If you enjoy creating your own page layouts using an external graphics program but lack the time and energy needed to create your own graphics you can easily download pre-made graphics kits to quickly customize your pages.

There are a variety of digital scrapbooking artists who sell kits of their graphics online or who allow you to download kits for free. For example, the graphics used to design the sample layout above were created by Heather Thompson and can be purchased from ScrappyDoodleKits.com.

Many digital scrapbooking websites provide free kits with custom graphics that you can add to your layouts. Signing up for the weekly newsletter is a great way to stay informed and to catch the new freebies as they are introduced. Remember, giving the authors credit when using their graphics is always important.

Some excellent sources for free and inexpensive digital scrapbooking graphics include: DigitalFreebies.com, ShabbyPrincess.com, FreeDigitalScrapbooking.com, PeppermintCreative.com, RakScraps.com, DesignerDigitals.com, and ABCWebWorks.com

Creating your custom page layout in Adobe Photoshop Elements you have purchased or downloaded for free can be done in just a few basic steps.

How to Add Pre-Made Graphics to a Page Created in Adobe Photoshop Elements

1. Open up the "File" menu in Adobe Photoshop Elements and select "Open." Find the graphic you would like to use for the background of your page and open it.

2. At the top of the page find the "Image" menu, open it, and scroll down until you find "Resize." Move the mouse over to select "Image Size."

3. Resize the image to 1280x1007 pixels at 300 DPI. Your page will now be the correct dimensions to use Picaboo when you have finished creating your page.

4. If you have downloaded a kit of products, you can open up other elements, select them, and drag them onto your page to decorate your page layout.

5. To add photos to your page go to "File" > "Open" and find the photos you want to add to your page. Once the photo is opened, select the photo with the move tool and drag the photo onto your layout.

6. Use "Ctr T" to resize your photos or elements to the size that works best with your layout.

7. Add text by selecting the "T" function. To customize your page select the perfect font, text color, and text size.

8. When you have perfected your layout, go up to the "File" menu and select "Save As." Select "Save as a jepg" and save your layout into a file on your desktop that you have named "Picaboo" so that it will be easy to locate your image later.

9. Next, open up Picaboo to create a new book or edit an existing book. If you are editing an existing book, click the "Get Pictures" button on the bottom lefthand side of the page. Locate the "Picaboo" file on your desktop (the file where you saved the layout you just created) and import the new layout just like you would import new photos.

10. Select the page layout in Picaboo that allows you to fill an entire page with one landscape photo. Then, simply drag and drop your new layout onto the page and it will fill the entire area.