How to Make a Photo Scrapbook
From LoveToKnow Scrapbooking
If you're wondering how to make a photo scrapbook, LoveToKnow Scrapbooking is here to help! Preserving your special memories in a one-of-kind keepsake album doesn't need to be a difficult task if you keep in mind a few simple tips.
Choosing Your Photos
The first step in learning how to make a photo scrapbook is choosing which pictures you'd like to include on your pages.
- What photos best tell the story of the event? A 12x12 scrapbook layout typically has one to six photos per page. If you need space for more images, however, you could consider making a separate mini album to add to the page or adding hinged elements that give you more room on your layout.
- Is one photo more significant than the others? In most cases, a scrapbook layout has one dominant photo and several supporting photos. The dominant photo may be printed at a larger size or matted with colorful paper to help draw attention to it.
- Do your pictures need to be edited? Digital image editing software makes it easy to adjust the brightness and contrast of a photo, remove red eye, or apply special filters that can help compensate for poor image quality. Converting photos to black and white is also a way to deal with pictures that hold special memories, but are of a poor quality.
- What size of prints do you want to use? Do you prefer to create scrapbook layouts with standard 4x6 prints or do you enjoy cropping your photos into smaller sizes to allow you to fit more images on the page?
- How much room do you need for journaling? Some scrapbook pages just list the name of the event and the people in the photos, but others have quite a bit of journaling. Don't forget to leave yourself room for what you want to say!
If you're an avid photographer, you may have 50-100 pictures from an event. Keep in mind that you don't need to scrapbook every photo you take! It's fine to pick your favorite images and burn the rest to a CD for safekeeping. If you wish, you can even use your favorite patterned paper to make a pretty origami envelope for adding the CD directly onto your layout.
How to Make a Photo Scrapbook: Attaching Photos to the Page
Once you've selected the photos you want to use, the next step in learning how to make a photo scrapbook is choosing an adhesive for your project.
Photo corners are a great way to attach photos to a scrapbook layout if you think you might need to remove the prints at some point in the future. When novice scrapbookers think of photo corners, they often picture the old-fashioned paper corners their grandparents used in family photo albums. Today, however, you can find photo corners to suit a variety of design styles.
Acid free glue sticks are a cheap multipurpose adhesive for scrapbooking. They are a convenient way to adhere photos to a scrapbook, but some people find them a bit messy to use. In addition, you could have trouble removing your prints at a later date.
Adhesive runners are less messy than scrapbooking glue sticks and most offer both permanent and repositionable adhesive options. Some brands of tape runners can be a bit tricky to refill, however. In addition, adhesive runners tend to be more expensive than glue sticks or photo corners. If this is your preferred method of attaching photos to your scrapbook layout, watch for sales and coupons at your local craft store.
Layout Options
Arranging photos, journaling, and embellishments on a page to create an attractive layout can seem intimidating if you're a novice scrapbooker. Using scrapbook sketches as a guide for placing your elements can make the process much easier. LoveToKnow Scrapbooking has two slideshows of scrapbook sketches that can help.
You may also be interested in our interview with Becky Fleck, author of PageMaps: Sketches for Creative Layouts.
Learn More
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