12 x 12 albums....what size pictures?

I work with a lot of 12 x 12 albums but i find that regular sized photos seem too small. What size do i need to order?

I have only used 4x6... even cropped a few smaller.

I use all different sizes...from small/wallet size and up. Depends on how many pictures I want to put on the page.

I have used mostly smaller and medium sized photos with my 12x12 LO's.

This is a smaller photo:


Whoopsie!
By DawnInAZ

This is a 5x7 photo:


Life Isn't A Matter of Milestones-right side
By DawnInAZ

I think this photo is only 3x5.


Cute
By DawnInAZ

This one was originally 4x6 but was cropped down a bit.


My Dad
By DawnInAZ

See right now im working with pictures my parents took while i was growing up.....now...granted they didnt have the technology we have today but they could have cleared clutter out of the way before taking a picture :/ so once i crop the picture down to cut the junk out a 4 x 6 ends up being soo small.

I've used everything from 3.5x5" to 8x10" on my 12x12" layouts. Plus I have cropped pics down to as small as 2x2" to do a "quilted"-esque look. So really, it doesn't matter the size you use, just what you do with it!

• imajellybeanx Said:

Use multiple photos then. Or use the small one. It's all in how you want to display the memories.

When I had a bunch of tiny photos that I did from my childhood, I just did multi-pic LOs. I did some theme pages like Christmas through the years, etc. Then I had a bunch of random photos of me growing up, so I put them across a two page LO called "watch me grow" with the years that the photos spanned (1973-76, if I remember correctly).

You could also group four smaller photos together in a rectangular shape, which would make it like using one 4x6 or 5x7 (whatever size they came out to be when all four were grouped together). This might make it easier for you to think of it as one larger photo to be scrapped.

• imajellybeanx Said:

but that clutter shows everyday life stuff, it's important too.

Plus you could always scan the photos and resize them and crop all the clutter out and print whatever size you want.

"Plus you could always scan the photos and resize them and crop all the clutter out and print whatever size you want."

This was what I was going to say. Then you'd also be able to have the scans saved to disc in case you ever needed re-prints for any reason.

You could also mat the picture a few times, just to increase the size some.

I do 12 X 12. I use all size pictures from 2 X 2 up to 8 x 10(although not that often). I mostly do the Cherish, Imagine, and Reflections books from Close to my heart. Occasionally a page maps type. So I mostly do 2 page layouts with multiple pictures.

I'm a multi-pic layout scrapper, so I use mostly 4x6's or smaller (boy do I wish places like Costco or Walmart print 3.5 x 5's). Occasionally I'll use a 5x7, but it's usually accompanied by another smaller picture. I see lots of nice layouts with just one larger picture, but to me, I feel I can tell the story better with more pics. Plus, most of the layouts I do are about my little boy, who's always up to something no good... so I want to capture every moment.

• moxiegirl23 Said:

I was going to say the same thing. I love looking at the background "clutter" in my childhood photos and seeing how much things have changed.

oh man this is clutter like no other lol ill post a picture later to show what i mean when i get onto my desktop but ohhh boyyyyy.

in fact, im surprised how they even found the person in the photograph lol

If you don't like the clutter in the background, my advice to you would be to scan the photos into your computer and crop them in with a photo editing program to bring the focus back onto the people in the pictures. There is a great program that you can download for free...just google "Picasa" to find it.

Also if I am only going to do one picture on a page I like the size of a 5x7, but you can also do multi-photo layouts as well.

I used all different sizes anywhere from the smallest to 8x10's...you can do a lot with the small ones and I love using the 8x10's..

If I'm only using one pic, I typically use a 5x7 or larger. I do mostly multi-pic lo's though...and for those you can use a mix of all different (and smaller) sizes.

The size of the pics don't matter as much as the design of the LO IMO.

If you scan in your photos I would make sure to scan them in higher than 300dpi so that you can enlarge them and keep the clarity of the photo. You can read tips http://www.takegreatpictures.com/scrapbooking_your_childhood_2.fci
HTH