Printed Digital Photos for scrapbooking?

I am just going to start my first scrapbook project and the photos that I want to use are currently digital.

Do I need to look for any special printer paper or do I need to get them printed professionally in a special way to use them for scrapbooking?

Regards,

Ross

Hi Ross and welcome!

That's a tough one. I've read that modern home printing is both better and worse than store-printed photos for archival quality. I've been scrapping with both for 6 years and neither have degenerated yet, but I would not expect them to in that time. The technology for home printing is improving all the time.

If you are printing at home, the best advice I have is to use the best quality paper available that is intended for your specific home printer. For quality, I can confirm that HP paper used in an Epson printer produces shocking results, and Brother paper in an HP is average, but Brother paper in an Epson is fine. I can't vouch for the archival properties!

I have found that home printed photos fade quicker than store printed ones in the sunlight.

I'm sorry, I'm not being much help here!

I print some pictures at home and print some at Archiver's, and I haven't had issues with either.

I think it's less expensive to order from some place like Photobucket. If I have just a few to print, I print them from home using the highest quality Canon paper. If I have a lot of photos I order them.

I haven't had much luck with at home photo printing with my previous printer. The color balance always came our really weird. I have a new printer, but haven't experimented much with it yet. My mom gets very good results with her printer at home, but I'd heed that warning about making sure you're using the correct brand of paper, especially if you do glossy prints--she had some paper mixed together from different brands (Kodak and HP, I think, but I'm not certain) and one had the ink beading up and not drying on it correctly due to some chemical difference in the coating.

There's a ton of online printing services though, which are very convenient! I've used Snapfish and Shutterfly both, and they were of decent quality, but not spectacular. I got similar results out of the Kodak kiosk at a drugstore. So far my best prints have come out of a Sony kiosk that they used to have in our local Archiver's, and I get good prints out of the new photo lab they have now, too. There's a fantastic, comprehensive review of a number of online photo printers http://improvephotography.com/7756/test-results-best-online-print-lab/

I take mine to Walgreens. I'm happy with them and on Mondays they are 20 cents each and sometimes they have other specials.

I like to scrap larger pictures - 5 x 7's and 8 x 10's and those are buy one get one free on Thursdays and they can be different photos - you don't have to get two of the same photo.

Tuesday is 5 x 7 or 8 x 10 photos for 99 cents and Friday you got 20% off your digi photo order.

My Walgreens even gave me a big card with the specials one each day on it which I have thumbtacked on my bulletin board by my computer.

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome and helpful advice.

I have found a website called photo box here in the UK who print on archive grade photo paper and charge 5p per print which is about 7 cents per photo for a 6x4, so I think I will give them a shot.

Hi Ross, I didn't realise you were in Kent. I'm in Bristol.

Another option for you - Snapfish (Hewlett Packard paper and ink) are also archival quality photos. When you open an account with them, you get 50 (? something like that) free introductory 6x4" prints, and once you've signed up they're always bringing out new offers.

Thanks for the snapfish suggestion, it's also good to find out about other people in the UK too.

Do you have any recommendations on where to buy supplies or any particular brands that are both easy to find and are of good quality?

I have decided to start by buying a Cath Kidston kit from Amazon which seems a manageable project to get started and has everything included in one pack.

In addition to the kit, I already have a cutter and some scissors, so have just bought a journaling pen and an acid free glue stick to see if I like it before I go out and buy loads of stuff that I might never use.

That all sounds like a great start except for the glue stick. In my experience, they just don't hold for long. I used plain 1cm acid-free double-sided tape for 5 years, until I got an ATG for Christmas last year. Now I wouldn't be without it, although I still use tape, especially on cards because the non-acid-free tape is about the cheapest adhesive. Acid-free foam squares (Stix2Anything) are great for raising elements up off the page and adding dimension. And you'll need alpha stickers (flat or chipboard) for titles. I tend to buy white, because they can be coloured to match the page.

I would also recommend finding small chalk ink pads in black and brown for finishing your paper edges. A brown marker too, as sometimes black is just too harsh. Memento Dewdrops ink pads are good. Don't be tempted by cheap ink pads from the kids' toy sections! Faber Castell Pitt artist pens are excellent, so are Zig markers from EK Success if you can find them here.

We have a Hobby Craft 7 miles from us, but although they may be "big box", they aren't always the best value. Good for staples though. Homesense and TK Maxx (same company - I only just discovered that) often stock 48-page paper packs for £8, good brands too: DCWV, Studio Calico, Crate, American Crafts. And card-stock too, and various miscellaneous bits. If you have The Range near you, that's the best big box shop I've found. Look up your local scrapbook shops too (also known as LSSes on the forums). If you have Sky TV, check out the Create and Craft Channel for ideas. They have a shop and a club but it's almost always cheaper shopping around locally. I do love their demos though.

And of course there is the Superstore right here on this site which is unquestionably the best for value, variety and service (check out the product demo videos, they're fantastic), but that dratted international shipping makes it prohibitive for me. Shipping seems to start at around $40 for a little pack of stickers, although when there are US free shipping days (randomly about once a month, you have to check the daily deals) we get $6 knocked off. They have a LOT of things that we can't get, and they get the new things first.

I hope I haven't overwhelmed you!

******** Henri, you sound like a walking photo printing ad. You know what is on sale every day of the week over there!

Oh, I can't say dam.

Amanda! Apparently not!

Quite a lot of info there, but the pictures on the featured products section are definitely useful! Hopefully I'll work out what everything is for as time goes by.....

I have to keep up with what the sales are in the Walgreens photo lab every day! I have about 24 large photos I need to have printed and at buy one get one free today because its Thursday - that saves a lot of money!

Sometimes I have as many as 1,800 photos and then I know I have to go in on Monday's.