Thursday, July 23, 2009

Scrapbook Basics!



About Photos
Storing Your Photos by LeNae Gerig

Correctly sorting, handling and storing your photos can make your scrapbooking much safer, easier and efficient. Here are my suggestions for storage:

Cardboard boxes are typically acidic and contain lignin, while the adhesive in those magnetic albums can destroy your photos irreparably. You’ll want to remove photos from their harmful environment and organize and store them safely. How you organize your photos depends on how you plan to arrange your album as well as your personal style of scrapbooking. Many people like to work chronologically, either from the present to the past or vice versa, but you can further organize the photos into theme or event albums too.
Photo boxes, available at your local craft, scrapbook, or office supply store, are a popular storage option. Many boxes come with dividers: either paper (like a recipe box) or plastic. Sort photos, then label dividers by date, theme or event for easy reference. I sort photos by year, then divide them by season and year (Summer 2003, for example).

These boxes are optimal for proper storage. Many photos are damaged from being shoved into a tight container or tossed in an oversized box. Because these boxes are designed for storing photographs, they are exactly the right size for storing photos properly. Keep photos stored upright. If you don’t have enough photos to fill the box, use acid-free paper to stuff one end. That way photos won’t slip under one another.

Three-ring binders filled with photo protector pages are another popular option. Each acid-free, lignin-free protector page has perfectly-sized pockets for 4”x6”, 3”x5”, 5”x7”and 8”x10” photos. This method makes it easy to flip through the pages to find the perfect photo for the page you're scrapping.
I started with old shoe boxes and moved into nicer sturdier photo boxes. My pictures are easy to get to and rummage through when I'm looking for the pictures I want to scrapbook.

Content copyright © Hot Off The Press Thanks to LeNae for these great tips!

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