Design and layout

There's no set number. On a 30 x 30 cm (12 x 12 inch) page, one to three photos look calmest, and for an event four to six can work too. Let the story decide how many photos you need.

A few rules of thumb:

• One large photo on a page has the most impact.
• If you use several photos, make one clearly bigger. That becomes your focal point.
• If you have to make all your photos smaller to fit one more in, you have too many.
• If you have more photos, go for a double page or tuck the extras into a little envelope or behind a flap.

Read also: Choosing photos and how many fit on a scrapbook page

A sketch is a simple drawing of a page. It shows where the photos, title, text and embellishments go. It's a map, not a finished design: you choose the paper, colours and style yourself.

Sketches are especially helpful when you don't know where to start. You don't have to come up with the layout yourself, and you can work with what you already have at home. They work for both paper and digital pages. They're usually drawn square, so you can use them at any size, from a mini album to 30 x 30 cm.

Read also: What is a scrapbook sketch and how do you make a page with it?

Stick to three, or four at most, per page, plus neutrals such as white, cream or kraft. Too many colours make a page look busy. Too few can make it look dull, although your photos will then stand out nicely.

The balance matters more than the number. Never give every colour the same amount of space. A handy ratio is 60-30-10: roughly 60 per cent for the main colour, 30 per cent for a second colour and 10 per cent for an accent that catches the eye. If you're working with just two colours, patterns, texture and light and dark shades of the same colour give you plenty of variety.

Read also: How to choose colours that suit your photos

Take your colours from your photos. See which two or three colours stand out in them and look for paper and embellishments in those same shades. That way the page naturally feels like a whole.

Not sure? Lay your photo on a few different sheets of cardstock (sturdy plain paper) and see which one it looks best on. A colour wheel helps you pick an accent: colours opposite each other give lots of contrast, colours next to each other give a calm look.

If your paper really clashes with a photo, print the photo in black and white or sepia. Those go with almost any colour palette.

Read also: How to choose colours that suit your photos

White space is the part of your page you deliberately leave empty: no photos, text or embellishments. It doesn't have to be white. A plain or softly coloured area, or even a fine pattern, works too.

That empty space gives your photos room to breathe and makes them more important. The eye knows where to look and the page feels calmer. The most common beginner's mistake is filling every empty spot. Instead, group your photos and embellishments in one place and leave the rest open. If you feel something is missing, set the page aside for a while before adding anything.

Read also: Design principles for a scrapbook page that works

Usually it's because too much is going on at once: too many colours, too many scattered embellishments and no clear centre. Run through these points:

• Every empty spot is filled. Leave more white space.
• There are several big eye-catchers. Choose one.
• The embellishments are spread all over the page. Put them in a few small clusters.
• Some colours have nothing to do with each other or with your photo. Limit yourself to three or four.
• The story is missing. A title and a few sentences of text tie things together.

If in doubt, take one or two things away. That improves a page more often than adding something.

Read also: How to make your first scrapbook page, step by step

You don't have to follow a sketch exactly. See it as a starting point and adapt it like this:

• You have a portrait photo and the sketch has a landscape box: rotate or mirror the whole sketch.
• You have too few photos: use an empty box for text, the date and place, or a card or ticket.
• You have too many photos: merge two small boxes or hide extra photos behind a flap.
• There's no room for text: turn a photo box into one, or write on a tag that you tuck behind a photo.
• You're working at a different size: scale the proportions up or down until they fit your own page.

Read also: What is a scrapbook sketch and how do you make a page with it?

Layers look calm when they differ in size, shape and busyness. What helps:

• Combine small prints with plain paper, so not everything is competing for attention.
• Vary the sizes: one large piece, one medium piece and a narrow strip.
• Offset the layers slightly so a bit of each one stays visible. Don't stack them exactly on top of each other.
• Balance straight corners with a round element.
• Use vellum (translucent paper) for the top layers. It looks lighter than solid paper.
• Keep the layers close to your main photo, so they lead towards it.

You'll learn how many layers feel right by practising.

Read also: Layers and depth on your scrapbook page

Make one element clearly bigger or more eye-catching than the rest. Usually that's your best photo. It becomes the focal point, the spot the eye goes to first.

How to strengthen the focal point:

• Put the photo on a mat in a contrasting colour, or give it a double border.
• Place layers of paper and a cluster of embellishments close to that photo.
• Position it on or near an intersection of the rule of thirds.
• Keep the other photos smaller.

