How do you know when to stop?

[kikimama]

I'm loving digi scrapping, but coming to realise that one of the best things about it is also the hardest.

How do you know when a LO is done? Are you tempted to go back to fiddle with it? Maybe try another paper or move the title? Or do you stop once you've uploaded to your gallery?

So many questions.

[hguenthe]

Still working on that one... no answers for you here, sorry.

If you haven't yet, next time Cassie does a 30MM (30 minute masterpiece) chat, you should definitely try to attend.

I find that her rules and the time limit has been a great help to me in going with my gut feelings and just doing what impulse first says.. you don't have time to second guess yourself and amazingly, often end up with a layout you are happy or really happy with. I find I get some of my best journaling on those pages too because you just go with what your heart says and don't second guess how to say things, you just do.

But, I am going to rework the LO I did at the last 30MM because I am pretty happy with it but ran out of time cause I spent most of my time on the journaling. I am going to give myself another 30 minute time limit to make any changes to it and when time is up, it will be *done*.

[Steph]

I find that I just know. I'll get to a spot when I start taking things off the page, rather than adding and then I know.

When I look back at old layouts, there's always something I want to change, but I don't. Unless there's a typo and then I'll go back and fix that.

[kathie02]

Originally Posted by Steph

I find that I just know. I'll get to a spot when I start taking things off the page, rather than adding and then I know.

I concur with steph here, and I never go back and change anything other than a spelling/typo error. If I do think of an idea to make a page better I just jot it down as a reminder for a future layout.

[LauraBean]

I'm a lot like Steph--if I find myself taking things off a page, I'm probably done. And I don't really have the patience to keep fiddling beyond that point. I only rarely adjust a layout once it's uploaded (I did do it recently, when I found a pice of word art I had forgotten I had and realized it would be perfect for a layout I'd recently uploaded--but it's a rare occurrence).

I do have layouts I can't quite finish--but I can tell that they're unfinished and they don't get uploaded. I may or may not go back to fix them up--often, I've just tried to do something with a photo I love, but I don't really have a good idea of how to present it, so it doesn't do anything for me, and I give up until another day.

[anke]

I agree with the above, once it's done I am done with it. I won't change old LOs either. Just move on and learn

[kathleen.summers]

Ok, I'm laughing here because I just started digi scrapping this week, and I'm already facing this issue, lol.

As soon as I posted my November layout for my Year in Review, I knew it wasn't quite right. I changed out the thing I didn't like, and now (as Steph mentioned) I "just know" it's done. No more tweaking.

Though I did go back to Dec. after I did Oct. and realized I hadn't changed the orientation of the numbers on Dec. So now Dec. is done too.

[mugsbigsis]

I'm like Steph and Kathie. Some layouts take 30 minutes (not that many I admit) and some take days for me. I do know when I'm done though. I am completely satisfied and I never go back except when a wonderful gallery person PMs me and tells me that I have a typo (thank you to those who do this for me). There are WAY too many new layouts and new ideas to move on to to be going back and changing pages that I've already done.

[Starlite9711]

Im with everyone else here, for the most part, once it's uploaded, it's done. But some take me hours and some take days and days. Some I have to come back to a week or two later. But once I know it's done, it's done.

[carollee]

I get to a point where I think I might be done, and I make my image small, almost thumbnail size and look at it like that, as if I'm looking at it from afar. If it looks balanced and complete, then I'm done. If it looks kind of empty or askew, I can go back and work on that area.

[esther_a]

I'm a bit like Carol, but I often forget to view the thumbnail size until I see the thumbnail in the gallery! I often change things

[teeleedee]

Once I've posted it to the Gallery, the layout is done, unless i found a spelling error, which happens a lot. I make sure I don't post unless I'm sure it's done. Sometimes I walk away and then come back to the layout, if I feel satisfied with it, I post it.

Tara

[AllynD]

A while ago I posted a quote, and now I can't remember who said it, but it was something like, artists never really finish works of art, they just give up on them.

[oldvwblues]

Sometimes I don't know when to stop! The greatest fun for me is using as many different things as I can and trying to make them all work together. But you can just tell when it's finished...you get this feeling of satisfaction I guess is one way to put it. I never redo one and have to really really be careful with the journaling because my typing is terrible! Sometimes I remove things and replace them just experimenting...but you just know when it's finished.

[Kirsty85]

Like a lot of the others have said, I 'just know'. Sometimes I sit for ages wondering what else a page needs, and it could be something as simple as a staple or a button, but I do get to a point where I just know I'm happy with it.

I dislike most of my older layouts but I very rarely go back and change them because I like to see how far I've come since then, and how my style has developed

[kikimama]

Thanks for the replies,

I guess I'll develop that skill. It is much simpler with paper, once it's stuck it can't be unstuck, but I am more decisive with my digi LOs as it's less important if I cut a paper then decide I don't like the result.

[jazzmatazz]

LOL! Guess that's why I don't make the "big bucks" ! ;-) I've got two or three LOs in my "Pending file" each of which have two to three different versions. I keep messing until I'm satisfied or tired of looking at it; illusive "perfection" being the enemy of "good enough" in this case.

[Britgirl]

I find the secret to digital - where, you are very right, it can all be altered and redone and redone and redone.... is too not think so hard. do something that you like, take one hard look and say yes thats nice. and then move on. So many pages to be done, so many ideas and thoughts to try on the next layout, and the next layout...
Helps to remember its not a thing you can get 'right or wrong', its just you saving memories for yourself

[LisaD]

I struggle in the pixel realm also with when is it enough. Although with paper, I usually display a "finished" layout. And as I walk past in the days to follow I either know or know what I'm going to change/add/delete. I like the thumbnail idea. Maybe I should print a draft of my digi layout to do the same thing as my paper.

[Kayleigh]

Sometimes I just know when it's done, but usually I keep trying to add more stuff & find myself taking away - so that's when I know its done. I am just working on saving pages for a shutterfly book, so I'm tweaking pages here & there. (Adding dates, journaling or slightly moving things around to make them complete.)

[cheska99]

Knowing when to stop is a major question for all artists, working in digital media or not. It's called "restraint" and it's tough, because you have to develop confidence in yourself and in the idea that less really can be more to use it properly. YOu may experience it with fashion accessories, too. I've often heard that you should dress yourself up with everything you want to add to this outfit, and then you should keep taking things off until you get to wear you couldn't possibly remove a thing without ruining the effect. That's when you know to stop.

[muddygirl]

I'm so glad you started this thread. I am constantly struggling to find a balence in my LO's. I either think they have too little or too much. I get stuck then and save them and move on to something else, hoping that i'll either find the product, learn the skill or an get an inspriation that will help me finish them. I only post a small proportion of my LO's cause thats all I get finished and are happy with. Thinking about it now, I think I use the "removing things" technique too.

Re typo's and bad typing.... I am a really bad speller ( terrible trait for a teacher I know) so after i have finished my journalling, I copy it and paste into Word to get an easy spell check.

[kikimama]

Oh yes, I'm finding the typos a major problem.

Before this when I was paper scrapping I hand-wrote my journalling 99% of the time so it wasn't an issue. I should write what I want in a text document, then paste it across, but I'm too impatient.