Digital and hybrid scrapbooks offer many benefits that make them compelling to crafters of all ages and talents. As much as I love the tactile experience of working with fine quality papers and embellishments, I’ve developed a soft spot in my heart for manipulating digital photos and canvasses on a computer screen. After all, it’s generally faster, less cluttered and easier to manipulate a page when you’re experimenting with digital layouts.

©Geoff Martin

This page was created with the Windows-based software, Serif Digital Scrapbook Artist, now part of Serif’s five-disc creative suite, CraftArtist Platinum Edition. The graphics (formerly bundled with Scrapbook Artist software) are from DaisyTrail, a digital scrapbooking website that sells downloadable “DigiKits” like this one, called Pebble Shore.

As compelling as these benefits may be, they still leave the big question, “What can I do with the finished pages?” 

One option is to post your work on the Internet. I have copies of both conventional and digital scrapbooking projects on my web site, so I can show my work to anyone with web access. You can also share your pages in the member galleries of digital scrapbooking websites like DaisyTrail and Digital Scrapbook Place. Still, I prefer to make scrapbooks that I can hold and browse through, especially if I plan to give them as gifts. I’ve found that when it comes to digital scrapbook pages, mini albums — from 3x3 to 8x8 inches — work best. 

A sampling of mini albums: Die Cuts With a View (DCWV) Mini Album with a textured cardstock cover and white pages, www.dcwv.com (left); We R Memory Keepers Classic Leather 3-ring albums, www.weronthenet.com (top) and the Maya Road chipboard Tea Break Book with Tea Break Tin, www.mayaroad.net (bottom).

Mini albums come in lots of different styles — from conventional linen- or leather-bound albums to cardstock or chipboard ensembles. ZoomAlbum makes a 3x3-inch hardcover album that you print and assemble at home. While this palm-size album fits only one photo per page, you can alter the digital photos before placing them (i.e., add borders or embellishments) and the covers are perfect for traditional or digital décor (www.zoomalbum.com).

My preferred mini-book format is 8x8 inches: It’s large enough to show detail in most pages — even when reduced from 12x12 originals — and the pages can be easily printed at your local photo lab. It’s also a popular album size. Many major album companies offer generic and themed 8x8 albums. You just have to be sure that the album you choose either comes with 8x8-inch page protectors, or has interchangeable pages so you can replace the photo sleeves with plastic page protectors (i.e.: three ring binder or post-bound books). 

This page is from an 8x8-inch mini album I created for my brother, Bob, who graduated from Texas A&M University*. I found an attractive three-ring album with the Texas A&M logo and replaced most of the clear plastic photo sleeves inside with 8x8 page protectors to accommodate my digitally created pages. All of the pages were designed as 8x8 digital pages using the “Moods” CD collection by Digital Scrapbook Memories and Shelleyrae Cusbert’s Destinations, www.scrapbook-bytes.com. I printed hard copies for the album using the following technique. 

Printing 8x8 Digital Pages

Many of my early scrapbooking projects were gift albums hand-crafted in 8.5x11- and 12x12-inch formats. Before I shipped out each album, I scanned the pages on an Epson flatbed scanner and archived them on CD so I could reference the files later for duplicate albums. (You can photograph them if you don’t have a scanner.) I quickly realized that I had too many pages to reproduce from scratch, so I decided to print them as “digital” pages, using the same process I used to print the original photos — uploading the digital files to a Fujiflm print kiosk and ordering Crystal Archive prints from my photo lab. Since most kiosks offer only standard print sizes, I had to find a way to fit the 12x12 pages on 8x10-inch prints. 

That required reducing the original 12x12-inch page files to 8x8 inches, 200 dpi resolution (minimum 150 dpi). (Make sure to rename the new files so you don’t overwrite your high-resolution originals.) Next, I created a blank 8x10-inch digital template and placed the 8x8-inch page file in the center (see example below). When the lab outputs the 8x10-inch print, it has 2 inches of white space on the long (10-inch) side of the print. I usually ask the lab technicians to leave these white edges, so I can trim them myself at home. 

One of 16 pages glued into the DCWV Mini Album shown below. Note: The template doesn’t have to be white or have lined edges. It can be any color as long as it measures 8x10 inches.

You can use this technique to print any odd-size image you don’t want cropped at the lab. Just be sure to center your image within a digital template that matches one of the standard photo sizes — 4x6, 5x7 or 8x10 inches — before you place your order. I prepare all of my files in Photoshop at home and copy them to a CD for use at the kiosk. 

DCWV Mini Album with 8x8 digital copies of my original handmade 12x12 pages. Complete album posted here. 

*See the complete Texas A&M digital album here.