Copyright ©2012 by Wendyzine Scraps

All Rights Reserved. Published by The Daily Digi.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to help@thedailydigi.com.

Digital Design Quality Manual / Wendyzine Scraps — 2nd ed.

First edition, April 2012; Second edition, May 2012.

Graphics courtesy of Wendyzine Scraps and Amanda Rockwell and used with permission.

Dig

ital D

esig

n Q

ualit

y M

anua

l | 3

About The Daily DigiAt The Daily Digi, we are dedicated to bringing the you

the best in digital scrapbooking on a daily basis. The best quality products, the best resources, information, tutorials, and more so you don’t have to spend your time surfing and navigating the internet looking for it. Our daily posts include information, tips, techniques, motivation, and new ideas on various aspects of digital scrapbooking. The Daily Digi is completely advertising free and affiliate free: the products we recommend are here because we have tried them (typically paying for them ourselves) and like them.

Our revenue source at The Daily Digi is our membership program—The Digi Files and The Digi Game. Our members get over $50 of digital scrapbooking supplies, layout ideas, techniques, tutorials and exclusive collections for only $7.50 per month.

About UsSteph is the owner of The Daily Digi as well as

owner, producer and host of The Digi Show, a weekly scrapbooking podcast. She has been a passionate memory keeper for as long as she can remember. She loves seeing people “make their heart sing” through documenting their memories.

Studio Wendy, a.k.a. Wendyzine Scraps, is a graphic designer who sells actions, templates, tools and other time-saving resources at Scrapbookgraphics. Wendy is passionate about making tasks in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements easier through automation. The end result is saving time on the mundane or difficult tasks so scrappers and designers can spend more time doing what they love—scrapbooking! Wendy applies her decades of experience in the printing industry along with an established presence in the digital scrapbooking industry to this in-depth look at quality digital products.

Dig

ital D

esig

n Q

ualit

y M

anua

l | 4

Our PhilosophyAt the Daily Digi, quality

products are of the utmost importance. We promise our customers the best in quality digital designs, so it’s important that all products promoted through the Daily Digi meet the strictest quality standards. Here are the most common types of problems that we screen for when choosing our contributing designers. First, we’ll go through each of the most common issues, and then we’ll look at some handy resources that can help you implement a quality control process more efficiently.

(NOTE: All images used in this tutorial were originally of high quality and were altered for demonstration purposes only.)

How To Contribute to The Digi FilesWe are always looking for fabulous new designers to feature at The Daily

Digi. If you’d like to contribute a kit to our members, exclusive to The Daily Digi for one month, please fill out this application. We will download or purchase random products to check on quality. We would love to hear from you and are always looking for new-to-us designers as well as those that are well established. Designers’ whose products are jagged or have stray pixels will not be considered.

We love it when designers let us know that they would like to be a part of The Digi Files and we do give them priority. We also invite sponsors without getting an application from them. When we get applications, we keep them on file for…well…forever. No application goes unread, no designs unlooked at, and nothing will be deleted.

As we get ready to do quarterly invitations, we first look at design. Then we look at everything up close, far away, stroke it for stragglies, and sometimes even scrap with it. If a designer’s product needs improvement, we add them to a ‘watch’ list and each time we do invites, we will check them out again.

The next thing we look at after quality is the designer’s reputation and interactions in the forums, blogs, and social media to make sure their conduct is professional. After all of that, we consider who we have scheduled already so we don’t have too many designers from the same store or with similar styles or specialties. Finally, we email invites and start scheduling.

All of that (and so much more) is what goes into bringing The Digi Files to our members each month.