Also pay attention to the direction people are looking in your photo. If someone is looking left, leave some space on that side and don't put the photo right up against the edge. A photo without a clear direction sits well in the centre.

Read also: Design principles for a scrapbook page that works

Lay your photos loosely on the page and try three different layouts before you choose. You don't have to draw anything.

• Place your main photo first, large or on an intersection of the rule of thirds.
• Arrange the other photos around it in a row, a corner or a grid.
• Move the title and text box around. Keep them close to the photos.
• Take a photo of each layout with your phone and look back at them afterwards. In a photo you can see the balance better.
• Choose the layout your eye goes to straight away, and only then stick things down.

If you like working from a fixed plan, use a sketch. If you have a lot of text, write it first so you know how much space you need.

Read also: How to build a scrapbook layout step by step

Place embellishments (decorations such as stickers, buttons and flowers) in small clusters close to your photos, rather than scattered across the whole page. A cluster that just overlaps a corner of a photo connects the embellishment to the photo.

Two rules of thumb help:

• Odd numbers, such as three or five, look more natural than even numbers.
• A visual triangle: three clusters or repeated elements at three points on the page lead the eye across your whole page.

Choose embellishments in the colours of your photo and keep them modest. They're there to support the photo, not to compete with it.

Read also: How to choose and place embellishments without the clutter

With the rule of thirds, you imagine your page divided into nine equal boxes by two horizontal and two vertical lines. You place important elements, such as your main photo or a cluster of embellishments, on those lines or on one of the four intersections.

This looks livelier than putting everything right in the middle, and it stops a page feeling lopsided or empty. On a 30 x 30 cm page, the lines are 10 and 20 cm from the edge. It's a guide, not a law: a photo in the centre works just as well if you choose it on purpose.

Read also: Design principles for a scrapbook page that works

A page is balanced when the visual weight is evenly spread. Dark colours, large photos, busy patterns and chunky embellishments are heavy. Light, small and plain things are light.

How to bring the page into balance:

• Place a cluster of smaller elements or a title opposite a large photo.
• Repeat a colour or shape on the other side of the page.
• Pair busy photos with calm paper.
• Put photos of roughly the same weight together on one page, and give your busiest photo a page of its own.

Balance doesn't have to be symmetrical. An uneven but balanced page often looks livelier.

Read also: Design principles for a scrapbook page that works

You get depth by not sticking everything down flat. A few ways:

• Raise some elements on foam tape or foam pads. Choose 1 to 2 mm thick, so your album still closes properly.
• Vary how you attach things: fully glued, with one corner loose, or stitched down with the sewing machine.
• Cut flowers or leaves out of patterned paper and stick them on raised.
• Add materials with a texture of their own, such as vellum, fabric, lace or twine.
• Use embossing, ink or paint splatters on the background.

Don't raise everything. Depth stands out precisely next to flat areas.

Read also: Layers and depth on your scrapbook page

A sketch is a line drawing showing where the elements go. A template is a worked-out version with real shapes that you put your photos and paper into. Templates are mainly used in digital scrapbooking: you place your photo on a box and it takes on the shape of that box, using what's called a clipping mask.

A template saves time when it includes unusual shapes, such as circles, stars or flowers. A sketch gives you more freedom, but you draw or cut the shapes yourself. You can freely adapt a template too: leave out layers, move boxes, rotate or enlarge them. On paper, you can use a template as a sketch.

Read also: What is a scrapbook sketch and how do you make a page with it?

Give one pattern the leading role and let the others support it. For example, combine a large, bold motif with a small print such as dots or checks, and put plain paper in between for calm.

What else helps:

• Choose patterns that share one or two colours.
• Vary the scale: one large, one medium and one small motif work better together than three of the same size.
• The front and back of a double-sided sheet always go together.
• Paper from the same collection is designed to match, but feel free to mix brands.
• A narrow strip of plain cardstock between two patterns separates them neatly.

Read also: How to choose colours that suit your photos

You mainly create contrast with light against dark, not just with different colours. A light photo on a light background disappears. Put it on a dark mat and it stands out.

You can use contrast to guide the eye:

• A dark or bright colour for the title, a ribbon or a little flag draws attention.
• Mats in a contrasting colour lift photos off the background.
• A short bit of text on a busy page stands out if you put it on a calm, plain area.
• Colours opposite each other on the colour wheel, such as blue and orange, give the strongest colour contrast.

