Crop Corner

One of the questions I get asked the most when I mention digital scrapbooking to my paper-only scrapbooking friends is, “Ok..  That’s cool.  But how do you print it out?”

I just have inexpensive, relatively low quality printers here at home - and I really want something I’ve spent so much time on to last (in printed form).  So far, I’ve only done 8×8 albums that were 100% digital.  For these, I had them printed in a traditional photo processing lab.  I sized them for 8×10 prints, and just cropped off the top 2 inches.

I put some other elements in the top 2 inches, thinking that I was paying for it, and I might as well use it…  So far, I haven’t done anything with all of those 2 inch strips.

The other thing I noticed is that when you print - the image was slightly off center.  This resulted in the left or right side being cropped off.  Most photo processing labs warn you not to place any text 1/4 inch from the side of your page.  I learned the hard way (when completing a project with a tight deadline), that these rules should be followed.  The first word of each paragraph was chopped slightly.

For more information, here’s an excerpt from a digital scrapbooking tutorial at Scrapbook Elements.

So what do you do with these wonderful layouts you have created? Most digital scrappers choose to print their layouts to display in traditional scrapbooks. There are many great photo printers available for home use. HP, Epson and Canon are generally the most popular printers as they all have photo printer models. Regular inkjet printers will also work but they won’t be able to give you the look of a professionally printed photo like the photo printers can.

The rest of the article also gives insight into printers and photo papers, printing sizes, professional printing services, and services for making other photo gifts.  (Read the full article.)