Dig

ital D

esig

n Q

ualit

y M

anua

l | 5

The Facts about Artifacts, Jaggies, Moire, and more!There are a few basic standards that the industry has agreed upon. Background

papers should be 12”x12”, 300 pixels per inch (ppi), and in RGB mode. When viewed at 100%, backgrounds should be free from artifacts, pixelation, jagged edges in patterns and blurry areas in textures. Patterns should align properly. Elements should be saved in PNG format at 300 ppi, RGB. When viewed at 100%, backgrounds should be free from artifacts, pixelation, jagged edges in patterns and blurry areas in textures. Scanned items of previously printed materials should be de-screened during the scanning process to remove moire. First, let’s define these types of problems, and then look at a few samples!

Artifacts: Discolored pixels that occur from using too much JPG compression when saving an image. Although most commonly seen in papers, this can also be an issue when scanning elements and saving in JPG mode. Every time you save a JPG and resave a JPG, you introduce more compression and risk the chance of more artifacts. Artifacts are most common in areas where two contrasting colors touch. Sometimes, returning to the original layered file and resaving a paper with a higher compression setting like 11 or 12 can eliminate those artifacts on high contrast papers. And, remember, if you need to resave a JPG for any reason, return to the original layered PSD or TIF files to make your changes so you minimize compression losses. And, try to save your papers at a compression setting of 10 or higher for best results. The images to the right show the difference between an original TIF texture and the same one saved with a compression setting of 1. The compression introduced artifacts or discolored pixels that distort the original texture.

Pixelation: Pixelation occurs when an image is sized up to a larger number of pixels than originally captured at (whether by photograph or scan). Beware of using textures or other items larger than actual size at 300 pixels per inch. The sample image shows the difference between the high resolution texture and one that was enlarged from 72 ppi to 300 ppi.

With Artifacts

Without Artifacts

Pixelation (right)

Dig

ital D

esig

n Q

ualit

y M

anua

l | 6

Jagged Edges: Jagged edges are the first cousins of pixelation. Jagged edges appear when pixelation occurs on the edge of an object. This causes a harsh stair-step edge on the object. This can also happen when trying to extract extremely small objects since there is just not enough pixel data to work with. If that happens, try scanning objects at 200% or 300% and sizing them down after extracting. Then add a little sharpening to spiff it back up. Check out the edges of the brad on the sample image and you’ll see that typical stair-step effect caused by enlarging an image beyond its original pixel data.

Moire: Moire is the result of scanning a previously printed item without de-screening it during the scanning process. When you fail to de-screen a printed item, and then reprint that item, an unusual pattern can appear depending on the printing process used. That pattern is called moire and is a result of the scanner detecting the actual cyan, magenta, yellow and black dots instead of the full pixel data in an image. De-screening removes that pattern and generates new complete pixel data. When you de-screen an image, you may be asked for the line screen. 150 is the standard line screen for most color printing in modern times. However, 85 or 133 were common options in the past. Moire is hard to demonstrate on the screen, but here’s an image that represents how the ink dots that are printed and re-scanned can create an unexpected pattern.

Jagged Edges

Moire

Dig

ital D

esig

n Q

ualit

y M

anua

l | 7

More Than Just a Pretty PixelWhen you look at the Image Size dialogue box in Photoshop or Photoshop

Elements, you’ll notice three main areas of importance: the pixel size, the document size and the resolution. All three are interdependent, so that when you change one, you affect the other. For example, a 600-pixel document can be 2” at 300 ppi or 75” at 8 ppi. Both documents are the same number of pixels. And, while Photoshop and Photoshop Elements will play nice with both files, some programs will not. Other programs will try to import that 75” version at 75”, causing the program to crash. So, remember! Image size is more than just the number of pixels. Be sure to check your resolution and have it set to 300 ppi.

Give It A Name, Not Just A NumberFile names can be a critical compenent of the digital scrapbooker’s filing

system. You can make it a lot easier for customers by naming files with a consistent design name, the kit name and a short description. If your customers cannot find your products when they search, they probably won’t scrap with them. So, take the time to name your files with meaninful descriptions. Then, use something like Adobe Bridge to add your designer name and kit name. Or, use a script like my Alpha Saver to export each element from it’s own layer to an automatically trimmed and named PNG file. A perfectly-named file would look something like this: designerinitials_kitname_itemdescription_color.extension or more specifically, wz_timeless_flowerblue.png. Taking the time to describe the item type and color will save your customers from having to rename every file. Give each little creation the respect of having it’s own name, and not just a number!

