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Is It Possible Digital Is a Little Too Perfect?
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So an interesting thing happened to me as I was putting together my Holiday Faves hybrid mini album last month.
If you read my first Holiday Faves album update post, you might have seen that my album and I got off to a bit of a rocky start…
I’m not going to lie – this little Holiday Faves album and I got off to a bit of a rocky start this weekend, due to some printing issues and my inability to punch holes on the proper side of the page, haha.
But despite that little non-digital reality check, I’m feeling good about how things are coming together so far.
Well the real story here is we didn’t just get off to a rocky start, we got off to an OMG-why-did-I-choose-to-do-this-as-a-hybrid-album start. The kind of start that seriously had me questioning why I didn’t just stick with my trusty Photoshop and digital scrapbooking since it certainly would have been whole lot easier.
You see, not only did I have to create this turkey page twice due to my not realizing that napkins are 3-ply and therefore would not actually stay glued down to the page…
But I also had to print and reprint…and reprint the journaling page on the right after my attempts at printing my journaling resulted in the text printing over the ribbon instead. Nevermind that my non-color test print came out just fine, of course.
Then there was this lovely photo of Adam which at one point ended up with text printed directly over his face. Not exactly the look I was going for, haha.
The final straw came when after finally getting all the printing, gluing and trimming figured out, I went to insert the page into the book and realized I had punched the holes on the wrong side resulting in the entire page being upside down in the album.
#hybridFAIL
Yes, give thanks indeed. I would have given a whole lot of thanks at that point to be able to crawl back to the safety and comfort of my beloved Photoshop.
But I pushed through and by the end I had completed one pretty sweet little Holiday Faves hybrid mini album.
Holiday Faves Mini Album 2011 from Lynnette Penacho on Vimeo.
Now let’s fast forward to this past weekend where as part of my Operation Home Sweet Home birthday goal, I decided to spiff up our office wall with some stripes, which seemed like a simple enough project…
…that it is until I actually started measuring, spacing, leveling and taping off the lines and realized this was a WAY more tedious project than I thought.
And as I measured and taped and fought with the level, the one thing running through my head over and over again was…
This would be so much easier in Photoshop.
Because really, how easy would it have been to draw out some shape boxes and fill them with the chosen color?! It would take all of what, 0.2 seconds?
But I pushed on with the project using you know, regular paint, haha, and despite some paint bleeding through the tape, which probably only I will notice (apparently I didn’t pre-paint over the tape quite enough), I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.
And once we get the office all put back together I think it’s going to look really cool.
But as much as it I hate to admit it, it took me a couple of days to get to that point. Because my first reaction when I pulled the painter’s tape off and saw the bleeding lines was…
These lines would have been perfect in Photoshop.
Which is more than a bit crazy, no?
I mean, life is NOT Photoshop. Obviously. I know that.
Yet there’s a little part of me that has gotten so used to the ease of achieving perfection in digital scrapbooking, like clean straight lines, perfect evenly spaced squares, etc., that it almost irks me a little bit when I can’t get that all the time.
And it got me thinking…
Are we as digital scrapbookers possibly too used to perfection?
Has our love of Photoshop spoiled us so much that we now set an impossibly high standard for what is and isn’t possible in the non-digital world?
Because if I’m being really honest, I kind of think it has for me.
I mean, this isn’t the first time I’ve thought “This would be so much easier if I could do it with Photoshop.” Or wished I could Cmd+Z (undo) something for real. Or recolor something in real life (although wouldn’t that be amazing? Just think of the home decor/fashion possibilities!).
Then again I’ve also wished I could Google something when it’s gone missing in my house so perhaps technology and I are just a little too intertwined, haha.
So I’d love to know…do you think your love for digital scrapbooking and/or Photoshop has blurred the lines of perfection in your real life? Have you ever wished you could Cmd+Z something? Or google the mustard? (Not that I’ve thought that before, no, never, hehe.)
Please tell me I’m not the only one, haha.
I love this post…it is really making me think.
