Working in Stages

I'd always known that as I learned more and more things to do in Photoshop, I would stop imitating paper layouts. I'm at that point. The process of creating a fully digital style layout is different than creating a paper imitation. I break the digital task into different sections and steps.

I'm now creating what I call sub-images. I am working with separate files with layers, adjusting, adding and creating elements that I will eventually put into a layered layout. This makes me think I have learned something about using Photoshop. I've barely scratched the surface, but I tell myself that as a digital scrapper, I'm not a beginner.

It feels pretty good to be working like this. I have smaller units of tasks that I can finish off quickly or spend a lot of time on. I can substitute something as a place holder while I try to learn or refine a technique. I can swap out different versions to find the one that I prefer. I can save something that is at one stage and re-use it later.