Basic Techniques
How To Create A Layout
Pick your photos, First, select your photos based on one theme or event—a child’s first birthday, your weekend trip to the coast or an everyday event like the kids’ bathtime. Think of each page as having a story to tell.
Many layouts are created in a double-page spread—meaning, when you open your album, the page on the right and the page on the left will match in color and theme. Consider this when you pick out your photos. You might choose to have one very special photo on a page, or you might want to fit 3 or 4 photos per page. I typically use 2-3 photos per 12”x12” page and save single photo portraits for their own page. Do keep in mind that while it may feel like progress to fit a lot of photos on one page, pages often look better when they’re not quite as crowded.
What if your photos won’t work on a double-page spread? I often create single pages rather than a double-page spread—so don’t feel you must always do one or the other. Work with what you have, rather than how you think your album should be laid out. Remember, there’s no right and wrong!
Whether you place one really special photo on a page or 3-6 photos, there should be a common theme connecting them. Once you’ve chosen a theme, decide which pictures look best together. Don’t be afraid to edit—just because you took two rolls of film at Christmas doesn’t mean you need to use all of those photos.
Pick your papers: Once I select my photos, I pick a patterned paper for my background, which instantly adds color and depth to a page. A patterned paper is a great way to mirror your photo’s story—and you can find a paper for practically every look, style and theme.
Let the paper pattern help you tell your story and make creating your album faster and easier: Choose a pattern that enhances your theme, like an elegant paper for a page of black-and-white photos, or a fun print for kids’ pictures. Then pick a coordinating plain paper to mat or “frame” the photos. Note: You might make your double-page spread using two background papers that match—or you may choose two papers that coordinate instead. The choice is up to you, but they don’t have to be the same. It may be that their only similarity is color.
I also arrange or layer my papers at this point. Hot Off The Press designers rarely leave a paper as a single sheet! We like to tear paper, cut it up, layer it or make multiple photo mats. Is this a waste of paper? Well, I don’t think it is if it gives me the look I want. Besides, I can always use scraps of paper for the other side of a double-page spread, as journaling mats, or to punch from or make tags with. You’d be surprised how you can use those scraps!
Mat your photos. When using a patterned paper as a background to your photos, remember the Golden Rule of Patterned Paper: Always mat your photo onto a solid paper so the colors and shapes in the photo don’t compete with the colors and shapes on the paper. To mat a photo, just glue it onto your solid matting paper and cut 1/8”-1/2” away so you have a border around the picture. A mat provides a visual “space” between the photo and the paper. Even if your background paper is a solid color, I would still mat it so it has a more finished look. Think of it as framing a picture before you hang it on the wall—whether you have wallpaper or not, a frame still adds a nice polished touch.
How do I select the color of my mat? I take into consideration the primary (dominant) color and the secondary colors in the background paper, then mat my photos with a solid paper in the secondary color. For example, if the paper is mostly pink with some white, I mat my photos with white. If the pattern is especially large or brightly colored, I’ll give my photo a wider (maybe 1/2”) mat. When in doubt, remember that black and white (or off-white) are classics and can be used with nearly everything.
Lay out your page. Arrange your elements (photos, journaling, embellishments) on the background paper. Before you glue them down, move them around to make sure you like the placement.
There are dozens of layout ideas you can use for inspiration (or copy directly!), but the following are good rules of thumb. The center of your album page attracts the eye first; if it’s empty, the page will look incomplete. Overlap elements in the center, or add an embellishment in the center of the page. If that doesn’t quite work for your layout, consider borders. I often add borders to the top and bottom or sides of the page to add visual “weight”, then offset the photos in the center. And don’t forget to use other people’s layouts for inspiration. I look through idea books and magazines a lot for layout ideas. Generally when selecting a layout I take into consideration my photo typed—horizontal or vertical. The theme of an inspirational layout doesn’t necessarily influence me. I often turn a Halloween layout into a Christmas page by simply changing papers!
Journal your story. You can write directly on the page, but sometimes it’s easier (and less stressful) to journal onto a separate scrap of paper, then mat this piece and glue it to the page. If you goof, you can just flip the paper over and start again. You can also journal on your computer and print it out. This is great for those of us who hate our handwriting or need to use a spell-check! I really, really don’t like my own handwriting. It looks like I wrote with my toes. Yet I’ve come to realize that handwriting is so personal, and so individual, that it becomes precious to us. I cherish anything with my grandmother’s handwriting—even though (or maybe because) it looks like she wrote with her toes too!
When you’re finished with your scrapbook page, simply place it in your album. I really like three-ring binders because they make it easy to add pages as you go back in time. It means you don’t have to take apart the entire album to add pages or rearrange them. Sheet protectors are acid-free plastic sleeves that you slip your page into, then place into the album itself. Post-bound albums come with white paper inside sheet protectors. You can decorate the white page or take it out and replace it with a page created with patterned papers. With three-ring binders, you buy the sheet protectors separately.
So, background paper, solid paper for matting, a little (or a lot of) journaling and that’s it—you’ve completed your first page!