As your photographs play a key role in your scrapbooking, it is important to explore various techniques and treatments so that your photographs can be displayed to their best effect. A photograph should always take centre stage or be the main focus on your layout, and it is important that your embellishments do not overpower your photographs. Your embellishments and the rest of the layout should all serve to enhance your photographs.
If you are using precious photographs that cannot easily be reproduced, it is important to plan your page carefully and ensure that the techniques that you choose will not damage your images. In the next few articles, I will look at different methods and techniques that you can use with your photographs, and how to choose the method that best enhances them.
If you have precious or old photographs, and you don’t want to use the original on your layout. Instead, you can make a good quality photo copy to use. If you colour copy an old photograph, the copy will show the sepia colour that makes old photographs look so attractive. If you do not have access to a colour photo copier, here is how you can take your black and white copy and sepia tint it easily.
First of all you need to mix a strong solution of instant coffee and hot water. Once cool, dampen a cotton pad with the solution and wipe it onto the black and white photo copied photo. Wait for the photograph to dry completely before working with it. If it crinkles or bends, place it underneath a heavy book overnight to flatten it.
You can use the above method of sepia tinting to age any contemporary items so that they will fit into a old fashioned or heritage themed page.
Once your photograph has been prepared, you will need to crop or cut it accordingly. Cropping a photograph can transform a rather ordinary or poorly composed photograph into a strong and interesting image. You can also use cropping to help the eye to focus on the main point. By cropping your photographs, you can also remove unwanted items on the background. An unusual shaped cropping of your photograph can also be very effective.
Here is a great scrapbooking idea and solution to help you with the cropping of your photographs.
Using a sheet of card stock, draw two 6cm wide right angled shapes, and make them as long as you can. Cut out the two L-shaped pieces, and you can use them to make a square over the photograph that you want to crop. By sliding them towards each other and out, you can see what your photograph will look like with various different parts cropped off. Use your newly made stencil to mark the four points on the photograph that you would like to cut.
L-shaped crops are best made from black card stock, but white or neutral grey should work just as well. Avoid cutting out your crops in bright colours, as they can influence the colours on the picture that you are working on.
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