How long does it take you to make a layout?

breoni

breoni

GingerScraps Site Creative Team
Hubby asked me the other day how long it takes me to create a single layout. I had to tell him, it depends! If it’s a fun challenge page where the kit/template is already provided, I tend to spend about 30-45 minutes on those pages. For pages that are very sentimental or have a story I really want to capture, I can spend a couple of hours by the time I select the kit, layout, and which photos I will use.

So now I’m curious…. On average, how long does it take for you to create a page?
 
I agree with you. If I am in a hurry I can do a layout in about 30-45 minutes. If I am trying to do something new or have to sort through several photos or have not got my journal page written in can take a couple hours. When I first started scrapping it always took 3-4 hours a page. But now it generally takes less than an hour. If I spend a day on catching up on my daily pages I can get about 8 finished in a day.
 
Thank you for sharing. And that would be a great follow-up question. How many pages, on average, do you create in a day? For me, I work during the day, so I may get one done in the evenings. On the weekends, I may get 3-4 done in a day. When I attend a “crop” with friends, I will get 6-8 done…. But I usually spend time ahead of the crop to gather my photos and kits and I arrive with a plan! LOL!
 
Mine usually take 30-45 minutes as well. I usually do a lot of prepping beforehand though, I almost always use a template or sketch, and I'd say maybe half the time I already have photos and journaling in mind when I sit down to scrap. Project Life type layouts usually take longer, and if a page takes much more than an hour, I start getting annoyed at myself.

When I'm really on my game I can make one or two LO's a day. (lately I'm lucky if I get that many in a week). My most completed layouts in a single day record was years ago at an NSD online crop with challenges and I think I did 10 that day.
 
You will wish you hadnt asked me :), it takes me absolutely an age to complete a LO, at least a day working on it for hours, sometimes days, but many many hours. I tweak, I twiddle, I fiddle, I fuddle, I fixate, I nudge, I take out, I put in, I can honestly say I have never ever ever completed a LO in 30 mins like you guys and eight in a day??? OMG in my dreams!!! However, I admit to (mostly) enjoying all the fiddling and fuddling, sometimes I am having so much joy in the creation I dont want to let it go....
 
Jill said:
You will wish you hadnt asked me :), it takes me absolutely an age to complete a LO, at least a day working on it for hours, sometimes days, but many many hours. I tweak, I twiddle, I fiddle, I fuddle, I fixate, I nudge, I take out, I put in, I can honestly say I have never ever ever completed a LO in 30 mins like you guys and eight in a day??? OMG in my dreams!!! However, I admit to (mostly) enjoying all the fiddling and fuddling, sometimes I am having so much joy in the creation I dont want to let it go....
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So things haven't changed for you over the years. (smile) I remember you saying this sort of thing back in the days when we first knew each other years ago. And I must add: Your pages show the kind of time and talent it takes to make a page look THAT good. Each piece is a work of art; one that is part personal and one that is outstandingly professional. I for one think your method is admirable and often enviable. No matter how long it takes.

I say all this in a most warm-hearted way because I see this same dedication in my youngest granddaughter. I do believe she was born with an artist brush in her hand. My mom painted. My sister is a sketch artist who can take any photograph and hand sketch it into a lovely drawing. I dabble where my whim takes me and enjoy it tremendously. Sometimes it turns out fairly nice and I'm always surprise when others think so too. My oldest writes professional newsletters. Then came my first granddaughter. She can draw and write amazing short stories. My grandson also draws and builds things from odd parts...a design engineer in the making. And then there is Lizzie...who know where she will go with this talent. Her grade school teachers seek her out when they need a school mural. And she has just been accepted to a high school that has an excellent reputation in the fine arts.
 
I am a notoriously fast scrapper - Miss Fish can attest to that! LOL It usually takes me 15-30 mins and I'm done. I am highly decisive, so that really helps. And after so many years of scrapping, I know what I like in a kit and what I don't, so I don't fuss much. Someone has to really put something new that I've never seen before in a kit for me to fuss around. I gave up trying to use zippers, feathers, etc. a long time ago lol They never look right to me and I will just delete them completely from the kit.

