Deciding how to arrange your photos on pages is challenging for most people, so I’ve come up with a system to make it easier to get over that first hurdle. There are so many enjoyable aspects of scrapbooking, and I don’t want anyone to miss out on the fun!

First of all, you want to be familiar with two terms that we use in publishing all of the time when we are working on our magazines and books. How you arrange everything on a page is called a page layout. Select your favorite page layouts from books and magazines and file them away for a quick reference as thumbnail sketches—quick drawings that record the basic elements on the page. Set up your filing system on note cards or in a handy notebook so you can take them wherever you go. When you're ready to start a new scrapbook page—pick a layout—and you’re ready to start working on your page! Follow these four easy steps . . .

Collect your favorite layouts.

Look for pages that are appealing to you in magazines or books. You may also find them in a friend’s album or at a crop party. Select pages that have different arrangements of photos and use different numbers of photos on the pages. You will not be trying to capture all of the details of the pages—just the layout of the basic elements like the photos, title, journaling and prominent details. Your personal photos will obviously be different, and your choices of paper and details depend on the materials you find or have on hand. All you need are the basic page layouts to get you started.

Draw a quick thumbnail sketch.

Remember that your sketch should be quick to be efficient. It doesn’t need to be fancy, and you don’t need to use a ruler or have it too exact. You just want a rough idea of what the page looks like.

• Make patterns (templates): For 8 ½” x 11” pages, draw a 1 3/4” x 2 3/8” rectangle onto cardstock or plastic. Cut out. With black marker, trace around pattern onto notebook page or note card. Trace around pattern twice, close together, to represent a spread (two pages that go together.) In same way, for 12” x 12” pages draw a 2 1/4”x 2 1/4” square.

• Sketch layouts: Draw squares and rectangles to represent photos, titles, and journaling. Number the photos and label the title and journaling with a T and J. Use an asterisk to indicate the position of prominent details. Add quick notes if there is something you want to remember about the page or pages. Here are two examples.

One-photo page

Three-photo page

File your sketches on note cards.

What you need:

• Page Layout Note Cards
• Unlined 3” x 5” note cards
• Optional: unlined colored cards for dividers
• Note card box
• 28 Clear 2” index tabs
• Adhesive, black marker, pencil, ruler, scissors

File your layout sketches by the size of the page and the number of photos on the page.

Step 1: Main Heading Dividers. Attach index tabs to the divider cards. Print the following information on the paper strips provided. Insert strips into the plastic tabs. 8 ½” x 11” Pages

• 8 ½” x 11” Spreads
• 12” x 12” Pages
• 12” x 12” Spreads

Step 2: Sub Heading Dividers. Attach index tabs to the cards that will be the dividers. Print the following information on the paper strips provided. Insert strips into the plastic tabs.

Behind 8 ½” x 11” Pages and 12” x 12” Pages dividers, label cards with the following: 1 Photo, 2 Photos, 3 Photos, 4 Photos, 5 Photos

Behind 8 ½” x 11” Pages and 12” x 12” Pages dividers, label cards with the following: 1 Photo, 2 Photos, 3 Photos, 4 Photos, 5 Photos, 6 Photos, 7 Photos

Choose a layout from your collected sketches whenever you’re ready to begin a new scrapbook page or pages.

To use your handy layout reference, all you need to do is decide what size page you are using and how many photos you want on the page. The size of your photos and whether your photos are horizontal or vertical will determine which layout you choose. Let’s say you have three photos (two vertical and 1 horizontal) that you want to place on one 12” x 12” page. Look behind the main heading of 12”x12” Pages and then look behind 3 Photos. Look at your layouts to find one that has 2 vertical and 1 horizontal photos on it. You’re ready to go!

For my page below, I looked up 3 Photos behind the 12” x 12” Pages heading. I found a layout that had 3 vertical photos on it and created my page.

3 vertical photos on a 12” x 12” page