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There
are two ways to interpret the "What type of album do you want to do" question.
I'll address them both here.
1. What is the SUBJECT of the album?
Decide what you want the album to be about. Do you want to work on a wedding
or baby album? Start your family holiday album? Maybe a heritage
album with all of those old photos you've inherited from your grandparents?
Do you want to do a theme album (baby, wedding, our annual vacations, etc.) or a
chronological album?
My
advice: Start with the most recent, regardless of what type of album you
want to do. The memories behind all of those older photos are not going to
get any fresher, so you might as well start with the ones you took this year.
Because working on a scrapbook can be intimidating at first, be comfortable with
your subject. That way, you don't have to wrack your brain trying to
organize old memories, but can concentrate on getting to know your new tools,
letting the recent photos do the work themselves. So pull out those photos
from the last family event, barbecue, birthday party, or vacation and start with
those.
2. What is the STYLE of the album
itself?
There
are 4 types of albums and they come in a variety of sizes and cover
materials:
-
Strap
Hinge
-
Post
-
Binder
-
Spiral
You
will run into accordion albums, ribbon-bound albums, and
others that are folded and bound in a variety of ways, but these are the most
common.
Strap
Hinge Albums:
Description: Strap hinge albums have pages that with staples in
the cardboard-enhanced edge. A length of 1/2" wide rubber, the "strap,"
goes through the covers and page staples to hold the pages in the album.
With this type of album, you put your photos and enhancements directly on the
page and the page protector slides over the page from the side. You can
add pages to these albums quite easily, but shouldn't put more than 30 sheets
(60 pages) or you'll risk ripping out the staples.
Advantages: Pages lay nicely flat when the album is open.
Page protectors are close on top, keeping dust from settling on your photos and
memorabilia. These albums look very nice on a shelf and are very sturdy.
Disadvantages: If you plan to use this type of album, be aware
that each side of the page cannot be changed. You can take the album apart
and put a page in a different location in the album, but if you do two-page
layouts or you find some photos that should chronologically go between a layout
on the front of a page and the layout on the back, you're pretty much stuck.
Also, if you'd like to do your pages on anything other than a white background,
you'll need to adhere an entire sheet of paper to the page (a technique called
"wallpapering") which adds weight to the pages and risks ripping out the
staples.
Brands: Creative Memories, Westrim
Post-Bound
Albums:
Description: Post-bound albums have 2 or 3 metal posts that go
through holes in top-loading page protectors. You can expand them by
adding more page protectors.
Advantages: Pages lay nicely flat when the album is open.
Because you do your pages on 12x12 paper and cardstock on one side only and each
page protector holds 2 pages (one facing each direction), you can move any of
your pages around if you find more photos to add, so you don't have to work
chronologically. These page protectors are usually more sturdy than other
types of albums.
Disadvantages: You could be lulled into adding too many pages
because these albums are usually pretty sturdy, but you risk destroying the
binding if you do.
Brands: Pioneer, Canson, Close To My Heart, Dalee
Binder Albums:
Description: 3-ring binder with rings that open to allow adding
page protectors. Look for D-ring binders if you choose this type.
Advantages: Binder albums are the least expensive of these four
types of albums. The toploading page protectors allow flexibility in
making your pages in any order, like a post album. Also, many come with
clear front covers so you can customize your cover as well.
Disadvantages: Most people who don' t like binder albums
dislike them because the rings themselves are visible and distracting to the
eye, especially if making 2-page layouts .
Brands: Timeless Tapestry, Dalee, Making Memories Last, Hiller
Spiral-Bound Albums:
Description: This album closely resemble a spiral notebook, but
is made with cardstock sheets and usually has a very nicely decorated theme
cover.
Advantages: Easy to work in and transport and easily the most
affordable of all options. Excellent choice for a party album or club
album and great for kids.
Disadvantages: Most offer no page protectors. Pages
cannot be moved so you must pre-plan your album precisely.
Brands: Canson, DMD/Paper Adventures,
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vouch for fontgod.com! Turnaround is very fast, usually
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If you're a scrapbooker, there's no better way to journal than
in your own
hand and now you can do it on the computer! See a sample
of my font
on my TIPS page.
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