Downloading Alphas

[scraptastic]

So I've been playing around and downloading some supplies! VERY exciting : )

 

I have a question about alphas...a few I've downloaded seem to come w/ 3 separate files: individual alphas, one the shows the whole set, and a printable file.

 

Being new to all this, it seems like the individual file(s) is all I would need. Can someone tell me why I'd need the others?

 

Thanks!

 

Melissa

[BarbaraC1977]

Sometimes it's handy to view the entire alphabet at a glance, to look for shapes or overall effect. So the full sheets are useful for that. Some of us print these "summary sheets" in postcard size as a quick reference to peruse when we're not at the computer. I think the "printable" dates back to the days when not all programs handled pngs so well, but I'm not sure. (Maybe someone else can explain this format?)

 

Presuming you're keeping ALL of your downloaded ZIP files, (and backing them up, too,) you could delete the large printable or full set images if you needed to save space. You can always re-unzip the originals to get them back. Hope that helps?

[caprimom]

Barbara pretty much summed it up.

 

The individual .png files are great when you're only looking for 1 or 2 letters to use. I find the full .png sheet to be helpful when I'm using several alphas. I simply use the marquee tool to select the letters I need and use "Layer via Copy" to get each alpha on its own layer. The printable .jpg is great for hybrid projects--you can print them out and use them on whatever you're working on.

[scraptastic]

Thanks! That's kind of what I thought (hoped).