Oh, everything would be so much easier in Photoshop. The things that I can’t do, I would suddenly be able to make happen. I know I would find a way! And a control z in real life would totally rock…or would it??
I am pushing myself to do more hybrid-y things this year. I only tried paper scrapping once and it was so hard for me! It took forever and the end product was not something that I was proud of. But I do love the hybrid albums you’ve put together. Maybe I’ll get up the nerve by the end of this year to try a hybrid December daily.
See I’ve wished for Ctrl+z in life many times, mainly when I’ve made a mess of something, haha. But then I kind of wonder too, would it end up being a total catch-22? Like would it set the bar so high that we’d all just be undoing everything to make it that much more perfect? I don’t know, it’d probably be both good and bad!
And yes, I never paper scrapped so hybrid is definitely a new adventure for me which is partly why there are those why-is-this-happening!! kind of moments, haha. But I definitely recommend trying it out – it’s a lot of fun too!
Oh my lordy, Lynnette, I need to respond to this with a blog post of my own! SO much food for thought here. That question can be extrapolated and expanded and just reflect on a lot of my choices in the last year 🙂 I WILL say, though, that I find really amusing that one of the trends (or maybe styles?) of scrapping is making it IMPERFECT. So paper tears and worn edges and uneven paper pieces, etc. 🙂 At least that’s what I’ve been trying for, lol.
Ha, I had the same thought as I was writing it. LIke, hmm, there are lot more places you could go with this topic than I thought, haha. Perhaps one day there will be a part 2…
I totally thinks it’s funny that we all aim to make digital pages perfectly imperfect. I know I do that, especially with drop shadowing. Adding a little extra shadow here and there to make it not quite so perfect. I wonder if it’s kind of like CGI human characters – where when they start getting too perfect they become almost creepy. Maybe we actually need a certain level of imperfection in our lives for it to seem real. Hmm, there’s something to think about…
I can completely relate to this! I was writing in my son’s school reading diary this morning, made a mistake and thought, “I’ll just sort that out when I scan it into Photoshop”! The lines between reality and technology are clearly getting blurred in my little brain!!
Glad to know I’m in good company! I know quite a few times I’ve been writing something out and thought, I wish I could just use my handwriting font for this. LOL!
Ha! This post had me laughing. I’m with ya all the way. Just before Christmas I decided to make some hybrid Christmas gifts and once I got to the glue part I sorely regretted starting the projects in the first place. Let’s just say there was a lot of time spent trying to correct some really big mistakes.
I think what Photoshop has given us is the perception of total control. If we want perfection, we can have that. If we want grunge and dirt, we can have that too. But we are *always* in control of the amount and the final look. As we all know, real life gives much less of that control. It’s frustrating for all those of us who are type A personalities for sure, and I do think that the whole concept of digi scrap, and the opportunities of technology does make us less patient and accepting of the imperfections and (let’s call them) challenges of real life.
Great post!
Aww, I’m sorry you had hybrid Christmas troubles too! Dang that pesky glue, haha. GREAT observation about the perception of control. That’s totally an awesome way to describe it! Great comment!
For me it’s more when I have to do something in another program. For example my mom asked to help her out with her paper sign of the special opening hours she did in the Open Office Powershop for the holidays. She wanted me to fix a few things in it. OMG. At the end I was: Ok mom, NEXT time you tell me in advance what you want, and I’ll just do it in Photoshop!” Also, I keep trying Cntrl + D to deselect fields in Excel. Actually I got mad at a lot of programs not responding to my PS shortkeys, before I remembered the particular program probably isn’t broken, but never was meant to react to that key…
As for the imperfection thing, I’ll share one of my favourite quotes by Scott Adams:
“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.”
I also can HIGHLY recommend the book “MESS” by Keri Smith. Every time I do a page in it, it really helps with my creativity and I just have more fun with it.
LOL, I totally do that with shortcuts too! I love that quote – I tend to be really hard on myself about mistakes so that’s an important thing to remember. It’s all part of the process! Thanks for the book recommendation!
