The best scrapbooks in 2020: showcase your best photos and memories

To find the best scrapbook is difficult, as there are so many available. 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. After all, a photograph’s purpose isn’t over once you’ve pressed the shutter, if we never really look at the images we’ve taken, then what use are they? 

It is only by printing your shots that you can truly appreciate the beauty of your images, and when you have them in front of you, you'll be forced to properly analyze them to find the best ones. Creating a scrapbook or a photo album can be really good fun and will enable you to showcase your best work, they also make a great gift for yourself or loved ones.

But with so many options currently available, the choice of scrapbooks can be quite bewildering. 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 rustic-style 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 pro photographer that wants to create a collection of your best work or a keen family photographer who wants to display all of your favorite memories in one place, investing in one of the best scrapbooks is a great way for you to show off your favorite snaps. 

And remember that a scrapbook can make a fabulous personalized gift, whatever the occasion.

The best scrapbooks: What you should consider 

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 – such as an adhesive, photo dots or photo corners. As it can be tricky to choose what’s right, we’ve also created a guide to accompany this one, please check out the best glue for scrapbooking, which gives recommendations on the best adhesive, photo dots and photo corners for scrapbooking.

The best scrapbooks in 2020

This magnetic scrapbook album, or photo 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 set of colored pens and five cardboard designs 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. 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 would make a perfect wedding album, travel photo album, baby growth photo album or graduation photo album.

This scrapbook by Kolo feels great and is highly durable. It is made using a heavyweight, warp-resistant bookbinding board that’s wrapped in an ivory-colored, 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 handy scored-hinged pages which allow pages to lay flat when the album is open, and it has a neat ribbon closure.

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: the Kolo Newport scrapbook comes with 20 pages and these are plain paper, but you can easily pop in any other paper 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, and 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 white card stock paper inside clear sleeves.

With its sleek design, the Pioneer Jumbo Scrapbook is perfect for any scrapbooking or paper-crafting project. It comes with a leatherette cover with gold stamping, that makes it look and feel like a quality product. The scrapbook album is side-loading, and it has clear plastic slip-on sheet protectors that are acid and PVC free so that you can rest assured that your photos are safe and your memories will look great for years to come. The scrapbook comes with 50 sheets of buff (beige) colored paper, but its screw post binding means that you can expand it to accept unlimited refills. This is especially useful if you’re not certain on the size of your project when you first begin scrapbooking. You can choose from a Navy or a White scrapbook.

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. 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. And it comes with gold and silver star stickers, and a metallic pen so you can get cracking on writing notes about your special moments straight away.

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 has a linen cover which is elegant and stylish in appearance; it comes in gray or beige. The scrapbook contains 20 self-adhesive pages and each page has a high-quality transparent film that will protect your photos and text from dust and fading over time. The self-adhesive pages are perfect for those who find using glue and photo dots or corners fiddly, and therefore this scrapbook is incredibly easy to put together and use.

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.

This scrapbook album would make a great personalized gift for a loved one or yourself! As the pages are self-adhesive you don’t have to play around with corner stickers and the like, making this scrapbook from Recutms incredibly easy to use and put together. It contains white, high-quality inner pages, that are moisture-proof, and the self-adhesive film design will protect photos and text from dust and fading over time so you can rest assured that your memories are safe. The cover is wrapped in PU fabric material, that looks high-end, elegant and stylish and the sturdy rivets inside prevent the inner pages from falling. You can choose from Champagne Gold (Big) and Gold.

This luxury scrapbook comes wrapped in hand-crafted recycled leather and presented in a stylish magnetic gift box. The leather itself has a great feel to it and enables the scrapbook to be flexible but also durable. In keeping with the Italian style, the album is bound together with a leather wrap tie and closes with a lay over design ensuring your photos are kept in pristine condition. As the album is 235 mm wide and 305 mm high, it’s one of the largest hand-crafted albums you can buy, so there’s lots of room to personalize it. The scrapbook contains 50 pieces of high-quality creamy paper, interspersed with protective pages, so you can be sure that your memories are safe. The protective pages stop your photos from potentially rubbing on each other and they help to prevent a build up of moisture from within your album.

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.  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.

Read more

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