’s a link to a page with more info. http://blog.bumblejax.com/hipstamatic-instagram-photos-gallery-art-prints/
10 February 2012, 09:14
It looks like Scrapbook Pictures is out of business. I just wanted to comment that I received some photos printed by Adoramapix and they are top notch.
12 November 2012, 20:19
and so it often is among members of the same family.
21 November 2012, 19:25
larger square sizes and then mounted to cool substrates like aluminum, acrylic and bamboo at a site called Bumblejax. Here’s a link to a page with more info. http://blog.bumblejax.com/hipstamatic-instagram
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