600px @ 300ppi

600px @ 2ppi

Dig

ital D

esig

n Q

ualit

y M

anua

l | 8

Stroke of GeniusElements should be free from stray pixels, both in the exterior areas of the

canvas, as well as in the open areas around an extraction. Stray pixels are very hard to see on their own. But, of course, there are some tricks to find them quickly and easily. You can put different colored backgrounds behind your image. Or, simply add a stroke! Set up several styles in your styles palette allowing you to choose between different stroke colors and widths. You’ll find some images will work best with a blue stroke, while others might need red. Small strokes can reveal many nearby stray pixels when zoomed in, while larger pixels may require a larger stroke to become easily apparent. Notice in the first image, the stray pixels are hard to see with a 1 pixel blue stroke, but change it to a 12 pixel red stroke and they become easy to spot! In addition, the second image shows the outlying strokes easily, but in areas where the images are close in proximity, the stroke will hide them. So, it’s important to check using both stroke weights. This is one area that customers really care about. So, be sure to keep those extractions clean! Just grab an eraser tool and touch up those strays.

Commercial Use Doesn’t Mean QualityThe most common response we hear from designers whose kits fail a quality

control check is that they used a commercial-use product. Beware that any time you use a commercial-use resource that you should check it out just as closely as any other item you create on your own. Look for jaggies, resolution, pixelation, moire, stray pixels, missing pixels, color gamut, focus and spelling. Do not assume, even if you purchase from a reputable designer, that the items will be flawless. Every designer makes a mistake every once in awhile, so check your resources when you use them.

Small Stroke

Large Stroke

Dig

ital D

esig

n Q

ualit

y M

anua

l | 9

ABCs and 123sThere’s nothing worse than getting ready to add the finishing touch to your

layout with a nice alpha-based title to find out that you’re missing a letter or number! Always double-check that your ABCs and 123s are in order. Also remember, although it’s not a requirement, that customers really appreciate having a full set of numbers and symbols to choose from. International customers especially appreciate when you include either their special ligature, or the symbols required to create them. Alphas can be tedious, so check out some of the resources in the back of this manual for creating, cutting and saving your alphas. It’s a great way to offer more to your customers without needing much more effort on your part.

Focus, People, FocusWhen photographing or scanning textures or elements, it can be challenging

to keep the entire object in focus. Sometimes, depth of field issues can cause some areas of elements or paper textures to get blurry. It’s not always avoidable, but the vast majority of your texture or element should be in focus. So, keep an eye out your scans and photos, and on any commercial use resources that you purchase.

Items Are Larger Than They AppearElements should be created at the actual size they are intended to be used at.

For example, a button should be created at an actual button size (ie. 1/2 inch) while a standard frame should be in the 5” x 7” or 4” x 6” range. Of course, these sizes can vary by element, but a button should probably not be 6”. That is probably out of proportion for most kits. Scrapping with your kits before release will help you know the appropriate size for your style. Of course, if you are creating a fantasy or art journal style kit that requires larger elements, that’s fine. The key is to create the elements at the size they are inteded to be used at.

Out of Focus

Dig

ital D

esig

n Q

ualit

y M

anua

l | 1

0

The Lost PixelSometimes, especially when working with extracted items, some areas of the

element get erased. It’s subtle, but it ends up leaving behind either missing pixels or transparent pixels. These are easy to spot when you place a stroke on the element. You’ll see a bit of the stroke color in the middle of the element where it doesn’t belong. The fix is also very easy. Create a new layer and place it behind the element. Using your magic wand, sample a color that matches the element as close as possible. Now, paint underneath your element. Merge the two layers and reapply your stroke test. Voila! The lost pixels have now been found! In the images below, you can see the original element where the transparent pixels are not apparent to the eye, the stroked element showing the transparent pixels, and the fixed element with a clean stroke of approval.

