Cropping Photos, An Easy Guide for Scrapbookers

One of the basics of scrapbooking is cropping photos. Some tend to avoid cropping, not sure of how to go about it. Others may go to the other extreme, cropping every photo. 

Looking back at my first albums, I see that all the photos were cropped, often in many different shapes. I would usually cut almost all of the background out of most of the photos. Through the years, as I have learned more about scrapbooking, and gained experience, the way that I crop photos has changed. 

I look back at those early albums and wish I hadn't cropped out so much of some of the photos. Sometimes the backgrounds in our photos tell part of the story. I have learned that sometimes, less is more.

There are some good reasons to crop the photos for our scrapbooks. We can crop our photos to fit more on a page, and also to create visual variety that is pleasing to the eye. Let's take a look at some of the ways we can crop photos for beautiful scrapbook pages.

• Crop for Balance and Focus – We can crop photos for balance. I know I don't always take the time to compose every shot. Kids often don't hold still very long, making it difficult to get that perfect shot. Cropping photos can shift the focus where we want it.
•  Crop to Enlarge – With digital photos, this is very simple. Sometimes the subject of the photo is too small, and gets lost in the picture. If we cropped around the subject the photo would be too small. We can crop to enlarge the subject by using photo editing software or at the photo lab before the photo is printed. If you only have a printed photo, try scanning the photo and then crop before reprinting.
• Crop Out Distractions – Sometimes we want to keep some of the background, but distracting backgrounds can be cropped out. Some backgrounds are very busy, pulling our eye away from the subject. Maybe we don't want the dirty dishes in the background. When photos are taken in public places we can crop other people out of the photos.
• Crop for Creativity – Photos can be cropped into creative shapes. This should be used very sparingly. Squares and rectangles are classic shapes that will always look pleasing. If it suits the layout, sprinkle a fun shape in here or there to add variety to a page. As a general rule one creative shape on a page is enough.

 Now we have looked at some of the ways we can crop our photos. Try cropping very little at first, as you arrange your page layout you can always go back and crop more. There are also some some things we don't want to do when cropping photos.

•  Instant Photos – Never crop instant photos (polaroid). The chemicals inside that were used to develop them can bleed out and ruin your scrapbook page. The layers can also come apart. If you must, scan them, print them on regular photo paper and crop them instead. If you don't like the white border, try hiding it behind a photo frame.
•  Historical / Place References – Remember not to crop out all historical or place references. The places that the photos were taken tell part of the story.
•  Shapes – Limit cropping photos into shapes. This will tend to overwhelm the page. Sprinkling an occasional circle or oval to accent a page. Use irregular shapes sparingly.
•  One of a Kind Photos – Never crop a one of a kind photo. Scan these photos and crop those if you need to crop to fit in your page layout.
•  Heritage Photos – Avoid cropping photos taken before 1950. The paper these photos were printed on is a fiber-based paper. Cropping will cause the edges to fray and the photos to deteriorate.

 Keep these tips for cropping photos in mind. Soon you will be cropping with ease, and creating stunning scrapbooks.