What are the best pens for scrapbooking? This is not a simple answer, as it highly depends on your personal preferences. The pen that is just right for one scrapbooker may not work for another.
In this post I’ll share a selection of the pens I use most often for scrapbook layouts, why they are favorites, and how they compare against one another.
American Crafts Precision Pen 01 (0.25mm) | Buy
This popular pen is a great all-purpose tool that I always have handy. It writes very smooth, though I find the barrel thicker than many pens. The ink isn’t quite as dark as others. I find the tips wear down too quickly, which is why I prefer a rolling ball pen to a felt-tipped.
Pilot G-TEC-C4 (0.4mm) | Buy
This is my favorite pen for scrapbook journaling, the one I order in bulk so there are always plenty around. It requires a little warming up to get the ink flowing, but then writes crisp and smooth. The barrel is fairly narrow, which I find offers great control.
Pilot HI-TEC-C (0.3mm) | Buy
This was my first introduction to Pilot’s ultra fine point pens. It creates an almost-wispy line that’s great for cursive journaling, but I found it can be more difficult to photograph. They’re also more difficult to find. I switched to the 0.4mm because of these issues.
Pilot Frixion 05 (0.45mm) | Buy
This erasable pen writes very smoothly but isn’t very dark. I also have concerns that the heat sensitive ink won’t survive multiple decades. I’m currently using it for more personal projects where legacy isn’t as much of a concern.
Sakura Pigma Micron 01 (o.25mm) | Buy
Like the Precision Pen, this has a felt tip and thus writes more like a marker. I enjoy using it for drawing thin but strong black lines, such as borders and doodles. I might use it on a layout if I needed a thicker point.
What do you think is the best pen for scrapbooking? Share your favorite scrapbooking pen in the comments.
Interesting – I am still using a Creative Memories fine tip pen. It should run out soon, so thanks for this list.
At our local college there are fine tip acid free pens…I bought a ton of ’em years ago and they are still going strong! I also have CM pens, I had a few kits and then a friend gave me a bunch that I can use for calligraphy as well…pretty cool.
Looks like we like the same types of pens, but I like mine slightly thicker. I don’t like super-fine lines. Another one I like that’s similar to these is the Sharpie pen, fine point.
Great post! I am always looking for the perfect pens. Lately, I love the Sharpie Fine Point pens. They don’t bleed and come in great colors.
all time favorite pen is by TUL, their gel retractable .05 mm fine point. never skips, nice dark ink, super smooth.
Longevity is definitely a concern for Frixion pens — once I journaled in a notebook with one, then left the notebook in my car for an hour while I was in the store — and when I came out all the writing was gone (except for the impression from pushing on the paper). It wasn’t that big a deal in that particular case, but I tend to shy away from them now.
Thanks for the suggestions here!