Who uses templates?

Jill

Jill

Sugar Cookie : GingerScraps Praise Team
Do you?? Do you not??

I would be interested to know how many people use templates. Do you use them ALL the time or some of the time or never? They are so popular and there are so many lovely ones instore and all over the internet.

I am a sometimes person, almost a never. I might use one to do a template challenge, or I might use only a particular part of one. When I first became aware of them many years ago, I was using an early version of PSP and had a slow clunker computer. Templates were a nightmare then, freezing my computer all the time and making the whole LO creation twice as long (and that is WAY long for me) so I have never got into the habit of using them. However, if I am doing a scraplift or a sketch challenge I sort of make my own for the purpose of the LO...for instance I drag the sketch or page I am lifting into my new document and size it to fit my doc. Then, using the selection tool, I trace over each specific shape of paper mat, photo, paper strips etc filling them with a different colour as I go and placing each on a separate layer then I use that as a base to commence my page.

I would be interested in hearing what others do:)
 
LOVE templates! I used to create them for a couple sites [now closed]. They just help my brain move faster [at times]. I love to CT using them.
I'm also quite able to get the page done on my own.
But with so many photos to get scrapped.....
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I use templates about 99% of the time! I very RARELY create a LO without one. I love that it gives me a base for creating my LO and I don't have to wrack my brain as much (I do it enough picking a kit or photos! LOL!).
We have some AMAZING template designers in the store!!
 
Like Tammy, I am a 99%-er. I love them and use them most the time. I do like to tweak them or even combine them. I love that they give me a start. With the hundreds that I have now, I can look thru and pick something that works for the style that I am looking for.
 
I use them almost every time I scrap a page... Of course, I don't always keep them the way they are, I put my own personal spin on them :) Templates are big helps!!
 
I also use them all the time. Sometimes I will combine parts of two or three that I like. I'm a very slow scrapper as it is and choosing what I'm going to use with the template takes me long enough :) I haven't been here very long but I've already added LOTS of templates to my stash LOL
 
I'm about 50/50. I love templates for the cropped papers - if I don't use a template my layouts usually have less paper blocks because I'm too lazy to cut them out. I will often only use the paper blocks on a template and delete everything else. Sometimes I'll only use the photo placement and delete everything else and sometimes I'll actually use the whole template.
 
I use them for almost every LO. I do a lot of CT pages, and if a collection comes with a template, I always try to use them.
 
Pretty much all the time :D But rarely do I use them without making them my own - either adding or deleting or combining photo spots, etc. One reason COlleen & I started selling them ;)
 
I'm in the minority. I use templates only about 2% of the time unless it's for ct work and my designers make them.

I love the idea of templates and there are some amazing designers here, but I tend to do more artsy pages and like to experiment on my own.

I've seen some extremely beautiful layouts done with templates but I just prefer to do it myself.
 
I use them for most everything I do. It does take some of the thought out of making a layout. Like others though, a lot of the times I change them up. Rotate, flip, etc. I guess I still don't have enough confidence in my creativity to stray away from them too much.
 
A very long time ago I never used them. I always felt like it was cheating. Then when Rach Asked me to be apart of her team when she first started and said she was going to focus on Templates I said YES and I was like Finally I can use templates without feeling bad. Now I use them 99.9% of the time! Love them!
 
Once I discovered how to use them....I use them 75% of the time....I can do without but I think they spark my creativity I dont think they save me time but I like to make them my own :)
 
I love templates and almost always use them! I especially love the templates with lots of layers like Tinci's, or cool shadows. Things I can't do on my own with PSE!
 
I use them on almost every layout I do. I love, like many others said, that it takes a lot of the guess-work out of it and definitely speeds up the process! I love how versatile they are, too! I love that we have such awesome template designers here that have different styles...makes for a great variety!!
 
I'm a template addict and can't stop collecting and making them! I use them about 70% of the time when doing a layout just for a jump-start. If I have plenty of unrushed time to scrap, I enjoy doing a layout from scratch. Often I will take my scratch layouts and make them into a template for later.
 
quilter said:
I also use them all the time. Sometimes I will combine parts of two or three that I like. I'm a very slow scrapper as it is and choosing what I'm going to use with the template takes me long enough :) I haven't been here very long but I've already added LOTS of templates to my stash LOL
Click to expand...

Meet another slow scrapper:) I have a lot in my stash too...I really must try to get into the habit of using them...I complain about being slow but I think the truth is that I just like pottering:)..I know that sometimes I am having so much fun working on a LO that I am reluctant to let it go to the ether and keep on finding things to tweak..oh dear:(
 
JustTrace said:
I'm in the minority. I use templates only about 2% of the time unless it's for ct work and my designers make them.