Another thing that helps is I made a folder for the little things I like to include on my pages that not all kits have - neutral buttons, stitches, neutral paints, white flowers, etc. I don't use them on CT pages, but will add them to my album pages so they have the look I like.

I feel unusual because templates have always slowed me down, but seem to help others speed up. I try to use them more because they can be very interesting and helpful with a lot of photos. Those are the pages that lean more to the 30 mins. My pages that are heavily clustered take me the least amount of time because that's my comfort zone and after so many years of scrapping, my process is second nature.

No matter the time, as long as you enjoy your process, that's all that really matters!
 
catgoddess said:
I am a notoriously fast scrapper - Miss Fish can attest to that! LOL It usually takes me 15-30 mins and I'm done. I am highly decisive, so that really helps. And after so many years of scrapping, I know what I like in a kit and what I don't, so I don't fuss much. Someone has to really put something new that I've never seen before in a kit for me to fuss around. I gave up trying to use zippers, feathers, etc. a long time ago lol They never look right to me and I will just delete them completely from the kit.

Another thing that helps is I made a folder for the little things I like to include on my pages that not all kits have - neutral buttons, stitches, neutral paints, white flowers, etc. I don't use them on CT pages, but will add them to my album pages so they have the look I like.

I feel unusual because templates have always slowed me down, but seem to help others speed up. I try to use them more because they can be very interesting and helpful with a lot of photos. Those are the pages that lean more to the 30 mins. My pages that are heavily clustered take me the least amount of time because that's my comfort zone and after so many years of scrapping, my process is second nature.

No matter the time, as long as you enjoy your process, that's all that really matters!
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I'm curious then, since templates slow you down, do you have a bunch of go-to designs in your brain that you use? Or is it just an organic process?
 
hclappy said:
I'm curious then, since templates slow you down, do you have a bunch of go-to designs in your brain that you use? Or is it just an organic process?
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I'm a very organic scrapper in general, but not without some process. I do have a strong preference for photo placement in the center of the page with clustering/layering around it from there, so that is where I almost always start. From there, I just build around the photo(s) based on my mood, purpose (CT, album, just for kicks), kit contents, etc. I almost always start with elements and build clustery shapes from those things. Then I'll add the unique items I like in the kit and paints, paper layers, etc.

I try not to be TOO crazy for CT work when using templates so people can see the template design and not my mad scientist creation. lol I tend to keep most of the photo placements and paper layers the same, but I will sometimes remove a few of the photo slots and add journal cards, or another element cluster. I usually keep one element of a cluster for placement only and then I delete all the other layers so I'm free to cluster as I want and not feel bound to "put a leaf there".

That's probably why templates take me longer. I spend most of my time deleting all the layers. lol I really like them for photo placement ideas, though, and I love the masked photo templates - those are probably my favorite style of templates.
 
Tbear said:
So things haven't changed for you over the years. (smile) I remember you saying this sort of thing back in the days when we first knew each other years ago. And I must add: Your pages show the kind of time and talent it takes to make a page look THAT good. Each piece is a work of art; one that is part personal and one that is outstandingly professional. I for one think your method is admirable and often enviable. No matter how long it takes.

I say all this in a most warm-hearted way because I see this same dedication in my youngest granddaughter. I do believe she was born with an artist brush in her hand. My mom painted. My sister is a sketch artist who can take any photograph and hand sketch it into a lovely drawing. I dabble where my whim takes me and enjoy it tremendously. Sometimes it turns out fairly nice and I'm always surprise when others think so too. My oldest writes professional newsletters. Then came my first granddaughter. She can draw and write amazing short stories. My grandson also draws and builds things from odd parts...a design engineer in the making. And then there is Lizzie...who know where she will go with this talent. Her grade school teachers seek her out when they need a school mural. And she has just been accepted to a high school that has an excellent reputation in the fine arts.
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You have an amazingly talented family TB including your own artistic prowess which is evident in all your pages. Did you know that last year, you received the third highest number of Bakers Best nominations?