Great post and so true. This year I was going to do my December Daily in hybrid. I ordered cool Christmas paper, cut them to the size I wanted and made a few embellishments. I dug out inks, and stamps, and other Christmas elements and had my work table covered. So December 1 hits, I take photos, and then stare at my table full of supplies. A minute later I am on the computer and have finished day 1 digitally. Next day same thing. For the first time in a long time I actually finished my December Daily in 25 days. After New Years I finally cleaned off my table, put my art supplies away, and thought maybe I’ll do hybrid next year!
I really like your idea about being able to google things that are missing in your house! I really need that. Lately, I’ve been reading most all my books on my Nook Touch and love it. The other day I was reading a real book and wanted to change the font size and I kept tapping the margin of the page to turn the page!
LOL, I read books on my iPhone using the Kindle app so I can totally relate. I haven’t tried to change the font size on a real book but it does kind of annoy me when I have to wait for a real book to arrive from the store. I love that 2-second instant download!
Love to hear that you found something that worked for you for December Daily. I think that’s the key to finishing that project – being honest about what works for you and embracing it.
HAHAHA! First I have to say your post was SO fun to read! It’s like you’re chatting with me, lol. I loved hearing about your oops with your hybrid project (you pretty much confirmed why I’m digi and not paper/hybrid, lol). I kept thinking “You poor thing!” ESPECIALLY after you finished and put the holes on the wrong side. Oh I think I would have cried. And I KNOW I wouldn’t have made it to the end – so pat yourself on the back, cuz you did awesome 🙂
And yes – I think in terms of photoshop (as it applies to REAL life) all the time! I crack up when I do something I don’t like and instantly go “Oh, just Ctrl+z it” and then realize “Dummy – it’s LIFE, not a computer, lol”. I did it the other day when I thought I was turning a shirt right-side-out and instead made it wrong-side-out (and twisted too – not sure how that one happened, lol). My brain when “Ctrl+z” … And then I LOL’d 😀
I wouldn’t say spoiled (cuz I couldn’t imagine my life without Photoshop! LOL) But it’s definitely ingrained in our brain pretty thoroughly, lol!! You are NOT alone! 🙂
Aw, thanks so much Jen! So glad you enjoyed my ramble-y-ness, hehe. And no, I didn’t cry but I was rather tempted at one point to throw it across the room, haha. Too funny about the shirt – I do that with spills – like NO, Ctrl+z, Ctrl+z (and yes, I’ve said it out loud, haha).
Oh boy I totally found that with my One Little word – I punch every 2nd page wrong and had to reglue the photos so many times!
Hehe, I’m glad I’m not the only one!
Very, very interesting philosophical post. I’ve been a “high maintenance” person from birth, so this is probably why I love PS so much (I’m on my way to learn the use of InDesign because the “primitive” paging of Word bothers me…). Never thought of making the connection between this simple fact and my low self esteem hybrid skills wise. Mostly I put together Birthday’s cards and calendars, that I consider poor attempts. I keep making this items, because my friends are surprisingly awed by and appreciate them. So there’s a significant gap between mine and the others perception of the final results. Must be that I compare the digital and the physical item.
PS lives in the enchanting realm of imagination, hybrid is plain crude reality. A dilemma I have to come to terms to, for my own peace.
Thanks for making me mulling over that need.
Yep, I totally understand that! I try to remind myself that they really are too different mediums but it’s hard sometimes!
OMG! You are a woman after my own heart! I’ve been using Photoshop since the dawn of time (1999!) At graduation for Graphic Design in my speech I joked “The only way I can draw a straight line is with the shift key.” Which, by the way, is the utter truth! Even with a ruler, my lines aren’t straight. My circles are nowhere near circle, my squares are lopsided and the worst part is I can tell if something is even a pica off! My family jokes with me that Adobe needs to invent a Photoshop for Life program that will take care of all of that for me! LOL So now I intentionally make things crooked, off, uneven, etc…to make it look like a design choice instead of a mistake.
Hahaha, oh man, that’s totally me. It’s quite sad when my 7 year old cousin has better drawing abilities than I do! Thank goodness for the computer LOL!