Tutorial: Organizing, Downloading, Unzipping, and Using a Freebie (or any zip file)

For details on using freebies with your specific program, click here.

If you are just starting out with digital scrapping, you will miss out on far too much if you are unclear about how to download, save & unzip files. In the Freebies Gallery we have fabulous stuff all waiting for you to download & enjoy using on your pages. This tutorial will soon have you downloading like a pro!

Before we start clicking on links though, and because the best time to start being organised about your files is now, we will first make a place to keep your files.

In order to get there

Go to “Start” (probably at the bottom left hand corner of your monitor) and right click with your mouse.
Choose “Explore”
This will open up your Explorer menu ( like is like opening a book at the index page)
Find the words “My Documents” and click on them, they will now be highlighted.
Go to the top of the screen & click on File > New > Folder.
A new folder will appear, called “New Folder” – name it “New Downloads” and put ALL your new stuff right there, so you know exactly where it is & to keep it together. As long as it is in ONE place, not all over your computer, in a while once you accumulate a bit you can start sorting it out into categories.

Now, go to the Digital Scrapbook Place home page,

Make sure you are registered with DSP and if you are, then also make sure you are logged on - then you can download your first Freebie!
Whilst on the home page, at the top of the screen, under the words “The Place” click on “Gallery” then scroll down your screen and you will see “Freebies for Digital Scrapping”
Click on the highlighted bar that says FREEBIES GALLERY, scroll down, there are a number of categories below the line up of the newest freebies.

Downloading zipped files

Click on a category of Freebie that you want, a new gallery opens up.
Then click on the thumbnail of one that takes your fancy, to open that file (just as you’d do if you want to comment on a LO).
Under the picture you will see a bar entitled "Photo Details" and within that a download link - you will know that you are in the right place if your cursor turns into a pointing hand, DON'T try to save the thumbnail!
Click on the download link and you will get a screen asking if you want to open, save or cancel this file – click on the word “Save”.
Click on this link to start the download process

You will then get a screen asking where you want to save it – in the dropdown box at the top browse to your “My Documents” folder and double click on your “New Downloads” folder, then click the word “Save” and the download will begin.

Once this is complete it will be in your brand new “My Downloads” folder – to get there follow the steps under “In order to get there:” above. It is probably zipped & needs to be unzipped in order for you to be able to use it.

Unzipping files

Double click on the zipped file (looks like a little yellow filing cabinet, held together with a clamp) and they should open up in a little file as in the screenshot below.
If is does not, it means that you do not have an unzipping program installed – search for an unzipping utility such as Winzip.
Windows XP users, click here.

Hold down your shift key and highlight them all and click on the “Extract” button as shown, and hopefully you now have a set of files waiting to be used on your page.

Windows XP users can simply right click on the zipped file and choose Extract.

To use your unzipped files:

Right click with your mouse, select “Open With” and from the dropdown list select the program with which you scrap – in the screenshot below I have selected Photoshop CS.

Once it opens in your program, it is simply a case of edit > select all, edit > copy & then pasting to your page.
Go through the same steps to open any other files in the folder which you wish to use.

If you have downloaded a Freebie which is connected with an on-line event, there is every possibility that it is password protected – you will soon know this, as when you click on it to unzip it will ask for a password. These passwords are generally ONLY given out during that particular event.

Once you get the hang of it downloading is such fun – just a word of warning though. Get a good system going & keep yourself organized from the start – before you know what has happened you can end up in a merry muddle with so many files you don’t know what to do! Organizing Digital Files will give you lots more info on this.

I would also suggest that you work your way through the Tutorials.

I do hope working through this tutorial will give you the confidence to master downloading. Should you have any questions there is a forum at DSP – post your questions there, there are so many helpful members just waiting to help you out.

Note: For Macs, you need StuffIt Expander. You can download it for free at www.stuffit.com. This program can handle both Mac stuffed files and PC zipped files for the Mac. It doesn't work "automatically" though. When the file is downloaded, double-click, or command-click and choose Expand.