March 2004 - Choosing & Using Photos
by LeNae Gerig
LeNae’s Scrapbooking 101: Choosing & Using Photos
One of the trickiest parts of putting together a scrapbook page often involves the most important part: The photos! How many photos should you put on a page? How many photos is too many? And is it ever okay to use just one photo on a layout—or no photos at all? Ultimately the answers are up to you, but I have a few tips and ideas that might make it easier to plan your page.
How many photos should you put on a page?
Some people like to use one photo on a page (even a 12”x12” page) while others like to get as many photos as possible on a page. I generally put 3-4 pictures on a 12”x12” page. That way, I’m getting my photos scrapbooked yet I still have room for journaling and embellishments.
What about using multiple photos on a page?
If I want to scrapbook an event like a birthday, Christmas or sports event, I’ll use one photo as my focal photo, then use a 1 1/2” square punch to punch out mini photos. I’ll mat these and place them along the bottom or the side of the page. This technique allows me to get several photos on a page without it looking busy or crowded.
Is it okay to make pages without photos?
Absolutely. Sometimes you just won’t have photos that represent a specific time, place or event. Once my friend Shauna forgot her camera when traveling out of town for a family Thanksgiving get-together. Instead of scrapbooking photos that year, she instead made pages with the traditional family Thanksgiving dinner menu, a list of who attended and other “non-photo” memories.
In the end, where you put your photos and how many you use is up to you. You’ll find that each layout calls for a different design, and each photo requires a different approach. The best advice I can give is to trust your instincts: if the page looks too crowded or bare, make a few adjustments, step away from the page and see what it looks like a few minutes later.
LeNae Gerig is the author of LeNae’s Scrapbooking Basics. She’s known in scrapbook circles as a “realistic” scrapper because she wants to create great pages quickly and easily. She is the host of Scrapbooking101.net and contributes regular monthly columns and layouts. Her most recent idea book is Making Designer Scrapbook Pages, which features LeNae’s signature realistic style alongside the designs of four other scrapbookers.
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