Choosing a Scrapbook Album

The album your photos will go in is the first and most important supply you must purchase. Do not choose a magnetic page album as they can ruin your photos and mementos in just a few years.

Although scrapbooks come in many shapes and sizes there are two basic size choices that most people seem to prefer.

• 8 ½ x11 – The most familiar size of album. This album is small enough to carry with you, but is big enough to store photos, certificates, stories, and details. Most pages printed out on your printers will be 8 ½ x11 in size. There are also a lot of inexpensive layout products on the market in this size.
• 12x12 – Allows you to display more photos and larger photos than the 8 ½ x11. You are able to make layouts that are more creative with the larger size album. You cannot print in this size from your home printer but you can cut out items from a smaller paper size and paste them into the album. There are many paper choices available in the 12x12 size but most everything that comes in this larger size is considerably more expensive.

Once you have decided on the size of album, your next choice is the type of album.

• Three ring albums – For most people, the three ring album is the easiest to use. It allows for easy removal and addition of pages. You can take the page out of the album to work on it, which makes the whole process much more convenient. The pages should be put in protective covers for lasting protection. There is the advantage of being able to easily refill pages for this type of album.
• Post-bound albums – This album lays relatively flat with no separation between pages. It is not as easy to arrange pages in this album as with the three ring album, but it can be done. Additional posts can be added to expand the album with refill pages and page protectors.
• Strap-bound albums – This album is put together with an expandable strap hinge. The disadvantage to this album is that it must be taken completely apart to add or remove pages. The advantage is that the pages lay flat in this type of album without hinges showing. Some of the strap-bound albums come with the page protectors being attached to the strap allowing for easy removal of the pages.