I love the idea of templates and there are some amazing designers here, but I tend to do more artsy pages and like to experiment on my own.

I've seen some extremely beautiful layouts done with templates but I just prefer to do it myself.
Click to expand...

We are a minority of 2 on the "hardly ever" scale so far:) I think I will set myself a goal to use them more often....
 
I don't use them all the time. I like to take parts from one template and combine them with another and essentially make my own. I guess I'm just weird like that.
 
Sometimes. Maybe 50-50. I do alter them a bit because I don't like my creativity to be hindered in any way although they are a great starting place sometimes. I do use them often for CTing as it does help me to move a little faster but quite often I find they can stifle my creativity. I usually move my elements around and don't follow the template 100%.
 
99% of the time here too. I will make a template just to scrap from. For some reason my brain has decided it only works with the composition in front of me to scrap. When I first started scrapping in 2008 I never used templates. I think I still had some good pages but I also has some all over the place pages. The templates keep me focused. I also learned a lot about shadows when I first started using templates. I would click on the effect and study what settings worked. It helped me understand that things like leaves looked better with large soft shadows and stitches needed to stay closer to the page.
 
I don't use template very often. I use them if they are included in a bundle or when CT'ing or for template challenges. I sometimes get tired with templates because of all the paper layers. Other times I like templates if my mojo is down.
 
I use them about 75% of the time but my layout often does not look like the template when I am finished. I flip them and turn them, take pieces out and add pieces to them. I am like you Jill, when it comes to scraplifts. I create a template from the layout or part of the layout and go from there.
 
Thank you for all the replies, girls. It is very interesting to read everyone's views on the topic. I have set myself a goal to use them more often and completed a LO using one yesterday that I like (prior to this one, a few found their way into the recycle bin never to be recycled:))
https://gallery.gingerscraps.net/showphoto.php?photo=228509&title=lily&cat=911
I did struggle a bit with all the layers containing every little item of leaf, flower, stem etc. so "invisibled" them but I had fun overall and I will keep trying.....but it still didn't prevent me from tweaking things to the tiniest degree so the process was no quicker in the long run:(
 
Jill said:
Thank you for all the replies, girls. It is very interesting to read everyone's views on the topic. I have set myself a goal to use them more often and completed a LO using one yesterday that I like (prior to this one, a few found their way into the recycle bin never to be recycled:))
https://gallery.gingerscraps.net/showphoto.php?photo=228509&title=lily&cat=911
I did struggle a bit with all the layers containing every little item of leaf, flower, stem etc. so "invisibled" them but I had fun overall and I will keep trying.....but it still didn't prevent me from tweaking things to the tiniest degree so the process was no quicker overall:(
Click to expand...

Beautifully done, Jill! ...even a Baker's Best nomination! Congratulations! I think you have to work with templates in a way that works for you & your style. If it helps you to hide the layers, do it. And, remember, everything in the template is a "suggestion" you don't have to use it all, or even use it the way it is. Sometimes it just gives you an idea and helps with the flow. :)
 
I've been all over the place with this. When I first started scrapping, I saw templates as "cheating" and I never used them. I don't know why - but yeah, that's how I felt. I continually hit scrapper's block and couldn't figure out why that kept happening. I left the community for a long time, and when I came back, I was still not sure how to scrap the way the community had gone. So, I bought a template. LOL

It helped me to get my mojo back and then I started to see that all my layouts were looking formulaic, so I stopped using them again. When my friend told me about GS in June of last year, I came back ready to go without templates. I found some really great templates (Dagi was the first I dived into) and started using them almost all the time.

Enter the "Survivor" contest - where I did everything from scratch. That really opened things up for me and I started to do more of my own designs again. Finally, I joined a CT who's designer asked that we NOT use templates, and now I'm about 50/50. I enjoy using templates, using them as bases and moving things around, and doing fully my own design.

I think templates are super cool and they have helped my layouts and my design tremendously and I will always enjoy and use a good template now!
 
Update on this post:)....4 months down the track, I am now a "most of the time" user:36_1_33:and really enjoying using them.. The finished product doesn't always look like the template but I have found them to be a great starting point, especially if I am struggling to get a LO to "go". I now have quite a stash of GS templates:)
 
Although I can and have scrapped without a template, I do prefer at least a starting point to work from even if I do end up modifying it to meet my layout needs
 
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