The best scrapbooking glue must be strong enough to hold stuff in place, yet gentle enough to avoid damaging the delicate paper and decorative elements in the journal, scrapbook or photo albums.
However, with so many options available, it can be overwhelming to find the perfect adhesive. In this guide, I'll explore the top scrapbooking glues on the market, considering factors such as drying time, adhesive strength, and versatility. I'll also highlight their strengths and weaknesses so you can choose between them.
Whether you're a seasoned scrapbooker or a beginner, I'll help you find the ideal glue to bring your creative visions to life. If you need extra guidance, jump ahead to the section on How to choose.
The best scrapbooking glue
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Best glue for scrapbooking overall
This spray adhesive has been formulated for mounting items to a wide variety of surfaces and is ideal for sticking lightweight materials like photos, paper, and card into scrapbooks and photo albums. The spray canister has been designed to spray at a wide angle to cover large areas, so it's great for bigger photos and art projects.
You don't need to use a lot of spray to adhere photos to a scrapbook page; in fact, I recommend that you use it very sparingly. One light spray is enough to mount pictures or drawings in a scrapbook or photo book, but you can also reposition a photo, should you need to: you can simply peel it off and stick it down again up to 12 hours later (two hours when two surfaces are sprayed).
When the adhesive dries, it forms a secure bond that doesn't go brittle over time. As is usual with art sprays, you should only use this spray in a well-ventilated area, but it's worth noting that this isn't as noxious as other sprays I've tested in the past.
Most flexible glue for scrapbooking
Elmer’s Rubber Cement is a strong adhesive that's acid-free and great for sticking prints to scrapbooks and photo albums. At the same time, it's very flexible because if you only apply it to one surface, it can easily be peeled off and reapplied. Once you've decided to make it permanent, you just have to apply it to both pieces of paper. This makes it ideal for projects that require accurate placement. It also doesn't wrinkle paper and is nice and affordable too.
Best value glue for scrapbooking
These white, repositionable mounting squares measure 1/2-inch and are double sided. When applying them be sure to fix two edges first, and then add in the other two once the photo is in place to avoid crimping your snaps. What's handy about these mounting squares is that they can be easily repositioned in first five minutes of application, so if you make a mistake you can easily fix it.
Best adhesive dots for scrapbooking
These dots from Glue Dots International are acid- and lignin-free and non-toxic. They bond easily once you apply some pressure and can attach to almost any surface; they even work on glitter card!
There are three dispensers, and each one holds 200 adhesives that are 3/8 inch in diameter (9.53mm). Make sure you use the correct one for your scrapbooking project, as the included dispensers contain permanent, removable, and poster adhesives (you can buy individual dispensers too).
Best photo stickers
With each piece measuring 12mm x 17mm, these adhesive double-sided photo stickers by German manufacturer Herma are a nice size. The stickers are fairly easy to peel off, but could be fiddly depending on your dexterity. The adhesive is double-sided, so you can first apply the sticker to the photo and then stick it onto the surface. The stickers are solvent-free, so they are safe to use on your precious photos, and they have lots of other uses, too.
What's great is that one side is ready for use, the other covered by backing paper with a pull tab. You want to be sure of the positioning of your photos before you stick them down, though, as these are for permanent mounting of photos, receipts, cuttings, and so on.
Best photo corners
Measuring just 0.07 x 0.07 x 0.02 cm, these self-adhesive, transparent photo corners can be easily removed from the dispenser. I really like that they are almost invisible and have very good adhesion.
I found them a little fiddly to use at first, but once you get the hang of things, they're really nice. A top tip is to place them on the top corners of your photo first, and then stick them on the album page. If you've got a slightly thicker photo, like a Polaroid, then stick them onto the opposite corners first – it just makes them a little easier to manage. They are acid- and lignin-free, making them archive-safe, so you can be sure your memories will last forever.
Best staying power
These superior-quality self-adhesive photo corners are made from acrylic and measure 12mm, and they are ideal for sticking in larger photos into your scrapbook or photo book. Being slightly larger in size than some other photo corners in this guide might suit you if you find using the smaller versions fiddly.
Conveniently packaged in a sheet containing a total of 108 corners. The photo corners I tried are silver, which helps give a professional finish to projects. They're also available in cream/ivory, white, black, and gold & buff variations.
Best clear photo corners
Pioneer Photo Ltd is a respected name in the photo album industry. It uses only quality, archival materials in manufacturing, ensuring its products are photo-safe. These photo corners are acid-, lignin-, and PVC-emission free.
The pack contains 250 clear adhesive photo corners. They come in an easy-to-use dispenser box and are pressure sensitive. So, as long as you haven't pressed down too hard, it's easy to reposition these photo corners.
Best value photo corners
These black, plastic, self-adhesive, acid-free photo corners from Pioneer are great for scrapbooks and all sorts of art projects. This pack contains 250 self-adhesive corners.
To apply them, simply peel the photo corner from the sheet and pop it directly onto the album page. Alternatively, you can slip these over the corner of a photo and position them onto an album page. As the corners are pressure-sensitive, you can reposition your snaps until you press down hard, which will fix them in place permanently.
Best value foam squares
These white 3D foam squares from 3L Scrapbook Adhesives are made with high-density foam, allowing you to create depth and dimension. It's simple to remove from the sheet, and the top liners are incredibly easy to peel. The foam squares are available in black and white, regular and small sizes.
I recommend that you use them carefully on any photos you choose to pop into your scrapbook, as they're not acid-free and so you might see a deterioration in your snaps over time. However, they're great for adding height and interest to your scrapbooks, as the foam can be stacked so that different levels can be attained.
How to choose the right scrapbooking glue
When choosing the right glue or adhesive for your scrapbook or photo book, note that acids and photographs don't mix. Photographs have chemicals in them from processing, and when those acids are combined with acidic paper, adhesives, memorabilia, and page protectors, a chemical reaction can occur. Over time, the acid can start to seep into the photos, leaving you with snaps and layouts that are discolored, or in some cases ruined.
To avoid this mishap, you should look for these words on product labels: Acid-free, pH neutral, and Archival Safe. All the adhesives featured in this guide are safe to use on photos.
Also, consider whether you want your scrapbook to be archival. If you do, I'd recommend using photo corners so that you can easily take out any photos as needed. If you don't mind your photos being stuck to your layouts, then you might like to consider photo dots and double-sided adhesive rolls.
Finally, will you need to reposition your photos? If so, check whether your chosen adhesive enables you to do so, or whether it’s permanent. This is really important if you’re not quite sure of your layout when you start your scrapbook/photo book, because many adhesives are permanent.
Don't worry, though: all is not lost if you do get it wrong. There are tricks you can use to remove photos carefully from a page after it's stuck down, such as slipping dental floss in behind the photo and carefully teasing it loose.
Is a wet or dry adhesive best for scrapbooking?
I recommend that you always use a dry adhesive for sticking photos into a scrapbook, unless you have a particularly large print, in which case you may want to opt for a spray, which covers a larger area more easily. Dry adhesive comes in the form of tapes, dots, and photo-mount corners.
If you do use a spray, I recommend acid-free sprays, as I don’t trust other wet adhesives not to ruin snaps by creating wrinkles or drying in a way that makes the glue brittle.