Thank you so much for your lovely words about my work...and no, not much has changed since way back in DSP days...I do have a faster computer now, that's one difference and I enjoy templates (even though the finished results invariably evolve on their own)which I never used whilst at DSP but I still take just as much time in the creation of a single page...I so much enjoy the creative process that I find it hard to ever say "finished". Maybe that's why I dont do CT work, having a timeline takes away from my enjoyment of the process. I CT'd for the first time ever after I won Survivor a few years ago, enjoyed it for a year but wont CT again.
 
Well, let me tell you! My first on-line digi scrap layout was for a speed scrap! I was the first one done in the allotted time! I was impressed with myself and hooked since than. As long as I have a kit and pictures picked out (and I have the time) I can complete a layout in 30 minutes or so. Being on CT teams helped me out a lot too because the layouts were time sensitive. One year I made over 150 layouts (maybe more, I don't recall).
Than I became a designer! Almost all my layouts at that time were using the kits I made. Doing this helped me in designing because I knew what items were lacking from the kit I was making. I used my favorite kits more than once!
When designing templates I tried to use each of my templates completing my favorite challenges doing so. I loved flipping and rotating my templates to show that it is possible.
Sometimes when I get lovely comments on a particular layout, I'd make a template out of it!
Nowadays, it takes me forever to get one layout done. Choosing the right kit and template to use with the photos I want to scrap. There is no rush because I have all month to do it for the challenge! LOL! Now, time is an issue. Working a full time job and a 6 hour part time job (which can be 10 or 13 hours some weeks if it is my time to work a weekend. I don't have time and my "old" body sometimes just wants to sit in the recliner with my feet up because they swell up sometimes. So now it may take 3 or 4 days to get one layout done. Choosing kit/templates/pictures that go together is the battle, getting the layout together is the easy part.
 
It looks like I fall in with the majority. It takes me about 30-45 min. if I'm working with a template, and longer if I'm free-handing it. I'm not sure why- it just does. And I'm lucky to have a family that largely leaves me alone while I do it (hubby doesn't get the use of elements- "why all the embellishment? just let the pictures shine, lol).
 
Oh, I wish I was a quicker scrapper! I can sometimes finish one LO in one sitting, but I often find myself starting one but not completing it until the next day. It's like I need some time to let it percolate, and the next day I can finish it.
 
I like to percolate too! Templates speed up my layout scrapping. I guess it depends on my mood and if I find the right photos/kit. I consider it great if I can scrap a layout a day.
 
I'm so grateful for all of the responses. Regardless if we are quick scrappers or we just enjoy the process of creating a lovely page, it's clear we all love this hobby! Thank you again for sharing! :)
 
I feel like I'm always right around an hour or so. Just kinda depends on interruptions and how much I'm 'feeling' the page. As for how many I can do in a day, probably 2-3. More if I don't have to stop multiple times to take kids here and there and pick them up. ;)
 
My quick one out half an hour, and I have some that took several hours. Most take around an 60-90 minutes. I'm a graphic artist by profession so I'm picky about how they look. I don't use templates but I scraplift A LOT - I've been known to use a template as a scraplift.

Since I scrap in inDesign, not Photoshop, it's easy to plop a layout on the bottom layer and other elements on the layer on top.
 
WOW! I use InDesign for newsletters, but I never thought about using that for the creation of layouts. I would love to see your process. I love the Adobe products. I use Bridge to batch edit photos, then Photoshop for everything else in digital scrapping.

slanger125 said:
Since I scrap in inDesign, not Photoshop, it's easy to plop a layout on the bottom layer and other elements on the layer on top.
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I’m very slow compared to all of you, and I think I’m a very decisive scrapper. I don’t fuss and muss much. I do use templates as I CT for Miss Fish and Connie Prince both template designers. I am a very linear scrapper though, and I think my time is spent trying to make layouts not look linear. That’s my old accounting spreadsheet brain coming out.
 
breoni said:
WOW! I use InDesign for newsletters, but I never thought about using that for the creation of layouts. I would love to see your process. I love the Adobe products. I use Bridge to batch edit photos, then Photoshop for everything else in digital scrapping.
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The biggest advantage is the file size. They are tiny compared to creating the same amount of layout in PS.
I can try to create a screencap video or something next time I have time. I'm a little busy with work right now. I work in a school, and the 8th grade yearbook has to go to press in the next couple of weeks!
 
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