PE 2019 Scrapbook Features

[JHK49]

The Photoshop Elements 2019 was recommended to me through a radio talk show that this software would be  best for my next project of providing a scrapbook of my four children.  I have previously completed a family history book which took me about a year to complete and involved learning a new software tool .... the result was a 250 page book.

However, before I start this next project of a scrapbook for my children, I have a few questions to ask so as I am not wasting time (I don't have that much left) and money on the purchase/learning of a new software.  For some of these questions I think I have the answers already but I do need some re-affirmation.

1. I have already scanned most of my photos but I want the software to provide a method so as to organize my photos by date, person and event.

2. My skills don't include much of an artistic ability, I would like for the software to provide templates for different phases/events in life (birth, school years, birthdays, graduation, vacations, marriages, etc) that I could then insert the appropriate photos of my children.  As mention, my ability to create them is limited but I know what I like when I see it.

3. I plan on self publishing my scrapbook in both hardcopy as well as an eBook.  I would like the software to correctly number the pages and provide an index that would provide the page numbers for a date, person, event or other.  That is like showing page numbers wherever my first daughter is shown, under "events" show the page numbers for a person by type of event.  I would think that the software by itself could allow me to remove or insert pages as needed.

4. FYI ..... I know PE 2019 has great photo editing abilities, however, I don't see myself using that feature very often if ever.

I realize that I am asking a lot.  So, if I need PE 2019 as well as another software, do not hesitate to say so.  Or maybe, there is something else out there that would fill the bill.  I already own Photoshop Elements 11 (I have not used it yet) , but I don't know if it is robust enough to do the job.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

JHK49

[Greg_S.]

Elements Organizer has many tools to assist you with organizing your files by date, person and event.  It undertakes a lot of analysis to automate much of this task.  However, it also requires some heavy user input to complete the organization, particularly with scanned images since those files do not contain date and other information which makes the task more automatic.

There are a number of photobook templates which allow you to drag and drop photos into the pages.  These can be "printed" to PDF format, but they do not generate the type of indexing you are looking for.  This would require a more sophisticated PDF editing program.

Elements 2019 has also greatly improved the photo collage feature and has added a variety of new templates for creating them.  However, these are not what I would consider "scrapbook" pages with themes.  They are more different layouts for multi-image pages.

Having said that, I should add that many scrapbookers use Elements for their craft and there is a whole cottage industry of scrappers who create scrapbook pages and scrapbook "elements" for sale and use by others.