Selecting the Right Photo Album

1. You will find photo albums and page protectors in our scrapbook album section of the store. You will need to choose between 8 1/2 X 11 and 12 X 12. There are 2 advantages to 8 1/2 X 11. You may purchase regular 3-ring binders and use regular polypropylene sheet protectors which are less expensive than scrapbooking supplies and when you are finished you can easily scan and make copies for grandparents, etc.
2. There are many advantages to going with 12 X 12. Your greatest money and time investment will be in your embellishments. Since the 12 X 12 will hold more photos and memorabilia you will need to embellish fewer pages. For example if you have eight pictures of last Easter's egg hunt you may either build one 2 page spread of 12 X 12 or you may make four 8 1/2 X 11 pages. As the 12 X 12 is more cost and time efficient, the industry is moving more and more in that direction. You will find a greater variety of albums, papers, pre-made borders, and examples for this size of a page. The third advantage is that albums end up 3/4 to 1/2 the width so the storage space on you book shelf is narrower. The more you scrap the more you will realize that storage space is really important.
3. Once you choose between 8 1/2 X 11 and 12 X 12 you need to choose between 3-ring, post bound and strap. Strap bound makes it difficult to rearrange page sequence without undoing the album. In addition once you fill the strap bound album it is finished. The straps are a specific length and you can not add to them. People who work with strap often work right in the bulky book rather than working on a single or double page and then adding it to the book. The advantages are that pages are close together for your two page spreads, and that pages do not shift. There are fewer and fewer strap albums being offered and we do not carry them at all.
4. The 3-ringed binder makes it easy to move pages around and change their sequence. Three-ringed binders are less expensive to purchase and use standard page protectors. The disadvantages are that once it is full you are done, 2-page spreads have a large gap between them, and pages have a tendency to slide and bunch which could crease or fold your precious work.
5. You can add post extensions and additional page protectors to the post binder. Pages are close together for your two page spreads and less likely to shift than with the 3-ringed binder. As with the strap album it is more difficult to move pages and change the sequence. In today's scrapbook world the most popular and prevalent albums are the 12 X 12 post so supplies and products are more abundant. Once the width of the spine is fully extended you could be finished unless you cleverly find a similar material and cut your own wider spine cover. Keep the album manageable though. There is no need to keep 100 years and 10 families all in the same book.
6. Now how do you overcome the advantages and disadvantages of each style of album. Start with the 12 X 12 binder. If you have 8 1/2 X 11 albums that are unfinished adhere current pages to a 12 X 12 and embellish or add to them. If you build your album in a 3-ringed binder you can more easily change the sequence of pages. Then when your album is finished you can transfer pages to a post bound or a strap album. The 3-ringed binder is the easiest to work with but not necessarily the best over time. As a result of my non-biased and open minded presentation (ha! ha!) of the pros and cons of each type, you probably have now chosen the 12 X 12 post as your personal preference. That is definitely where the industry is moving and an incredibly wise decision on your behalf. You'll find a nice selection of them in the album section of our store.