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Tutorial
2: Every Type of Album
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| The following steps give
simple, basic examples of the Albums used for scrapbooking. |
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| Step 1 Choosing Your
Album |
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Choosing your album is one
of the most important choices you will make when scrapbooking.
Many photo albums, old and new, do not properly protect
your photos and, in some cases, they damage your photos.
All albums sold on The Acre have been researched to ensure
you are purchasing quality albums that are photo-safe.
Four important things that an album must have in order
to be photo-safe are lignin-free, acid-free, buffered,
and PVC-free. |
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Lignin is a natural pigment found in trees. It
is the thing in paper products such as newspaper that
causes them to yellow over time. Lignin-free products
keep your paper, pages, and pictures from turning yellow. |
| - Acid can
discolor your pages and photos as well as deteriorate
them. This is most noticeable in very old albums where
the pictures have become one with the page and the edges
look like they have been eaten. Acid-free products keep
your photos and journaling safe for many generations to
come. |
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Buffered refers to a covering on album pages that
keeps anything acidic from bleeding onto the album page
and onto other photos and memorabilia. Most memorabilia
contain acid, which can deteriorate your album page and
other pictures surrounding the memorabilia. Buffered
pages keep that deterioration from occurring. |
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PVC is another type of material that can deteriorate
your photos and pages. It is mainly seen in magnetic
albums. It is the plastic overlay that covers your photos.
It contains chemicals that can destroy your photos. |
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There are three main types of photo albums used today:
- Magnetic Albums
- Photo Sleeve Albums
- Scrapbook Albums
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Magnetic albums
have been the most popular way to store and show photos
for many years. They allow you to include memorabilia
and different size photos. However, most of these albums
are not acid-free and lignin-free. Many of the older albums
contain PVC in the overlay as well. As explained above,
this will lead to decaying photos. If you have any photos
currently in magnetic albums, remove them and as time
allows, put them in photo-safe scrapbook albums. |
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Sleeve albums
allow you to slip photos into sleeves very quickly and
easily. Many older sleeve albums contain PVC in the sleeves.
However, many new sleeve albums today are PVC-free. The
disadvantages to sleeve albums are that they usually only
allow for one size photo, that there is not a good way
to incorporate your personality into the pages, and that
most of these albums do not allow space for journaling. |
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Scrapbook Albums come
in many sizes, shapes and types. They have many different
kinds of pages, bindings, and covers. And not all scrapbook
albums are safe for your photos. All albums sold on The
Acre have been researched to ensure you are getting albums
that are photo-safe and of good quality.
Some advantages of
scrapbook albums include journaling, photo-safe materials
and a stronger binding. They also provide a creative
way to display your memories.
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 Journaling is
an added benefit that is very
important in documenting your history. So many times we
take out photo books and boxes only to start asking "Who is that?" and "What
were we doing?" Older scrapbook albums allow for
journaling, however, they most
likely contain acid and lignin. Be sure to check any
older albums you own to see if they are indeed photo-safe.
Contact the company who made your album if you are uncertain. |
 Most
new scrapbook albums are acid-
and lignin-free. If the album
uses any type of plastic it will usually indicate that
it is PVC-free. If it does not indicate that, contact
the company and ask or choose a different album. Albums
that use pages as opposed to sleeves will usually indicate
that the pages are buffered. |
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Binding is
also an important element in a good quality album. The
two most popular types of binding are post, and strap.
Both allow you to expand your album to many pages. Be
sure you only purchase albums with stainless steel parts.
This will make your albums last much longer than albums
with softer metal pieces. And, as always in scrapbooking,
BE CREATIVE! Scrapbooks allow you the space and the freedom
to add stickers, die cuts, or whatever else you want to
liven up your pages and showcase your personality. |
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you look at older photo albums around your home
you will see many of the negative characteristics of
albums. The pictures will look decayed or yellowed, your
pages will not be as white as they were when you bought
the album, and you won't always know the important thoughts
surrounding the photo. Start taking the necessary steps
to protect your memories. |
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Enjoy this Scrap Class? See the
next one! Scrap Class 3: Snappy Embellishments!
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