strap hinge vs post bound

I've been keeping my layouts in binders but I've recently decided that I'd rather put them into albums. I do 2-pg (8.5x11) layouts and have taken to splitting things across the 'seam' and want the pages to abut. (not be split like they are in a binder)

Why would one choose a strap hinge vs a post bound album?

I'll likely still put the pages in a binder until I have a whole album's worth done. At that point I'd move them all into an album so that I wouldn't need to be taking an album apart except to put the finished product together. I would like to get at least 36 layouts (72 pages) into each album and if I can do more, that would be even better. What would you suggest for my circumstance?

I prefer the post bound because they have the page protectors and I can move my LO's around if need be. I don't think the strap hinges have the page protectors , I believe you create your LO on the page itself. I could be wrong so hopefully someone who uses the strap hinges will chime in here.

I just prefer the post bound because I want my LO loose, meaning I don't want it attached to a specific page in the album. I can slide them out and move them around.

I prefer postbound over straphinge. I find it easier to work with and you can just slip your finished pages into the page protectors in any order you like. With straphinge you have to scrap back to back and I don't like that.
NOTE: There is a new system out called snap n' load and I think it is easier than both kinds and you can convert postbound albums into snap n' load-I recommend that! (I think you can buy snap n' load albums now too!

Cool! I haven't heard of snap n load...

I use post bound, much easier and it has page protectors . Strap hinge is a pain if you don't scrap in order and want to use cs as the base.

I have straphinge but plan to move to post bound as soon as I finish my daughters albums.

Strap hinge
You do create the layout on the pages. Which means typically you are limited to white, cream and some black. If you want to have a different color page you have to cover the paper. And if you mess up a page, you have to recover or redo, also you use both sides of the paper.

page protectors are sold seperately and the slide in from the side.

There is a 1/4 edge on each side so if you get the 8 1/2x11 or 12x12 or what ever size you will have to trim the edge a little bit.

So if you want to move the pages, you have to unstrap and take out all the pages and put them back.

They are also more expensive, because they do not come with the sheet protectors, and you are wasting paper, buy having to cover it. Instead of just replacing that sheet with another sheet. Also I always keep my pages in the book and scrap in it, I have done complete layouts and realized oneside was upside down and the other side went a different way.

I was using all strap hinged, thats what I tried first, then I bought an album for my husband and it was a post bond, loved the ease of taking layouts out, slipping them back. I'm switching.

Sounds like post bound is the way to go for me then.

How many page protectors (2 back-to-back pages in each) can you put in a post bound album? From looking around it looks like the page protector refills come with extenders for the posts but is there an upper limit on how many extenders you can put before you run the risk of the weight of the album breaking the posts/extenders when people are handling it?

I used to use strap hinge, but I have changed to post bound. When using the strap hinge, I didn't necessarily scrap on the page that is in the album. I would scrap on whatever paper I wanted to and attach the layout to the page in the album. The only thing I don't like about strap hinge is that you can only expand them a couple of inches. If your book gets too thick, it becomes wobbly. With the post bound, you can expand them up to 4" or so without having to worry about the sturdiness of the binding.

I think it depends on how thick your pages are. I can fit 10 protectors 20 pages back to back in an album!

CM claims that you can get 30 pages (60 back to back) in their albums. If you use that many, the book is very unstable.

I have 40 page protectors (80 pages) in some of my postbound(now snap n' load). The key is making sure you have enough spacers. I put one spacer about every 2 pages, they increase the spine to the same thickness as your pages. Much more than that and the album is just too heavy!!

Post Bound, definately

I use only strap hinge. They do make page protectors for them. I don't create my pages right on the page itself but rather, build my pages on strong cardstock and then slide that into place underneath the page protector on the actual page thats strapped into the book. I only put as many pages into the book as the manufacturer recommends. Anyway, adding too many pages more than what is recommended makes the books too heavy for me to lift, so actually following their recommendations works for me.

I tried post bound and hated it. Just didn't seem as secure as straphinged.

Everyone is going to have their own opinions and i think the key is just trying them both and then deciding what works best for you.

scrapbook queen, could you please PM me some details about the albums you are using? I do about 10 layouts a month and I would love to be able to get 40 months in one album!

When I google I come up with something called 'snapload' which are little white 'things' that you use with your existing post bound albums to convert them into 'snapload' albums. Somthing I saw said you could do 300 pages! Here's a link to the same item sold here (but with not as much detail): http://store.scrapbook.com/p-2-sl.html

Is that what you are talking about?

I usually keep mine at about 20 page protectors (40 pages). I've never wanted to add more then one extender because they do get wobbly and also they just get too big and heavy.

