- 1). Gather all the photos or scrapbook items you want to use. If you intend to remove old photos from another album to include in your new album, remember to take special care; older photos often become fragile and tear more easily. It's also a good idea to storyboard your layout before you begin creating your album. Ask yourself which photos work best on the same page. You might want to organize your album in chronological order. Consider changing each page's theme to fit the year or decade when the photos where taken. If you really want to get creative, add a music chip to your album that plays your favorite songs from the years you cover in your album.
- 2). Choose a graphics program to create your photo album. Two excellent programs to create this type of project are Gimp (freeware) and Photoshop. Both programs function in much the same way. Click "File," then "New" to open a new document. Enter the width and height you require. Next, select a resolution; 200 pixels is best for quality printing. Keep in mind that for each new page of your photo album or scrapbook, you will need to repeat this process. Either create a separate design for each individual page or copy your previous design to add new images. Save your new document with a number behind it like "album 50s page 2."
- 3). Use the layers panel to create your album and scrapbook pages. Each time you bring in a new photo or graphic, it will automatically be placed on a separate layer. When you create your own drawings or other designs in the program, you should also place each on a different layer. By doing so, each element--be it text, photo or other graphic--can be altered without affecting other elements. Once you're pleased with what you've created and you're ready for the next step, save your document as a high resolution JPEG.
- 4). Choose a printing method for your album or scrapbook. If you will be printing the pages yourself, you will need to purchase photo-quality paper. You will also need enough ink to complete your entire print job. You may also need to purchase a binder for your album. Consider printing cover pages for your album, depending on the type of binder. You could also consider having your pages printed by a professional print service such as Staples or Office Depot.
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