12x12 scrapbook layouts for photos and larger keepsakes
For a 12x12 scrapbook layout, mark the margins before adding photos. Leave space for larger keepsakes and group the smaller pictures beside the scene they show.
A twelve-inch square can hold a group photograph or a folded programme without trimming it. Leave some blank space around the larger pieces.
Choose a main photograph, then place the smaller details beside it. Equal-sized pictures work best when you want a grid rather than a main scene.
Try this in your own scrapbook
Arrange your photos on the pages of a digital scrapbook in your browser.
Mark the margins
With a half-inch margin, your working area is eleven inches square. A bulky binding may need a wider inner margin.
Cut an eleven-inch paper square to test the arrangement. Move a group of photos together until it fits.
Give the main scene more space
A 10x6 landscape image leaves an area below for detail photos and a date. Check that enlarging it does not make faces look blurred.
If the best photograph is small, use a larger mat behind it. You can give it more space without enlarging the image.
Allow folded programmes to open
Open the programme before placing it. Leave enough room for the fold and for your hand to turn its pages.
Keep faces and document text off the centre fold of a spread. Put a gap or plain background there instead.
Steps
A broad scene
Place a 10x6 photo across the top of the working square. Below it, align two small detail photos with a flat ticket.
A six-photo grid
Use six 3x4 portraits in two rows of three. Quarter-inch gaps make the grid 9.5 inches wide and 8.25 inches tall.
A programme page
Position a programme on the outer half of the page. Keep a portrait beside it and allow the programme to open away from the binding.
A pair of facing pages
Put the group photograph on the left page and individual details on the right. Repeat one paper colour across both pages.
Questions
How many 6x4 photos fit on a 12x12 page?
Four untrimmed landscape 6x4 photos in a two-by-two grid would be twelve inches wide before gaps. Use fewer, crop them or choose smaller prints.
Is 12x12 better than 8x8?
Choose 12x12 for wide photographs and larger paper keepsakes. An 8x8 book is easier to hold and needs fewer objects to complete a page.
Can a 12x12 layout work digitally?
Use the same arrangement on a square canvas. Inch measurements give you proportions to work with; check the text on the screen where someone will read it.