Finding the best scrapbook can be difficult, as there are so many available –that's why we've created this guide for you. We know that people like to showcase their images, but how many of us actually bother to display our snaps in a way that others can enjoy them? That's where a scrapbook can help. So why not enhance your photographic journey by enjoying the images in all their printed glory? And remember, a scrapbook makes a great gift not only for yourself, but also for your loved ones...
Scrapbooking can help you to creatively decide what photographs work best, as when you have them in printed form in front of you, you're forced to properly analyze them, to choose the winning shots. Creating a scrapbook or a photo album is good fun and will enable you to showcase your best work.
The choice of scrapbooks can be quite bewildering, as there are so many options online. To help you, we’ve selected a range of products here that will suit every taste and budget. From cheap and cheerful DIY scrapbooks to more luxurious leather-bound beauties...
If you can't find what you're looking for here, then take a look at our guide to the best photo books for an all-in-one printed option, or consider one of the best digital photo frames for an alternative way to display lots of images.
Whether you are a seasoned photographer who wants to create a collection of your best work, a keen family snapper who wants to display all of your favorite memories in one place, or you're just looking to create a personalized gift that will wow people, a scrapbook is a great way for you to showcase your favorite pictures.
The best scrapbooks: What you should consider before buying
Naturally, scrapbooking give you lots of creative freedom, however, you still have to consider a few things before deciding on which one is fit for your purpose.
There are four main things to look at: the type of album, quality, material and size of the scrapbook.
While some scrapbooks are self-adhesive by design, many aren't, so remember that you will need something to stick your photographs into the scrapbook. As it can be tricky to choose what’s right, we’ve also created a guide to accompany this one – the best scrapbooking glue – which gives recommendations on which adhesives, photo dots or photo corners to use.
The best scrapbooks in 2021
This scrapbook by Kolo feels and looks great, and is highly durable. It is made using a heavyweight, warp-resistant bookbinding board that’s wrapped in an Italian-milled, premium cloth. The album contains 40 pages (20 sheets) and fits two 4x6 photos per page, however, the refillable design means you have the ability to add in extra pages so the scrapbook could be expanded to 80 pages (40 sheets). The Kolo Newbury scrapbook has slightly scored-hinged pages which allow pages to lay flat when the album is open, and it has a neat ribbon closure. It comes in Navy, Platinum, Ivory (as pictured here), Chartreuse (a color between yellow and green), and Black, and the scrapbook has a handy 2.5 x 2.5 inch front cover window pocket so you can pop in a photograph there, this, plus the black interior pages help to give this Newbury scrapbook a professional look and finish.
This is another quality scrapbook from Kolo; however, being leather it’s a little bit pricer than the Newbury cloth one above and, at 11.6 x 9 x 1.2 inches, it’s slightly larger in size. The scrapbook measures 8.5 x 11.0 inches, with approximately 1.5 inch for the binding edge, so only 8.5 x 9.5 inches is available for layout design, which may or may not be handy depending on the size of your photos. If you like your scrapbook to have protective clear sheets, to keep your photos safe, then look elsewhere, but if you like to create your own pages without the sheen of plastic interrupting your viewing, this is a good buy. The Newport scrapbook from Kolo comes with 20 pages and these are plain paper, but you can easily pop in any other paper that you'd like by using a hole punch.
This scrapbook from Old Town has a bonded pebbled leather exterior and faux suede lining which exudes quality. The large size of the scrapbook will be great for those who like plenty of space around their photos, to write up notes to accompany their memories or place in other items such as tickets. There are 30 double-sided archival quality pages with optically clear pockets, which makes this scrapbook really easy to use: you just create your pages and pop them in the top of the sleeve. What's more, you can add extra pages with extension posts. Depending on the size of the extension posts and thickness of pages will depend how many additional pages you can fit. (With a 5mm extension post you could fit approximately 10 additional pages.) It comes with good-quality white card stock paper so you can happily create your scrapbook using adhesives and they won't show through.
This scrapbook album has a linen cover, that’s simple and stylish appearance, but also strong and durable. There is a 9x9cm photo window on the cover, you can insert your favorite snap to illustrate your scrapbook. The scrapbook comes with a metallic pen so you can start scrapbooking as soon as you get it. The self-adhesive pages are great for creative freedom as you can reuse them, and it also enables you to use any size photo, such as 6x4,7x5,10x8, plus you can free access to your precious photos. The plastic film is waterproof and dust-proof, so it’ll protect the photos and texts and will prevent your special snaps from fading. This scrapbook comes in two sizes and there are lots of colors to choose from – Grey, Khaki, Sky Blue, Turquoise, Orange, Pink, Purple, Grass Green, Navy Blue, Black and Orange, and it would make a perfect wedding album, travel photo album, baby growth photo album or graduation photo album.
With its sleek design, this large album from Pioneer is perfect for any scrapbooking or paper-crafting project. It is made using a deep black, vinyl material, that makes this scrapbook look and feel like a quality product. The D-ring design enables you the creative freedom to choose what you want each page to look like – you can choose any paper type and simply punch a holes in them to place them into the scrapbook, knowing that your photos will be safe and your memories will look great for years to come. The D-ring is especially useful if you’re not certain on the size of your project when you first begin scrapbooking and as it's a large album, it will accommodate most photos, no matter the size.