Bigger is Not Always BetterZip files should be kept under 100 mb each. If a zip file is over 100mb, it

should be split into two zip files. We sometimes forget in our world of high-speed internet and unlimited bandwidth that many customers are still on dial-up or satellite speeds, or have bandwidth limits imposed by their providers. Supplying downloads in smaller chunks allows customers to download as they are able and to spread it across their time constraints if necessary. If you use a shopping cart system that allows you to name your downloads, take the time to do so, especially if your products have several downloads. It makes it easier to determine what was downloaded and what was not. Finally, try not to nest folders within folders within folders unless necessary. Keep the file structure simple enough that it doesn’t require a flow chart to navigate.

Eye Cannot Detect Pixels

Stroke Reveals Pixels

After Replacing Pixels

Dig

ital D

esig

n Q

ualit

y M

anua

l | 1

1

Roll the Shadow Up and Put It Carefully Away In A DrawerDrop shadows preferences are about as widespread as opinions the best

digi stores to shop at. Every scrapper eventually finds their own settings and methods they are comfortable with. Some don’t care all and would love the designer to shadow everything for them. Some care more than they want to admit, spending more time on shadows than they do on the layouts. As we love to say at The Daily Digi, the only right way is what works for you! So, your best bet as a designer is to supply elements without any drop shadows. Of course, interior drop shadows are sometimes required to create dimension, as are exterior shadows on 3-dimensional objects. We highly recommend that you supply elements with no exterior shadows, and optionally, a second set of elements that have been pre-shadowed.

How do you create elements with interior shadows only? Here’s my favorite method which I have (of course) turned into an action.

1. Create your cluster or element with drop shadows applied as styles to each layer.

2. Select all the layers and place them into a layer group.3. Now, duplicate those layers. 4. Remove the drop shadows from the duplicated layers.5. Merge duplicated layers into one layer. (CTRL/CMD+e) 6. Use the merged copy to make a selection and apply that as a layer

mask to the group. 7. Now you can delete the duplicate copy8. Release the shadows from their layers and tweak them as you see fit.

The shadows will only show in the interior portions of the element or cluster. Save your PNG. Then, to save a second copy with your full interior and exterior shadows, just disable the layer mask (shift+click the mask) and save a new copy. Now all your customers can be happy!

Exterior Shadows

Interior Shadows Only

Layer Palette with Mask

Dig

ital D

esig

n Q

ualit

y M

anua

l | 1

2

Rainbow BrightGamut, simply put, is the range of colors that can be achieved on a particular

device. Gamut is a topic that has been widely discussed, and has several perspectives. I see it through the eyes of a graphic designer and prepress operator in the CMYK printing industry. Others come at it from the perspective of photographic print processes. Ultimately, it boils down to this. Your monitor can display many millions of colors. When you view an image on your computer monitor, you are able to see all the colors in the sRGB range because they are made by mixing different levels of red, green and blue light. Translating those colors to print, however, is not always a one for one translation.

If you send your images off to be printed into a traditional photobook, your images will be converted by the printer into cyan, magenta, yellow and black dots. This is called offset printing. When the tiny dots are viewed by your eye, you perceive a solid image. This CMYK method of printing cannot achieve all the colors you can see on your monitor. It has a more narrow gamut. Any color you see on your monitor that cannot be achieved in CMYK is considered out of gamut. The printer substitutes the nearest in-gamut color, and that can be drastically different, especially in the case of very bright or neon colors. Installing your printer’s ICC profiles can significantly improve color accuracy.

