Previously I’ve written about my love of scrapbooking ezines. These are downloadable PDF files, and are often available via subscriptions. They are useful if you’re particularly wanting to read and receive inspiration from American magazines, and normally can’t actually get a physical copy of the magazines without spending an outrageous amount on overseas subscriptions and shipping.

Digital Scrapbooking has two such ezines available internationally also, plus an equally readable monthly ezine. Yes, for those new digital scrapbookers - there are two fully-fledged magazines now totally dedicated to your new pixel hobby - and both are available as downloads to read at your PC. Plus one monthly produced ezine available from a major consignment store.There are also instructional zines available for digital scrapbooking. Let me quickly discuss all your options.

The additional bonuses of downloading a magazine for your digital hobby are fourfold -
1. Generally a subscription for an ezine is cheaper than a physical copy which must incorporate the postage and handling charges
2. Ezine editions are available immediately, as soon as they are published. It’s just up to you to download them at your convenience. No waiting for months for an international version of a magazine or newsletter to turn up.
3. Ezines are yours for keeps, for ever if you so wish. They don’t create a pile on your bedroom floor which eventually you throw out. You can archive them to CD, and return to them again and again for inspiration.
4. Because this is a digital hobby, the digital scrapbooking ezines available generally  provide bonus goodies within the package - most provide some kind of mega kit of digital elements for download to subscribers, and most also give you tutorials relevant to your photo editing software of choice.

The Digital Magazines available in EZine Form

The Digital Scrapbooking Magazine

The first magazine which premiered in early Spring of 2005 was The Digital Scrapbooking Magazine. April Anderton has edited and produced this magazine on a seasonal basis since. The magazine is available as a physical subscription, or a downloadable ezine subscription from the website. Each edition is also peppered with freebie kits for subscribers, often created and gifted by some top digital designers. You can pay for the ezine version via paypal, and buy one copy, or subscribe for a year.

The latest version available is The Fall 2005 Issue, available as an individual download for US$5.99 (equates roughly to £3 mark). You can read more about this in a Scrapability Quick Look Review.

Digital Memories Magazine

The latest fully fledged Digital Magazine has been released by Jennifer Pebbles only this last month. Digital Memories Magazine’s premeire issue is available as a free download to try it out, and the first issue comes without any advertising, packed full of interesting articles, and certainly an inspiring gallery of digital layouts for the season.

For a further quick review of this premiere issue, take a look at my own review on Scrapability here. On this, you will see Jennifer’s comments also. It looks like readers will soon have the ability to submit their digital layouts to see these published in the new zine on the block also.

Scrapbook Bytes Tidbytes

Scrapbook Bytes, the huge consignment store, has long been bringing out a monthly ezine containing everything that many digital scrappers may want of a dedicated magazine. This is called Tid-Bytes and is available as a store purchase in PDF download format. You can subscribe to this monthly download, and an email will arrive at the start of each month giving you access to the latest ezine out. The ezine itself contains copious tutorials on many different photo editing software, and some always interesting articles on such things as seasonal digital scrapping, organisation of digital elements and layouts and photography, amongst many others. Additionally, for the subscription price, each edition provided many freebie downloads - from quick pages to full kits, designed for the ezine by the Digital Bytes design team members.

Instructional Ezines Available

If you’re wanting a bit of help there are plenty of ezines available for digital newbies. Take a look at UKScrapper’s tutorial area and you will find several Tutorial ezines available. I also subscribe personally to the Photo Elements side of tutorials from The Scrappers Guide, by Linda Sattgast.  Premier Members subscribed to this website receive monthly emails informing them of the next edition of the Scrappers Guide. It comes in either Photoshop Elements or Photoshop versions, and the download links include instructional movies, some element or backgrounds, and again, a PDF format file with instructions on a creating something digitally, based on the month’s theme.

November’s Premier Edition Scrappers Guide theme, as an example, is for mini books, and the instructions for Photoshop Elements subscribers are for creating some co-ordinated background papers.

Digital Ezines

Whatever your need and style-liking, there appears to now be an ezine out there for you. I would encourage you to take a look at these as a source of inspiration, and particularly as a direction that you may want to submit your work to. It would be very nice to see the great digital work coming out of the UK being published in these dedicted zines in the digital scrapbooking industry.

Originally published at UKScrappers on Tuesday 15th November 2005. Look Under Scrapmusings.