Review: Serif Digital Scrapbook Artist 2

Creating a scrapbook should be a fun activity, Digital Scrapbook Artist sounds more accessible than a dedicated desktop publishing program, and the start page certainly gives that impressions, but does it last.

The start screen leads to choosing one of five template kits supplied. More can be downloaded from the internet, some for a fee. Each template has another five layouts.

Once editing begins the interface is rather busy with lots of different windows.

For example, it took some time to work out how to replace the sample photos. The solution was quickly found in the help files. Photos should be added to the Photos panel and can then be dragged onto the photo frame. Photos are automatically rotated to match the frame, something we did like.

It's a shame that there isn't the same level of help as we found in PagePlus and WebPlus. Both of which include videos as well as PDF file excerpts from the full printed manaul.

For those willing to explore the options, there are some powerful tools. The stencils are good for arty effects. Drag and drop a stencil onto a page, then use the paint tool and then lift the stencil from the page. The experts will recognise this as using a mask but Serif deserve credit for making this very accessible.

Scrapbook pages can be printed, exported as a PDF file or uploaded to the Serif DaisyTrail website.

While it might not live up to the expectation of something as simple as cutting and glueing photos, Serif Digital Scrapbook Artist 2 rewards the time spent learning to use it and is a good way of getting impressive photo albums.