On the other hande, if you send your pages to a photographic processor, they will print using chemically-sensitized paper that is exposed to light to create the image. In this case, or in the case of specialized home printers that use 6-colors of ink (CMYK+Orange+Green), more colors can be achieved so their gamut is much wider. Color shift due to gamut issues are much less likely to occur with these printing processes. Most any RGB image will print accurately because the monitor’s gamut is the same as the photographic process’s gamut.

As a designer, you cannot predict how your customer is going to print their pages. If you want your kit to print well no matter what print method chosen, you may want to check to be sure your colors are in gamut. Check your color

Brite Color Out of Gamut

Convert to CMYK Reveals Color Shift

Dig

ital D

esig

n Q

ualit

y M

anua

l | 1

3

swatch before you get started. And, check your papers and elements when you are done. Sometimes, blending two in gamut colors can create and out of gamut one. Checking your colors is easy to do in Photoshop CS. Either convert your image from RGB to CMYK or use the Gamut Warning (CTRL/CMD+SHIFT+Y) to display out of gamut areas in gray. A huge color shift probably means the item won’t print well for some of your customers that choose to print in photobooks. Minor shifts may not be a big deal, but big shifts should be avoided. There’s nothing worse than spending $100 on a photobook only to find out your bright neon pages come back muddy because the kit was out of gamut.

The flower at left shows a beautiful bright purple flower. It’s lovely and bright on the screen. However, a quick jump to CMYK mode shows the color shift that would occur on CMYK printer. Restricting your color choices to the CMYK gamut will ensure that any printer can reproduce your designs exactly as intended.

Time for a TrimAs we all know, files sizes are already huge! Most of us require one or more

external hard drives to house our stashes and those gigabytes are increasing daily. In addition, large file sizes make a big demand on our bandwidth and store servers. So, it’s in the best interest of your customers and your store to keep those file sizes down! The best way to do that is to design your elements at an appropriate size and then trim off the excess canvas. However, using the TRIM command straight up from Photoshop can unintentionally clip off the outermost feathered pixels. To ensure that doesn’t happen, apply a 3-pixel stroke to your element, then run the trim command and clear the style. Or, better, yet, get an action and batch it! Saves time and gets you back to the parts of designing that you love!

Too Much Empty Canvas

Trim Clips Soft Pixels

Trim With Stroke Leaves Pixels Intact

Dig

ital D

esig

n Q

ualit

y M

anua

l | 1

4

ShadowsACTION: Hide Shadows {PSCS} by Studio Wendy

ACTION: Hide Shadows {PSE} by Studio Wendy

Alpha Makers, Cutters & TrimmersSCRIPT: Alpha Cutter/Alpha Saver by Studio Wendy

Document Cutter PSCS by Anna Forrest Designs

Document Cutter PSE by Anna Forrest Designs

Alpha Maker by Studio Flergs

ACTION: Trim It by Studio Wendy

Paint Shop ProQuality Check Bundle by Creation Cassel

Tutorials & ClassesQuality Control Tutorials by Karen Diamond Designs

The Art of Digital Design & Illustrator Classes by Jessica Sprague and Corina Gardner

Designer Essentials by SuzyQ Scraps and Chelle’s Creations

EBOOK: An Insider’s Guide to Designing by Studio Wendy

Here are some of our favorite resources for digital scrapbook design in general, and quality control, specifically. We hope they help you save time and improve your design process.

PodcastsCheck out these special episodes of The Digi Show and The Paperclipping Digi Show where Steph and several designers discuss digital scrapbooking design!

The Paperclipping Digi Show: Episode 16 – And Then A Dog Barked

The Paperclipping Digi Show: Episode 21 – The Digichick Talks Shop

The Digi Show: Episode 22 – A Well Designed Product

Quality Control ActionsACTION: Quality Check It by Studio Wendy

STYLES: Pixel Checker by Studio Wendy

ACTION: Erase It by Studio Wendy

ACTION: Erase It {PSE} by Studio Wendy

Quality Control Actions by Inspired by Dominic