I have many albums and keep them by theme so none of them really get too full, I just add to whatever album a particular LO belongs to when I finish it.

I tried strap hinge and hated it. Post bound for me now, it's true 12X12 with page protectors !

I prefer post bound because they are easy to expand to accomodate more pages. Plus I think they break less oftne than strap hinge--the staples that hold in strap in hinge pages I have seen come undone before. Plus you might have to trim off some of the page to get it to fint in strap hinge.

There is a product called Snap Load from Pioneer that you can use to replace your posts. You can even gets Pioneer albums with this already inside. It is really easy to use.

Ooops... hit the send button too early... See the next post..

I prefer post bound, and I plan on trying to use the snap and loads once I get an album full.

I used to use only strap hidge, but I got irritated from several things.
One- It was not true size. I had to trim everything down
Two- If I wanted a back ground other than white I had to adhere it to the page, and it made scrapping out of order or adding pages very difficult.

I'm stuck on post bounds now and will not go back to strap hindge.

I previously used strap hinge (CM), but now, only Post bound. I can never seem to get the strap back in properly so that it holds together correctly! (I do have these little spazzy moments!)

Oh- and always use a page protector!

Patty O.

I prefer 3 ring binders still. I also do 8.5x11 layouts and most are 2-pagers but not all need to close to its partner. For those that do need to right next to its partner, I staple the sheet protectors together along the inside seem. This way they're seen together more instead of as separate pages.

I like being able to add and change pages in binders over any other type of album or book.

Then my next is post bound albums because with strap bound you're usually locked into that brand's pages if want to add more, plus I don't like the sheet protectors for these either.

• jenjen59 Said:

I use 3 packs of pages (15 to a pack) in each of my CM albums, and they do not become unstable. However, I don't use alot of bulky items, either, so if one wants to use bulky things, you would probably fit fewer pages in.

I use (and love!) post-bound, but if the album gets too big for even the really big post extenders I change it to snap-load. I do like those! Yes, they are the white strappy looking things. Snap-load is not as firm as the metal posts (obviously the white straps give a little more wiggle-room) so if you want very very sturdy books I wouldn't suggest them. However, I really do like them and it's SO much easier to use and refill compared to post-bound.

If you scrap chronologically and don't mind using both sides of the paper (or wallpapering--which is sticking the finished lo to the straphinge pages) then straphinge could work well for you. You can get sideloading page protectors for those. Personally I could never get into straphinge because I go from album to album and scrap completely out of order. But that's just me.

• jenjen59 Said:

Hmm, I have several CM albums with 45 pages in them (90 back to back) and about half of those pages scrapped on CS that I slide the cm page protector over or adhere to the CM page. The books aren't unstable, but they are heavy. I can pick them up with one hand, but barely.
I love the CM albums and won't ever go back to anything else. But, that's just me. I know it's a minority opinion and that's okay -- to each her own.
I do a lot of my scrapping on kraft, black or white backgrounds anyway, so scrapping on the pages of the CM albums isn't a big deal to me. And I don't spend that money on cardstock so I come out even on the albums.

• Scrapbook Queen Said:

I LOVE my snap n' load. I hate the post bound because they seemed unstable to me. I switched to snap n' load and love it. I also use spacers, or I make my own. I get free chipboard from my lss and cut them and punch holes then wa la spacers. JMO

• VivianR Said:

Oooooh! Good idea. Hmmm. To use albums or to alter binders and do this. Maybe I'll do this and ask for albums from hubby for Christmas.

• Tanya71 Said:

Yep, that's it! I'll PM you.

I have used both and continue to do so. You can get top loading page protectors for strap hinge albums. Then you can scrap out of order and just drop the pages in. The only problem, as stated above, is that the pages are not true 12x12. I like the strap hinge because the pages lay flat. I never can get my post albums to lay flat. I like the posts because they are 12x12.

Cant wait to try the new strap hinge.

Post bound is what I use right now, but I like to move my pages around and so I am wanting to save up and buy a binder.

I use both, mostly strap hinge because I also use lots of creative memories supplies.

The only thing I don't like about post bound it that page protectors come in different sizes (depending on the company that makes them), so some pages hang out further than other and that drives me crazy. As long as I only use one type of page protector per album, I'm fine.

I love post bound. The strap hinge to me take up room because of the edges and I do my pages in whatever order so it wouldnt work for me.

Where can I see a snap album?

I think when CM talks about 30 pages, they are actually taking about 15 pages (30 if you count the front and back) I have a CM album that I am working on now and I have 35 pages in it, then I take them out and move half over to the other album. When I finish those 2 I have one more to complete then I am on to post bond.

