Does Size Matter?

The beauty of digital scrapbooking is that you can scrap whatever size you want. It just doesn't matter. The only limitations on this are: your imagination and what your computer is capable of handling.

That said, there are factors to consider when selecting the size you'll do your layouts. Some of these things include:

» computer's limitations
» hard drive space
» printing options
» presentation
» desire
» photo resolutions

These are by no means the only things that you should consider when picking your layout sizes, but they are important to think about nonetheless.

A digital layout can have a very large file size. It can be RAM intensive. It can demand a lot from your computer. A 12x12 layout can easily run you 100-150MB (or more) on your hard drive – easily. Keep this in mind before you get started. Make sure you have the hard drive space before you get started to save yourself a lot of frustration down the road.

Questions you should ask yourself are:

» How will I store and/or present my layouts?
» Are albums readily available?
» Will my layout be a two page spread?
» Does consistency matter to me?

Today the most common scrapbook sizes are: 12x12, 8.5x11, 8x8, and 6x6. The most popular are by far the 12x12 and 8.5x11. This, however, doesn't mean that you cannot scrap other sizes, either bigger or smaller. That is the fun of it. You pick the size you like and go from there.

Unless specifically stated, kits available are 12x12 in size. These can easily be resized. I will address this in a different tutorial.

You do not even have to scrap the same size all the time. You can scrap according to your needs and/or wants. For example, I started a special 5x7 (landscape) scrapbook for my husband's grandmother. A small album size filled the need and was easily carried around in a walker basket. Albums in the landscapre orientation where harder to find, but they are available both locally and online. This size offers a challenge – getting the stuff on the page. It is a small size and doesn't yield itself well to a lot of photos or embellishments, but it suited my needs. Incidentally, that size is perfect for filling a monitor screen for screensavers and online sharing.

I like the 8x8 size. It isn't too larger and it isn't too small. To me, it is just right. Albums are readily available that size.

You should consider your photo resolutions before picking a size. If you have older digital images, you likely will not be as impressed with their quality at 8x10 size, but they might be perfect for a 4x6 size. Keeping this in mind when you are doing your layouts will not leave you disappointed in the quality. You cannot improve the quality of a low resolution image so don't make it larger than it has the quality to be. You can easily use more smaller images with your older digital images. This is a consideration when scanning images as well -- scan at higher resolution than you think you will need, it is easier to scale down than up.