Use contrast sparingly. If everything contrasts, nothing stands out any more.

Read also: How to choose colours that suit your photos

A title doesn't have to be big and stretched across the page. One word or a short phrase on a little flag, tag or strip works just as well, as long as the title sits close to your main photo and stays readable.

Ideas if you don't have letter stickers:

• Alphabet stamps, or your own handwriting with a pen.
• Printing letters, or cutting them with a cutting machine.
• A nice letter from a free font; these are often meant for personal use only.
• Cutting words out of magazines.

For a curved title, lightly draw an arc in pencil along a stencil or plate and stick the letters along it. Choose a title that refers to the story, not just the place.

Read also: How to make scrapbook titles without letter stickers

You don't have to, but a mat lifts your photo off the background and looks neat. A mat is a piece of paper behind your photo that forms a border. A thin mat in a neutral or contrasting colour is usually enough.

The width determines the effect. Without a mat the page looks calm, a border of about 2 mm is delicate and around 5 mm gives a clear frame. To work out the size, add the border you want twice to the size of your photo. If you want a 3 mm border around a 10 x 15 cm photo, cut the mat to 10.6 x 15.6 cm. A double mat puts extra emphasis on your main photo.

Read also: How to mat and crop photos without regrets

Pick your favourites first; not every photo needs to be big on the page. Then you have a few options:

• A grid of equal boxes, which looks calm even with lots of photos.
• A double page, so you have twice as much space.
• Pocket pages with pockets for 10 x 15 cm photos, with a pocket for the title and one for text.
• Little envelopes, flaps or a fold-out page for extra photos.
• A series of smaller prints next to one larger main photo.

Also split your photos into smaller stories. Four photos from one day often tell two stories. Then it's better to make two pages.

Read also: Choosing photos and how many fit on a scrapbook page

Collect pages you love and look for what they have in common. Pay attention to colours, shapes, the amount of embellishment and whether you prefer working clean or playful. Often a pattern will emerge on its own, for example clean and simple (neat, with lots of white space), vintage, or colourful and full instead.

Then recreate a few of those pages with your own photos. Whatever you find easy to work with and makes you happy suits you. Having your own style also saves money, because you buy more selectively, and your pages will go together better. Mixing styles is fine too; that's often how your own signature look develops.

Read also: Scrapbooking styles: how to spot them and find your own

Make all the shadows fall in the same direction, as if there's one light source. Usually the light comes from the top left, so the shadows fall to the right and down.

Also:

• Flat paper gets a small, sharp shadow. A thick element such as a button or flower gets a larger, softer shadow.
• Don't make shadows too big or too dark, or an element will look as if it's floating rather than lying on the page.
• Give every element a shadow, even small pieces of paper.
• Only add shadows once you've finished rotating and mirroring. Otherwise the shadow rotates too and falls the wrong way.

Good shadows make a digital page look real.

Read also: How to get started with digital scrapbooking

Yes, that works fine, as long as you choose a layout that suits different shapes. A strict grid with equal boxes works badly with mixed photos; it leaves odd gaps.

What does work:

• One large landscape photo with one or two smaller portrait photos next to it.
• A mosaic in which boxes of different sizes fit together.
• A group of photos that overlap each other slightly.
• Cropping a portrait photo to a square so it fits in a row.

Lay the photos loosely on your page first and move them around until the edges line up nicely.

It is, but a rectangular photo usually looks calmer. When you cut a photo into a circle, heart or star, you often lose background that carries the mood and the story.

If you do it anyway, keep the following in mind:

• Never cut off a head, face or important detail.
• If someone is looking to the side, leave enough space on that side.
• Cut a print or copy, never an original you only have one of.

If you want variety, play with size instead: a large photo next to a few small ones, or a narrow strip from a wide photo.

Read also: How to mat and crop photos without regrets

You don't have to. A spread (two pages that sit side by side) with the same or a mirrored layout looks formal and calm. Two different halves look livelier. Feel free to mix it up in your album.

It is nice, though, if you can see that the two pages belong together:

• Repeat colours or the same paper on both sides.
• Let a strip of paper, a row of photos or a title run across both sides at the same height.
• Choose one main photo for the whole spread, not one per page.

Lay both pages side by side before you stick anything down, so the lines match up properly.