The post bond can be expanded by buying different (longer) post. It is a matter of personal choice and you will have to way the pros & cons.

Postbound for me, all the way.

this has been a really interesting thread for me to read because i was thinking about the same thing recently.

All of my albums except one are CM. Love their albums BUT i hate that (1) i have to trim down the paper to make it fit and (2) i have to scrap in order, which I don't like to do.

I bought a K& CO Marines album for my son's boot camp book. It is very full/heavy and has an extender post in it. I don't scrap with a lot of stuff (I'm terrified of lumpy bumpy pages and am still having issues about a layout with a button on it that I did in 2004.. )... but a friend looked at the album and set it on the arm of the couch. The cat knocked it over and the posts literally broke! Additionally, when the post broke, it ripped the fabric hole that it goes in. I just kind of rigged it together because I don't have the money to replace that album right now, but it broke my heart...

I would like to try using post bound again, but now am interested in this whole snap thing... I'll have to check that out!

Thanks for all of the input here!

Aileen

• Evenight001 Said:

Nope, they come with 15 pages and then you can add up to 2 refill packs of 15 pages each, depending on how much wallpapering you do and how many thick/heavy embellishents you use.
I had an album that had 54 pages (108 layouts) in it for years. It had dd's birth - kindergarten years in it. I split it because and only because we moved right before she started 3rd grade and I decided to put all of her K-2 photos in the same album and start another for her new school because it was a logical place to make a split.
Structurally, it was heavy but not wobbly at all with the 54 pages in it.

• DarrellsGirl Said:

Have you seen the new perfect fit papers by CM? I use that as a base for pages a lot now and coordinate other papers with it. They've improved their paper/cs selection a lot over the past year. I do still trim some pp's down to fit the CM album, but not as much as I used to.

• Danielle R Said:

I'll go take pics of my snap-load album and then I'll put them up here for anyone wondering about that. Be right back....

There is a link earlier in the thread....

Must have missed that earlier link....oops! Oh well, my camera batteries are dead so I tried to scan in what my album looks like with the snap system in it.

Snap-load in album

I use only post-bound. But I found - for the first time - a snap-load album at Michael's! It has page protectors just like post-bound and I think it will be easier to use than the screws. I have a really hard time with those. But I haven't tried to use the snap-load album yet. So we'll see!!

OK, I'll go against the grain here. 99% of my albums are strap-hinge. The main reason I like them is because they lay flat when opened, post bound ones don't lay as flat.

You do *not* need to scrap in order...I certainly don't. As someone mentioned earlier, I just slip my page in under the page protector until I'm ready to assemble a complete album.

I work on a sturdy piece of cardstock, then attach to album pages when I'm ready to assemble an album. I don't work directly on the album page.

When I made mostly flat layouts, I could include two refills along with the standard pages in a single album. So, I would get 45 pages in total into my CM albums. I don't believe they are wobbly at that size but they are certainly heavy. Now that I'm more of a dimensional scrapper, I get about 30 pages in a single scrapbook.

Before the acid-free days, I used postbound albums and learned to hate them. This is because each post is a single size. If I wanted to add only say, 5 more pages rather than the 10 pages in a refill pack, I would have to decide whether to add another post or not. If I didn't add another post, the spine was very tight (and pages did not lay flat when opened), if I did add another post, the spine was very loose and wobbly. With strap hinge, I can tighten or loosen the spine as I want.

Finally, I'm one of the last die-hard 12x15 scrappers around...heavy sigh... CM makes the best quality albums of that size IMHO.

HTH!

Linda - Where do you get 12x15 paper? CM? I've never seen one that size.

I use strap hinge. Its never bothered me to scrap in order. It is defintiley personla preference, though.

One thing for all those worried about the not true 12x12 and trimming - I have a friend that wallpapers pretty much every page - and she doens't trim. I never even thought not to trim, and she never thought to trim!! Funny how our brains work different. Anyway, she just does her layout on the cardstock or PP and then just adheres the whle thing over the trim and all. Then puts the page protector on. It works for her!

Alas, there is no 12x15 paper to be found. I simply piece paper together. Yes, it means I have to buy at least 2 pieces of something but such is life. I've learned to live with that particular complication. LOL

I didn't read all the responses, but I use strap hinge, and I don't use the white paper. I just make my LO to fit it and attach the whole page down when I'm done. I guess technically I'm "wasting" the white art paper, but I don't mind.

Post-bound all the way for me. My CM strap-hinge albums have not held up well at all over the years.