I am stuck and until I make a decision, I can’t seem to move forward. How do I decide to either use up the CM albums I already have (from my consulting days) by printing 12×12 pages OR do I just start digi from the word GO and have my pages printed into books. I know this sounds too simple, but really I am at a standstill.
How a digital scrapper organizes her printed pages is a completely personal decision. But since it was asked, here’s how I do it.
1.) Major events – like big vacations – get printed into photobooks. In the past, I used the online drag & drop templates… but I’ve transitioned to having my own custom scrapbook pages printed as books. To me, photobooks are great when you have a distinct, but larger, set of photos you want to unite in a cohesive way.
2.) Everything else gets printed as 8×8 and goes in 3-ring albums. The sizing is my personal preference, but I find 3-ring (more specifically, D-ring) albums offer huge flexibility. They reflect that my scrapbook is a work in progress. I can add it as my time and budget allows.
Since this reader has 12×12 albums, I will always suggest using what you have and building from there. This is the record of your life, will anyone care that you’re albums are a mix of paper and digital, of 12×12 and other sizes? The important thing is getting your memories preserved and not letting anxiety get in the way.
What do you all think this reader should do?
I have a similar dilemma. Does she like to do multi-photo layouts? I do and I think they look best 12×12. I’ve decided to print 12×12 photo books for my yearly album so they sit alongside my old albums. I wouldn’t continue printing and putting into pockets because of the space these albums take up. But I also do holiday books in 8.5×11 landscape and print my own 8×8 childhood and family history pages and put them in pockets. So I’m doing a bit of everything!
I havent had anything printed yet but this year I have have been participating in the Project 365 and placing a weeks photos and journalling onto 12×12 pages. I am going to get this printed along with this years photo books. Well that is when I work out how to format my pages to look good in a professionally made book.
I am in the same position as a CM consultant going digital and I have been printing my pages out as 12×12 and using my albums. I do have a lot of pages that I do for challenges that wouldn’t necessarily fit together into a photobook and I am not going to waste my albums.
I had the same issue and decided to go with the CM albums for a lot of reasons… The CM albums really are very, very strong and won’t fall apart like others I have tried…they now have the fabulous 12×12 true drop in sleeves so no more having to worry about 12×12 fitting…my pages are covered in plastic so my kids don’t leave fingerprints or rip the pages…the print quality seems much higher on prints and I can move things around and/or scrap out of order or put something in if I forgot it. Maybe for a single trip I would do the book, but I just can’t get over my love for CM albums.
I guess it comes down to: how important is it for all your albums/photobooks to stack side by side and be the same height, size, etc. Will having a hodge podge of different albums just bug the heck out of you?
It doesn’t bother me at all! I print my “stand alone” layouts 12 x 12 single prints and slide into sheet protectors. This way I can print out as many as I can afford at the time, I get to see them sooner, and they can be rearranged if I want (because I do not scrap chronologically.)
And I’m doing a project 365 that I will have made in a photobook (which will be my first photobook) at the end of they year.
Another thought : going to 8×8 is a probably a lot more affordable, but 8×8 is a LOT smaller than 12 x 12 when you actually see them side by side, so a little experimentation with fonts and photo size would be a good idea. (kink of like what Esther said above)
Hi all!
That was my question, and I’ve enjoyed reading all your responses!
After some more thought, I have decided to use the albums I have and print up 12×12 pages. I have nearly 20 albums left, after selling on eBay the ones I knew I didn’t want to use or keep , I really can’t recoup the cost nearly enough to justify selling them all and starting over.
But, making that decision has really freed me up and I have been scrapping, happily! It’s so much fun and it’s so quick, too. No more messes spread all over my desk, or little photo split backing squares scattered about.
I’ll check back later to see if there are more responses. Thanks, everyone!