As promised, there's more! In addition to the tips that Creative Memories has recently released to help you work with Storybook Creator 4.0 a little more smoothly, I've been thinking up a few of my own tips that have served me well for the last two versions, too.
First of all, when you begin a Storybook project or any project with multiple pages, I always suggest creating the initial project with one of the simple themes/packages. Look for one of the ones marked Basic, like Basic Black or Basic White. Or, if you know that you like the Click n' Fill types of pages, start with one of those. The simplicity of the backgrounds takes less memory than a package that builds a 20 page book full of elaborate papers and embellishments before the photos are even added. You can go back in to any project and change the selected themes and papers as you work through it, but starting light helps keep things moving more quickly.
My second suggestion is what I would term Power Layouts for Storybook. For any of you who have done traditional paper scrapbooking with Creative Memories over the years, you may be familiar with the concept of Power Layouts. When I'm preparing a storybook, I always sort and lay out the photos first throughout the entire book before I worry about the papers and embellishments for the page. Turning on the Two-page view in Storybook helps me to plan the book in two-page spreads. I prefer to rely mostly on Click n' Fill pages, and then I delete or move any items that don't fit with what I want to show.
I have also found that when I work on a large Storybook project, it's helpful to select only 25 to 35 pictures at a time to import into my project. Once I work through the first batch of photos, I remove any remaining unused pictures from the Photo list and import the next batch. This is SO much easier than bringing in 100 or more photos at one time. The list is easier to wade through and work with than a large one. Plus, not having extra photos included in the project keeps the whole file size down.
I hope these tips help. Until next time, Enjoy!
~ Deb