This refillable scrapbook from Huston Lowell is a beautiful thing to behold. The black pages inside are extremely sturdy and give a professional look that helps to highlight the beauty of your snaps, while the high-quality linen cover makes the scrapbook durable whilst adding a touch of class. The ring-binder design might not be for everyone, but it does mean that the pages can be laid out flat and it gives you the freedom to move the pages around in the scrapbook easily, and to use different paper stock if you so wish. There are various colors to choose from too: Beige, Gray, Blue, Green, Khaki and Red. The size of the album is a decent 10.4 x 8.3 inches and the refill page size is 10.2 x 6.9 inches, which means it can easily hold two 6x4 photos or two 5x3 photos per page. What's more, the scrapbook comes with gold and silver star stickers, and a metallic pen so you can get cracking on writing notes about your special moments straightaway.
This large-size scrapbook is glossy, bright and cheerful with embossed lettering on the front saying “Live, Laugh, Love”. It’s a top-loading scrapbook that has 10 pages of acid-free cardstock inserts which means you can relax knowing that your memories and photos will be kept safe from dust and fading over time. The neat elastic band ensures your scrapbook closes nicely and safely. The scrapbook has a screw-in post spine which makes it easy to move the pages around and means that the scrapbook can be easily expanded.
The heavyweight chipboard cover of this American Crafts Modern Album might not be to everyone’s taste and you have to store it carefully as the chipboard can easily get scratched or damaged, however, if you’re after a cover that you can easily customize, then this scrapbook is worth a look as you can decorate it with your own paper and embellishments. The secure interlocking D-ring binding system enables you to turn the pages with ease and gives you the creative freedom to move the pages around once assembled. The scrapbook is great for archiving your special memories and it includes ten top-loading page protectors.
This scrapbook from AIOR has a quality linen cover which is elegant and stylish in appearance; it comes in gray, beige, blue stripes or white, and has a linen ribbon closure, plus the metal ring binder itself is easy to pop open and closed. The scrapbook is a decent size of 28 x 21cm, with the inner pages measuring 26 x 18cm, so it can two 6x4 photos per page. The scrapbook comes with 30 sheets/60 pages of photo paper, and this is durable enough to stick your photos down on, should you want to use glue to do so, but we wouldn't recommend doing that, and as this package comes with photo corners, you don't have to! We would recommend that you create your design using photo corners, to keep your photos safe and archival, and the vintage black pages inside allow you to do just that. The refillable ring-binder design and black pages are well suited for creating a beautiful scrapbook, giving you the freedom to move interior pages around while enabling you to lay the pages of the scrapbook out flat, so you can view your photos with ease.
This leather scrapbook by Rustic Ridge Leather is the perfect way to store and present your photos and memories with style and class. The rustic leather cover is made from high-quality leather that not only looks great, but will last for years to come. The scrapbook holds 100 4x6" or 5x7" photos, and is the perfect size to bring along with you to gatherings with family and friends (once the pandemic restrictions are over!) This Rustic Leather scrapbook has a uniquely classic look, style, and feel that you won’t find in a modern-style scrapbooks. This would make a great gift for someone or for yourself, and the natural variations in the leather make each album one of a kind. The cream-colored pages are traditional acid-free cardstock with a semi-transparent sheet between each page, allowing you to attach photos to both sides of the pages.
If money is no object, or even if it is, but you'd like to buy the very best leather scrapbook that you can, then look no further than this luxury scrapbook from Leatherkind. The Cortona album is handmade in Italy using top-grain leather called Spazzolato – a material which is usually reserved for high-end designer handbags! The leather is lustrously smooth thanks to advanced tanning techniques and the album has a contemporary design featuring hand stitched, subtly contrasting leather edging: it's quite simply, beautiful. Inside, the high-quality, acid-free pages are separated by transparent sheets, which ensures your photos are kept in pristine condition, as they stop your photos from potentially rubbing on each other and they help to prevent a build up of moisture from within your album. As the album is 6 x 22 x 26 cm, it’s one of the largest hand-crafted albums you can buy, so there’s lots of room to personalize it. Talking of personalizing, there's the option to have it engraved too. So, if you're looking to create a gift or an heirloom that will wow people, this scrapbook, with its luxurious leather and contemporary appeal, is a winner.
This Tivoli scrapbook is hand-made using recycled leather and it feels and smells absolutely wonderful. It contains 40 (80 sides) of high-quality cream pages that are interspersed with protective tissue paper, so you can be assured that your photos remain safe and moisture-free. The quality of the paper is outstanding and the tissue between pages gives the scrapbook a classy feel. However, don't forget that you'll need to buy some kind of photo mounts or adhesive in order to stick your snaps in, and it will take you hours to fix all your photos in place. You might think that spending £50 or so is too much for a scrapbook, but this will be a memory book that you (or a loved one – should you decide to make it for someone else) will cherish forever.
Tips for scrapbooking
1. Select your photos
It might seem obvious, but before you choose a scrapbook, you need to think about selecting all the photos you want to use and how many you'd like to display per page. You may already have some printed and so you'll need to ensure that you choose the correct size scrapbook to accommodate them.
2. Think about the story you'd like to create
It's easy to get bogged down when you first start creating your scrapbook project. So to make a coherent collection, we would recommend looking at the chronology of your photos so that you can create the best story from your favorite memories.
Remember that not all scrapbooks are expandable and so you'll need to have a good idea of how many photos you'll be presenting in order to make the right choice.
3. Choose the correct size and format
Scrapbooks generally have white, off-white or black inner pages, so you have to decide which one would showcase your snaps in the best light. Plain cardstock, or patterned scrapbook paper are the essential materials to have to hand. You can usually buy these in sheets or pads at 12 x 12-inches size, and then you have to cut the pages down to the specific size needed for your scrapbook.
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